Vanguard, TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013 —13
MEETING: From left: Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike; Minister of National Planning, Shamsuddeen Usman; Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, and Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, at the inaugural meeting of the National Economic Council Committee on the state of education in Nigeria in Abuja, yesterday.
10 crushed, 12 injured in Onitsha trailer crash BY VINCENTUJU-
MADU
O
NITSHA—TRAG EDY yesterday struck in Onitsha at about 5.30 pm at the Nkpor Flyover bridge when a trailer with numbe plate XA 879 AMO Imo State, lost control killing about ten people and injuring 12 others. The trailer was heading from Tazan junction, Nkpor, to Onitsha when it lost control and hit other vehicles, including a students bus and truck belonging to Consolidated Construction Company, CCC, handling the road project.
When Vanguard visited the scene of the accident at about 5.50pm, some dead victims were still being evacuated from the scene of the accident, while about 12 people who sustained various degree of injuries were rushed to nearby hospitals. Some officials of Federal Road Safety Corps where seen controlling traffic for easy passage . According to an eye witness, the accident would have been averted if the CCC construction company handling the road had not blocked one lane of the flyover road where no job was going on. An eye witness said: “We have been appealing to them to open the other part of the
flyover they closed since last year but the refused now you have seen how their continued closure of that part of the flyover has led to loss of innocent lives. “The trailer driver lost control of his vehicle tried to avert the accident but the only lane that is functional was filled with vehicles and he rammed into them. Both the Police, Army and men of Federal Road Safety Corps were seen directing affairs and making effort to remove the vehicles from the road to ease the already traffic jam caused by the accident.
Nigeria, Canada target $6bn trade volume by 2015 geria’s exports to Canada BUJA—NIGERIA investment with Nigeria. Niand $199 million import. A and Canada, yester- geria’s value of merchandise “The bulk of Nigeria’s trade with Canada stood at day, resolved to strengthen trade and investment ties between both countries by leveraging on areas of competitive and comparative advantage. The two countries also agreed on strategies to double the volume of trade between them to $6 billion by 2015 just as Canada disclosed plans to review its visa processing time to aid trade and
about $2.7 billion in 2011. The decisions were reached during the Nigeria-Canada Bi-National Commission meeting in Abuja, co-chaired by the Nigerian Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga; and the Canadian Minister for International Trade, Honourable Ed Fast. Speaking during the meeting, Aganga said that Nigeria and Canada would significantly enhance their socioeconomic ties through the BiNational Commission by working on mutually beneficial growth projects along areas of competitive and comparative advantages. He said: “Nigeria is one of Canada’s largest trading partners in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2011, Nigeria’s value of merchandise trade with Canada stood at $2.7 billion; consisting of $2.5 billion in Ni-
export to Canada, however, revolves around oil and gas. It is therefore imperative for us to strengthen our relationship by widening our export into the non-oil sector.” Aganga noted that the meeting provided a veritable platform for the two countries to review their socio-economic progress and chart a new roadmap for increased trade and investment and enhanced economic growth on both sides. “The establishment of the Nigeria-Canada BiNational Commission, NCBNC, to further facilitate and strengthen the bilateral cooperation between our two countries is indeed an initiative worthy of commendation,” the minister said.