THIS DAY • MONDAY, AUGUST 20. 201 2
37
BUSIN ESSWORLD
MORE BUS INE35 NEWS
UTA Inaugurates Central African Hub in DR Congo Crusoe Osagie The International Institute of Tropial Agrit:ulture (JITA) has Inaugurated liS Central African hub with the launching of an official building in Kiru~ that will co\'er the west pmvinct5 of DR Congo offi~ in Bubvu, in South-lG\'u that will serve
and an
the entire Greal L..tkes region. The Cmtral African hub is the fourth hub established by the Institute.. The East Afriom
hub has its operatioos in Tanzan ia; Southern African hub in Lusaka, Z,mbi.l; while the West African hub is based in Nigeria. The ~ Afrirnn hub also hosts the headqwrters of the Institu te in Ibadan, Oyo Stale. The hub ooncept aims to acrelerote the Institute's response to the different opportunities and threats to food seOJnty in sub-Saharan Africa. At the inauguration of the
hub. [ITA Director General, Dr. Nleranya Sanginga, said the choice of DR Congo ~ is importan t because of the
country's agricultural potmlial, which serves as a focal poi nt for rt5earch for countries of the Cenlnol African region." According to him. the inauguration of the building ill Kinshasa is pari of the Institute's strategy for efficient delivery o( research outputs and 10 ensure mort'
effectivme$S. [n Central Africa, IITA will work with national agJkultural resmnil sysaans .sudI as Instilul National pour ['Etude et til Reo -~(lNERA\
universities, non-go'<~lal organisations, farmer.; and the private sector. SangiTlga said the establishment of the hub wou ld also ronsolida te the long-time collaboralion beh"een IITA and partner.> in that region.
For instal"lCe, since 197-1, UTA has been contributillg in strengthening the capacity of ll\'ERA. Both mstitubMS han been involved in tOe bn.~ing of ~rcsistant vark.'ties of Ci!SSa\'a ag;tinst major d~ such as cassava mosaic virus. Such coUabora tions and many m ore will continue in ~ years ahead_ 'The Prime Minister of DR Caw. Augustin ~-latala roo),o, commended lITA (or esmblish-
ing tho · Lub In Oil Congo. He exPre5:ild opbrJlijm that wilh reseanh DR Congo could tap its ag ic ulhlu.l potential lor er:t:II"Q oi : go ,... /th anJ devel0p-
ment.
II1jO' ... tldf~lhem.tire
iub-5. ,hJr.a n Africa. 11\ ",dil.iun I~ improvtd varien l devl!lop men t, lITA and n.n RA rc:seaJdl adi\>iries will f(<"I 1S 0:\ natur<tl resource mana ~eDlent to boosl crop proch clion and to improve liveliJ 0 Kis
---------------------------------------------------------Coca-Cola, NPA, Others Boost Zion Inbuduces Ahuja lagos Security Fund
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No fewer than twelve mrporate org;misations InCluding Coca Cola Nigeria and Nigeria POI1S Authority (NPA), among others, have donated N26.1 million in cash 10 support the Lap State Seturity Trust Fund (LSSTF). Execu ti ve Security of the
Fund, Mr. FoIa ArthUl"-~rrey, d isclosed this in a stltement, adding thai the state government also received su pport in kind from individuals and rorpol"ille bodies apart from th e cash donation. The statement listed other corporate organisa tions that d ona ted to include Standard Chartered Bank of Nigeria, AirtcI Nigeria Umited. Kris Oil Integra/l'd limiled and Uoited Africa Company of Nigeria
(UACN) Coscharis Motors Limited, Zinox Tech. Limited, Wcmabod Estates Limited, Kadesh Ventures Nigeria Limited, USACO Assurance PIc, and an industrialist. Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi. As contained in the stalernm. .. 0::x:3 Cola donated NIS million; NPA contributed N6.6 million biannually; lASACO N2 million; Wemabod and Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi donated Nt million each; Kri5 Oil NSOO, (XX) and J<adtosh
NtOO, 001. It also added that UAOJ contributed five Isuzu pickup
vans; Zinox gave four Toyota Hilux vans, ISO units of !lash light. portable lantems as well
Property Ownership SCheme while Standard Chartered Bank of Nigeria ron rributed forty sets of walkie-talkie All dCl1iltions were made between May and July", il explained. Both <Dl'pDl"il1e a-ganisaliom operating within the SIaIe and eminent individuals were also urged to support the security initiative ci ~ slale by ma~ con tributions to the funds. II also said sinre the ~ lishment of the Fund in '1fJ:/1, the slale crime rates "ha ve drastica lly gone down, thus making the slate an invesb ,uU destination and choiet' place of residence for Nigerians. ~WhiJ e appreciating the support it has received since "JfJJ},
IPe Fund so&:its for Il"IOl\?
as Eyemax and Aitel too dona ted hvo patrol vehicles..
corporate and support 10 drive
"Coscharis Motors donated
make Lagos a ~'C placr,~ the statement added.
forty motorbikes to the fund
the slate seo.uity initiative to
Chlnamr Me gbolu A real estate developer, Zion
Servkes Nigeria Umi ted, has introduced ~ Ahuja Property Ownershi p Scheme (APOS) where mernbets of the public would become landlords \\>ith just N IO million wit hin 2S years. Speaking in Lagos recently, the Managing Director, Zion Services. MI. Akin Okw:OQkere, said the APOS, an infrastruclural t.1nd and house owner· ship s.wi.'g scheme managed by the firm. is an initiative whereby plots within Abuja environs at a lower cost. HI! e"Plained that the scheme was an initiative inv(Slment towards developing infrastructural p lots wi thin Abuja environs and on conlP~ would sell for NIO
million !:nIy to t1-ose registl:n.'d members who partici pated during the p<!riod. He pointed out tha t p.1rticipants during the period. \vith good payment tTack record, \vo.dd be assisIed for IIDtglIge [oon to build on their prots. " At participants' request. the plots are sold at current voll.ue and the differential appred;lted amOWl I paid to participants as return on investment," he said. Olowookere no ted that membership au tomatically qualifies participants (01 the cooperative identity and rom-p[imentary cards as bonafide marketing execu tives. He also added that as members they are on track to\vards beaming l.lndo\\'nm in Abuja and its en virons. " ' magine NI05 min ion
savirgn o" er 25 years tied to a land whose value will nol be les.s than 3QJ per cen t in appl'eci<,tion. Ih us, the appreoation would be enough 10 bl iJ·) yuur d ream home," he s< id. Afd ltion ally; O lowookelt! ntau· nine.J thai although paymenl duration spans oYer lS Yl!a rs, particip ants are at liberTy to delennine payment durilti.,n in accordance with their f nancial capacity. On plot ~otrnmt. he hinted that lhe ;cherne, which is appJic-lb lt- to in\'l!'Stors 10call} il nd interna tionally, is au lc.mltic after participants must t-an~ paKl N1OO,(Xl) only on rOl .triilulior.. n,i~ , hl' explained, is tied to a I'XlO square meter p lQt of 1.1n.1 for appreciation over tim ~.