MONDAY, MAY 23, 201 1
Briefly N83m for
food security HE Agricultural Development Programme In Cross River has disbul'5ed N83m to farmers in the state, under the NlIllonlll Programme for Food SetUlily. The Progr<mlme Manager. NP FS, Mr Bassey Otu, told the Neun Agency of Nigeria in Calabar on Sunday that the money was provided by the African Development
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Otu said that the money was disbursed to the beneficiaries through their cooperative societies. Hesald, ~Al;atloday,aboul N83m has been disbursed 10 farmers In the state. under !he: NPFS by the AIDS, which funds the project, -rhe fu nd is not handled by us; it is transferred directly 10 the farmers' coopera tives 10 disbunie same to the ir members according to their project needs." Otu npl;;lined that the duly of the ADP was to ensure lnal funds given to farmers wem used for the purposes they were mean t. The programme manager ~id that the funding of the programme was under a tripartite arrangement among the federal. sta te and loe.!!1 governments.
IPMAN on fuel scarcity HE Independent Petroleum Marketers Associalkm 01 Nigena, Della State brandl, has sliid thai the petrol salrcity being experienced in the ~ale will tIDOn be over. The ~Iate Chai nnan ,
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EdlIfelwotu. told the News Agency of Nigeria in Warri on S unday lhat the problem was due to a Ore inddent a t the Nigerian National Petrolewn ~tion cWpol ~ . Edal(".lo/\/()(u. however. !aid thai load ing of petrol a t lhe facility had resumed fully. NAN recalls that the Ore. \~'hich gulled the loading bay of the depot on May 9, badly destroyed one of the three un its. The incident d isrupted the lifting of petroleum products lI[ the depot lor lou r days as the affected parts of the facility were being repaired. The IPt-lAN chief said that although tClbding had rnumed on May 13 , the b<tckIog In d isbibution ClIused by the disruption created sca rcity of the product at filling s tlltlons. leading to queues at the stations. Edafewvotu. however. gave assurance tha I Ih e situlIlion woukI nOlmati5l!; in a lew days as 363,000 lilres, representing 11 tlUCk loads, had been added 10 the dai ly petrol allocat ion 10 Della Stale to cover the ihortfall.
Dangote procures 5,000 trucks for cement distribution D 01 direct
ANGOTE Cement PIc has [liken deliveTy 01 5,<XXl lrucks and 100 brcmd new bulk tankers with II view 10 improving its distribution nel\vork and reducing the price 01 cement across the
oounlry. A statement by the company on Sunday said thai the new lruoo and bulk tankers, which would be the hau0ge. of deplored cement from its foll,Ctories and W'rirus bagging pI;;lnls, 1I.'OOId signiflCZlntly reduce the time I;,g bel\ve.m production and delivery to distribu tors,
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lICCOI'ding to the statemen t, are PlIrt of me~Ure5 introduced by the ceTT1'"Tl1 manufacturer to reduce the high cost of tran5!Xlrtation, which was pa rtly responsible for the increase in the price 01 the commodity lately The stalement noIed that the introduction of the trucHs and butk cement tankers wouki ease lhe distribution sylitern and 00d 10 the 5eTVices being rendered by the nisting
fleet. It said. "The Inlcks shlII1 be used 10 augmenl our exi5ting fieel for direct intervention in
bulk tan kers will be placed a t thedisposaloftheconslructlon companies lot delivery to their sites. -Dangole Cement has aJso hberalised its eKisting sales system such that Us rustOrTlft5 can ntNI buy a minimum 01 one truck 01 cemen t from il!; pIlInts or depots acros.s the country.~
The Chairman, Cement Manuladurers Associ<IUon of Nigeria. Mr. Joseph Mako;u, who is also the RMonaI Adviser- 10 the President. Dangole Grou p, Alhaji, Aliko Dangele, said, "With
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production and lPFO supply now restored to ou r Benue Cement Company plant at Gboko. Ihe plant is now producing al fuD c::ap!Kity, supplying \he market with a production of ave, 250 tra~ers of cement daily, Our natural gas路fired plant at Obajana is also in fuU production v..ith M lIVI!f'a9I! production of over 500 trailers of cement daily,Commenting 00 the COffiPMY'S new cement ptan t at lbeshe. Ogun Slate, ke 5lIid the six mlIIion metric toones pel annum plant \lIQUid commence production in August \vhile the third line at the
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plant. which is also expected to c:ommence produdIon by the last ~er the year, v..'OUld incease the total capacity of Obajallll to 10 million metric tonnes per annum. This. aero.ding 10 him. translates to 1,000 trlIiIer loads 01 cement daily, He added thai all the measures taken so far \<.OUld almost double the total in5laDed national ClIpacity for cement production and
IAIOI.IId substantially increase the supply of cement 10 the markel
Ekiti: Foreign investors to develop tourism with N2bn C'KITI Slate Governor, L..Dr, Kayode fayemi, has held meeting5 wi lh fOlt!1!Tl investors in a bel to daoelop the economy of the stale. To this end, some inves10rs from the island nation of &hamM have lI!JftCI to bring irn..oestment worth N2bn into the state's lourism sedor. The governor IS ament/y 00 a two--week business 10Uf of the U1iled ~ , Europe and Bahamas, \vhere he has heid useful investment mMings with memben of the internatIOnal c:ommunity and
Jimoh Ibrahim acquires Oceanic Bank Sao Tome "1'"1--IE Global
Fleet G,oup. 1 oo.vned Vi billionaire Dr, Jlmoo busi nessman. Ibrahim. on Friday took 0\I1:'T l OOper cent shareholdlng of Oceanic Bank. Sao Tome The bank. according to a SIlItemenl made lIVallable on Sunday. was handed ()VI?l' 10 Ibtahim, who became the new chairman of Oceanic Bank in Sao Tome at a completion borud "'"""'" Ibrahim signed 01\ behaif of Global Reel. while the Managing Director, Oceanic BlInk International PIc. Mr. John Aboh , led eighth subsidiaries of the ban k toSao Tome. The development. according to the statement. witnessed the rrr.it completed sale of a blInksince lhe reform of lhe blinking 搂edor by the Centrai Bank of Nigeria, l,Indet Mr. Sanusi Lamido. began. Oceanic Bank was set up in 2008 and licensed by the Central Bank ol Sao Tome to carty out banking busi~. In ilS last financial statement the bank made a loss of S60J.OOO and a contingency balaTlO! 5heeI of about 166.4 billion Dobfa5 (Sao Tome cummcy) Ibrahim. II.-ho said the bank would be repJSitioned and tumarOllnd q uickly 10 rerum back 10 plOfit. stressed that the takrover of the bank WZlS strategic 10 Nigeria's external
rellIlions on the Sao Tome and Federal Government's Jomt Venture protect. Ibrahim, who had erulier in the year set up Enerw Bank in Ghana. said that Oceanic BlInk in Sao Tome u..ras the second bank established by the group in the first half of this ye"r He projected that the needed I ' fi before it compete with the global economy in the next 10 years. He further expialned lhal the initllll review 01 Ihe global economy showed thlll In lhe next 10 years, major eoogIomerales wouid f~ gfi'at challenges of survival without inlle5bnenl in blinking and the financial sector, The shares d isposed of by Oceanic Bank ~ Tome
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Included those of Oceanic Bank In ternational Pk In Nigeria. Oceanic Capital Umited. Oceanic TlUSlees, Oceanic Insurance and QceMic 5.11111195 lind Loan , Although, Ibrahim did not &dose the amount he ~nl on the acquisihoo. specul.!!tions are rife thnt he will inject about $25m for tke .-......talisation of the ban k
founding fathen Companies previously acqui red by Global FIeel induded British biltionaire. Richard Btadson's Vngm Nigeria, whose name "las changed to Air Nigeria. NICON Insurance. N'1Ql"ria ReinsuranceCorporation,l!nd Le' Meridren, now NICON lwr.u'" in Abu '" " 1<'
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~l~:a: ~f;;-theboardmeeting in Sao 51a~ Tome. Th e CSN had communicated 'no objedlOfl' approval to lhe sale of the blInJc 10 Global Fleet two weeks be rOT\" the lransaction v..'as concluded, Last week in lagos. Ibtahim acquired Newswatdl and he immediately launched a turnaround programme lor the ~ne In a deal Iha t led to the mirement of the
Bank building. now GloblIl Reet headquar le rs. IsraelIS Meidan Hotels, lagos. and former HFP Industries. now Global Reel Industries. $peakIng with reporters In La905 after the acqumtion, Ibrahim said his immediate priority was [0 mo!lke his Nigeria compa nies compete with their counterpart in the Uniled Sla tes
oIher agencies interested in the development of 8utl !)0te. The Duel 01 SIaR to the GcMm1or, "'it Yerni Adar.Imodu. disdosed these o n Saturday while feah.mng on "Ekill Today.M a petSOOallty inteMew prognItTIlOC 00 the radio and television channels of the ~jng Service of Ekiti State. Adaramodu d~ that the 1nve5tors were ImptesSed with the pre;entation of the state govemment offiaals. led by ~oemi. and had indicated Ihetr \.\.illingness to invesl in the state's ICUn5m 5edOf The COS sad the inveslmen t o.vould transform t h P _ I--1.. lfoto.Eri
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and bring lore\gTl exchange into the coffers ol [he state government. He said Faycmi was particulafly ~ about the \kogosI Warm Spnngs, located In Jlcogosi-Ekiti in EJati \Vest Lncai Government Area, which Ihe administrlltion had ~ 10 develop to international standards 10 ~ hobdayrnakers from all partS of the u..OOd,
Fashola to inaugurate lOMW power project THE
Lagos
Ste te
1 Governor, Mr. Babarunde
Fashola. will 01\ Wednesday inaugurate the IO-megawatt
1sla.nd Power Pl oject as pari 01 efforts to boost economic a nd social activities wilhln and around th e Lagos Island A statement by the Senior Special AMistant to the Governor on Media. Mr. Halteem Betlo, said that the IP P was another milestone by the administration and an expreMIon 01 its commitment
to addressing the energy needs of the people 01 the state, The stalemenl fu llher explelned that lhe new Ipp, built to high~ global thermlll operating plan t standard5. would del ivel 2 4 h ou~ unintemJpted electricity to some public institutions located in centtal lagos, such as Ihe Island Matern ity. l..agos General Hosp ital, and Lagos High Court. in II bid 10 increllSe Ihelr efficiency and
bring down their operational costs. II added thllt the plant, which \~'iI1 also power street light in fra'Strudure on 20 streets on the island, would further energise nig ht economy in the state, enhance 5I!;curity and reduce environmental pollution. -It 1$ quite reassuring thai th is project Will enhance lhe capability o f the Island ~1aternity and La905 General Hospital to save more lives in
crilical emergency SituationS as the hospllal will Irom now be served lI.ilh uninterrupted po\.\.1!r supply. the 5llltement added Actcxding to pro;ect reports nom tile state 's Po..ver Delivery Team, the feasibility of 24路hour powt!l !iU~ is a feat that will be mOOt possible with the deployment o f dedlCllted underground distribution netwOTk that makes the :;ystem to operate with maximum effidenqo. M