.........
Printers want loans HE Coordinator. AssociationofProfessional Printers of Nigeria. Oyo State. Mr. Johnson Alawode. has said the body is seeking for credit facil ities from the state government on behal f of its members. Alawode. who briefed newsmen in (badan on Tuesday. said that the soft loans would enable his members to establish small and medium scale businesses.
T
in its negotiations wit h the
HE Federal Government has appo inted a former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress. Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu . as the Chief Negotiator/Conciliator
workers of the Power Holding Company oi Nigeria. Spokesman of the Bureau of Public Enterprises. Mr. Chukwuma Nwokoh. said in a statement on Tuesday that the
T
appointment of Sunmonu was to ensure that the labour unions were carried along in the power sector reform process. He said that the form er NLC leader would also ensure the p~aceful and
speedy resolution of aU labour issues be fore PHCN would be wind down . In -.his · acceptance letter.
Sun~monu ""' w ho
is
the Secretary-General. of African Organ isation
and served th e organisation
mainstay of the economy.
Abdullah noted thata sizable proportion of milk producers reside in the rural areas where they were being confronted with poor infrastructure. including deplorable networks of roads ,md lack of water and electricity supply. among others.
in th e power firms being offered for sale by the Federal Government had said that the resolution of all labourrelated problems was one of the key issues that must be addressed to encourage investments in the sector.
members or the association
T
Teleco m mu n ica tions
OperatolSofNigeriahasaprJ«aied to state and local governments to stop imposing all mannelS of taxes on its members. The Chairman. ALTON. _.~r. Gbenga Adebayo. said in a statement made available to
the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday that the duplication of taxes could retard the growth of the operators. He said that the association's
appeal was agatpst the backdrop of recent notices to operators for payment of levies and taxes from the Kaduna Nor1h Local Government. According to him. members of the association
will only pay levies and taxes in accordance with laid down
rules as stipulated by the 1999 Constitution. Adebayo said that the association would support any initiative from state and local governments to promote and harmonise the taxes. but would resist any form of multiple taxation. He said that imposition of business. permit. signboard permit. business premises permit and umbrella advert levy was unwarranted.
Adebayo said that only the National Assembly had the power to make pronouncements
on
the
regulation of telecoms maners in Nigeria by virtue of the 1999 Constitution.
Directo"r. Samsung Electronics West . Nicolas Shin; Managing Director, Samsung Electronics Nigeria. Mr Jdy En ang: and Managing Director, Samsung Electronics Juory Coast, Mr Bang Ryong, during th e S amsung West Africa distributors' conference. in Lagos... on Tuesday.
Ministry, WAMCO sign MoU on diary development HE Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Tuesday in Abuja signed a Memorandum of Understanding with FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Pic for dairy development in Nigeria. 5pe.3king on the occasion. the Managing Director. Fries1ancJCampina WAMCo. Mr. Bob Steetskamp. promised that the petSOnnei of the oompany would put the~ technical i<naI.Aedge and expertise to use to ensure the sua::ess of the project. The NewsAgency of Nigeria reports that the first phase of the project will commence in lseyin. Oyo Siate. and later in Paiko Kore. Gwagwalada in the Federal Capital Territory. before being replicated in other areas of the countrY. Steetskamp said that under the MoU. the firm would train small-scale milk farmers in
He said that a similar project was ongoing in Shonga. Kwara State. aimed at increasing milk production from l.5oo Iitres per day to over 5.000 litres. He noted that milk production in Nigeria was "very low and tedious" and stressed the need to increase the production and consumption of the product to meet the Millennium Development Goal I on halving hunger and abject poverty. The managing director urged the Federal Government to maintain a oonsistent bade and agriculture policy as weUas oonsider a tax relief for WAMCo. He said the request became necessary due to the huge foreign exchange the company was spending on the importation of various breeds of cow as well as the training of milk farmers . 'The Federal government
production.
policy implementation because this has been identified as one of the major factors militating
T
HEAssociation ofLicensed
Trade Union Unity. said that he was accepting the job because of the strategic importance of the power sector to the socia-economic development of Nigeri a. Sunmonu was twice elected president of the NLC between 1978 and 1984. Th e unions. especially th e National Union of Electricity been Employees. have opposed to the government's plan to privatise the successor companies of PHCN . Only recently. NUEE members blocked a move by th e Federal Government to hand over the running of the Olorunsogo Power Plant to a Chinese firm. SEPCO. Th e union had also threa tened on Sunday to embark on a nationwide strike on May l. Until the latest development. Federal Government had suspended negotiations with the workers over the payment of their severance packages. But the Minister of State for Power. Mr. Nuhu Wya. promised recently th at the government would resume talks with the workers after the general elections. Th e Federal Govern ment said it had earmarked N200bn for the settlement of the severance packages of the PHCN workers out of which N56bn had been spent on monetisation arrears.
will ensure th at th e soft loans are approved to assist our members to expand their businesses'" he said. Th e coordina tor. w ho also spoke on the arrest of some
ALTON on taxes
~r'f
FG appoints ex-NLC president to negotiate with PHCN workers Everest Amaefule, Abuja
"As soon as the a new government emerges. we
shortly before the National Assembly elections. described it as an abuse of security privileges. The News Agency of N igeria reports that three printers were arrested in Mokola area of lbadan but later released by the police on allegation of illegal printing of election materials. Alawode said that the police had absolved the trio of Abraham Olotu. Ayobami Adegoke and Bolarinde Ayodele of the alleged crime.
THE
:nT,"i'H .
WEDNESDAY. APR IL 20.20 11
marketing
processing
of
the
and
product
in a profitable manner. in conjunction with the ministry.
needs to be more consistent in
against foreign investment in
Nigeria." he said. The company. according to him. is targeting the creation of more than 12.000 jobs to benefit youths. especially those who will embrace agriculture. He stressed the need to make agriculture curriculum in universities more attractive
for the younger generation of Nigerians wishing to embrace it as a profession.
of
In his address. the Minister Agriculture and Rural
Development. Prof. Sheikh Abdullah. stressed the need for more investment in agriculture
as the sector remained the
HE Federal Government has approved N3bn for the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria to grant as mortgage
Development. Mr. Nduese Essien. had approved the release of the money on behalf of the Federal Government.
loans to civil servants in Akwa
He said civil servants in
Ibom State. Th e Chairman of th e state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress. Mr. Unyime Usoro. disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Uyo. Usoro said the Minister of Lands. Housing and Urban
the state would soon begin to access the facility to enable them build their own houses before retirement.
However. he said that the workers could only access
the facility after returning to the National Housing Fund. from which they withdrew in
investors
Nigeria's agric sector growth impressive HE World Bank Managing Director. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. has
T
s~id N igeria is record ing between six ·per cen t and seven per cent growth in agricultural sector.
Okonjo-Iweala. in an interview with th e News Agency of Nigeria . in Washington on Tuesday. described th e development as commen dable but said much still needed to be done to further ensure growth in
- Okonjo-Iweala the sector. She said. "Agri culture has been doing relatively well in Nigeria . if s been growing
better than six and seven per cent. w hich is good. "That has been a big boom to us in the sense that we have always seem to have enough w ith food importation ." Accord ing to her. th e Federal Governm ent should
FG approves N3bn housing loans for Nlbom workers
T
Prospective
2000. The NLC chairman added that the workers must contribute to the scheme for six months before they could benefit from it. He added that the government and FMBN had approached labour and made arrangements for the workers to rejoin th e scheme since it had been repositioned for effective service delivery.
Usoro said. "The bank had repositioned itself in other states and is playing th e role it is supposed to play. and has delivered so many houses to those who have been contributing: so we have to join and benefit from th e scheme. " I am not happy to see a worker in a rented apartment after 30 years in service and when he returns home. he will go and stay in his father's house'"
introduce new innovations
into th e sector in order to attract youths and reduce unemployment.
Okonjo-Iweala also advised the government to look into alternative sources
of energy to ensure th at rural commun ities had access to power.
She said this could be achieved by helping young people. who showed promise in devising simple ener~y generating devices. She added. "On the economy the Managing Director advised government to focus on tight economic management to enhance
growth . "Once we se ttle down. we need to (ocus o n ve ry
stron g and tight economic managemen t in th e cou ntry.
"It is a sine qua non for us to move forward . Nigeria has all it takes in the market in terms of population and the skills needed. we need to manage the economy well. ··