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us invests N314bn in Nigeria's agricultural sector
signs l\!loU with
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..-pHE Din.'Cto M.:eneral, .1. Internaliooal l l nstitule of l'rollical A:lpi~ltu ~ Dr. Ntcralha fs., nf inga. has u.itl \:i,~ need for collatJrlltiu'~ 1 arnong re\e"\'3.nt inslituw/"s In Ille country in 1P:ll1it:t!lar, and Mrica in gtlle,,!, ~n ~order 10 iDlpro\~ prOllu~\;ty in agricul ture aJld hunger, II He nUlde th·! I remar'..: in lbadan on Wdnbday during Ow si:P;'m or a Mcmuram]wlI of Undemnn1in& ~-een UTA and ,' Afe ~\oln Uni versity, l}t~t.:.ki~ Actord ing to bim, the research institu te 1\;11 join effortsi ~p. I I,\EUAn to unlock the; 1'0~l!JItial of Africa's h01rtm and agricultuml rowl I'I!!S. Sanginga !lid, "IITAand ADUAO hOIl\! R l ommon interest in impn,.-ing the nutrition and imY1DleClfthe rural and urban pllor. The MoU prD'o'ides a l .ridge that I~in link the two illSlitutious and foster l.'Uop.!['ltion to IXImplemeni calh other's
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'"Telday, if ·lt U take agricultu re 'or instance, you Ilill d~iro\'C" tha.t !.he sector is facCo.I W It! SC\'eral conslrail1!slr;tlch.1f climate chang!, em !rglnl: pest5 nnd o.liscascs e:c These IXlnstrain!s ell1 he tackJed if ....'C da'elU!1 !l ie human capacily Uul "till provide solutiu05to:llem .~
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Ville Ch.mC'eUor, ABUAD, Prof. ~i~i Osho. said the col.a~)()ration would belp in Jlpmoting the outcom, of I~;ea n:hes for impro" ~ productivity nod »O\'\!rty ~u,~ on. Oshol saie, ~ 'e have embedded the food security prugrnnme into the curriculum I'~ the Me Babalola ULixers ~ " "Today, II' I! ~., signing nn Mop" \\'~_f, ITA to promote aglCWtp~ and reduce ihurlger H~ Mrica, nod better ~.he li.-h of the
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fanners I ~en :t~hin the loaJ COmmLlllitif We are proud tp p~rt ner in rural
1
de"\-eJopmct:l. ~ , 'The I"qllefenta ti\'e
of Ag,bek~'3. II Fanners Association in ~~ti Stale,
Mr. Adeley! J(o)11e, said, '"Today, l'if will like the IITA to parmer \vj:h us on capacity building. e lpCCially on bOWj to Plant !"""""". Here, we~t~nn .~ liffer:nt.
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lanetie:: IVlllt greater ·elds. 'I \<\-e want lITA to Sh~: us hllpporl in Ekiti in this area.'
HE National President, Nir;e riao-Am e r ican ClB mbe r of Commerce, Mr, Sam Ohuabunwa, has said that Ute United Slates government has invested S:zbn (N314bn) ill the Nigeriao agricultural seclor. Ohuabuuwa said th is in nn interview ,~ilh the News Agency o/Nigeria in Lagos 011 Wednesday, He also said the US gu,'ernmel1t was also interested in developing and Medium Small Enterprises in the country_ The NACC p resident said the US '\'35 interested in U,e da'elopment of the Nigerian agricu1 tural a.nd SME sectors because of their importance to economic reco''Cf)' and ma nu facturing.
lie said, WOie ill\'estments a re made avai lable to support these hvo areas because all over the ....·mld. s mall and medium en terprises hold the economy. "Agriculture and 3groprocessing, power, security iss ues, as well as other human development areas such as health and education are rocus policy areas or the American governmen t for Nigeria." According to
Oh uabu nwa. the S:zbn grant is also being provided to promote wider use of solar and green energy by SMEs. "Electricity is a major issue in Nigeria. Many businesses have folded o....;ng 10 inadequate electricity sup ply. The US wants to e ncourage th e de,'e lopment o f power ge nerating capacities i ll the rura l areas,~ he said. Ohuabunwa told NAN that the US Expo rt and
Import Bank was also making funds a\'ailable to prospectil'c Nigerian aSro-
allied entrepreneurs, who mi&ht wallt to make use of
American technologies.
He
said
the
us
gover nmen t was working with civil society groups and some Nigerian banks to ensure that the g rant was properly disbursed. MWe \\;11 collabo rate with non-go\'Crnmenlal
banks a nd with our Bank of Industry to allocate the gran t to legitimate Si\ I Es .~ he said. TIle NACe president. however, s:aid Sl\IEs must be rtegistered in accordllnce wi th Nige rian laws t o qualify for any grant. He said thaI it would be an advantage if the SMEs "'ere members of the chamber so that they could be ~commended to
Osunwoos investors with tax holiday Sodiq Oyel eke SUN State CiO'I-en1or, Mr. RaufAregbesoIa, has caned on investors to utilise the ta.. holidav offered bv the gO\ernment ~ the ~m opportWlitics available in the !.1ate to inn'sl. t He spoke al a business luncheon organised I.r.' the ,\cro.denl'· for E:tceiIence Studies' in lagos on
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Wednesday. ~ .....ho spoke on the UJane, Transfonnalion
rod I n\~.IIlenl Opportunities in Osun State.' said the 9:ate was ripe for investment 111e go'>1!:mor, while 1\SSUring prospecth-e invest~ of a tax hoIida}', said Ute state had a land bank, I\'hich would enable JXllential inV$ors to ha\l! access to fret! land. "Not all the laxes are dcternlined by the state For the tax that are based and deternlined by the state, (If rowse, there "ill be tro: holiday; but for corporate tax=s tlUlI the Federal Government collects, those ones are beyond my IXIntro~ ~ he said.. 11K: gO\-emor also said Oslin State had O,'Cr SO tourist centres,. DOting that tourism had )'d to be fully tapped into. "In 2010 a1ooe, globa1 tourism generated a 5lupendous S928bn. We belie"\'C the land of Osun has ....·I13t it takes to be a leading centre of tourism in N'lgeria; tourism does not just bring money, but it spins money in big number,~headded.
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President,
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E.'tcellence Cub, Mr. Ausbeth Ajagu, said th e luncheon "'IS aimed at contributing to the de\'elopmenl of the state's a Xlllomy,
,L·R: Matulgin!l Director, MNet Mrs. Biola Alabi; Vilroor, Muiti~hoic:e Nigeria, Mr. John Ugbe; General Manager, DS1V Mobile. Mr. Mayo Okullofa j and Head, Corporate Communications, Muitichoic:e Nigella. Mr. Segun FayoM, at 0 press con/ereliC1 011 DS7Vs chalVlet number change ill lAgos ...011 Wednesd«y. Plloto: SegU II 8okm'C
No plan to sell aviation college - FG rpHE Minister of Aviation, .1. Princess Stella Oduah, has saki UM! Federal GO\'eTJ1ment has no plan to sell tl,e Nigerian CoUege of Aviatio n Technology, Zaria, Kaduna State. Rather. she said U,e governmen l had plans to reposition U,e institution to make il rank among Ule best aviation tn.ining centres in the lI'Orkl
Oduah ga''!: the assurance
1be statement said the minislergavetheassur.meeat the end of a meeting sbc held \lith officials of the National Association of Airc:raft. 1>Uots and Engineers ilnd Nigerian Civil Aviation AuUlOrily. Oduab said NCAT must be made to grow Uu'Ough a delibera te policy of professional.i.sm, partnership and collaboration IIilb other reputable aviation training institutions around the
inastatemenlissucdinAbuja on Wednesday by ller Special Adviser 011 Medil, Mr. Joe Obi. aocording to the News Agellcyo/Nigeria.
SIM! .....as quoted as saying. "I am an apostle of nooprivatisation orconcession of gm'ernmenl instilutions, but
1~'Orld.
anapost!eofprofessionalIsm, GoIvnmen t is not doing IXIncession or pri,-alisation but partnerships and
IXlllaborations. l1te gO\1mUllent means well for U,e sector and, therefore, needs to build, rebuild and continue to build the sector in order \0 adliC"e the goal of trallsfomling it as the main catalyst ror Ule socio-economic growth oflhe nation. According to her. !lIe gO\'efllIflellt has carried out a serious S)'Stem audit in the a,iation sector and has realised its importance 10 the
Fer councils sha.reNl.78bn .revenUe, $L59m ECA proceeds Addani Adepegba, Abuja HE
T Capital Adm inistratiun
Federal Tenilory
on Wednesday shared th e su m of N1.786bn among its six area councils. 11,e fund was Uleir share from the federation Accounl and the Subsidy and Re--in\'eslment Empowermenl Programme. The cou ncils are also expected to share $1,597,048.13 from the
Excess Crud e AccounL The Minister or State fo r the Fer and Chairperson, Fer Area Councils Join t Accoun t Allocation Committee, Chid Olajumoke Akinjide, revealed this in Ahuja du ring Ule committee's meeting, which was attended by the ehainnen of Ahaji, Ahuja Municipal, B.....ari, Gwagwalada, Kuj e and Kwali area councils. Akinjide said the sum of NI .516bn was received
from the Federation Aceounts Allocation Committee for July, ..... hile N170.32m was received from the Federal Ministry of Finance as the cou ncils' share o f the SURE- P programme for the period May toJuly 2012. The councils also shared N39.904m, being 10 per cent or FCfA's internally generated revenue for August, bringing the tot..,1 revenue allocation to NI.6,6bll.
economy, '"That is why " 'C must gj,'C it all tlte 1lI!CC5Sa1)' push to I>lay its pivotal role for the nation's economy." she said. The statement quoted tl,e minister as dellyillg claims tl13t U,e Bilateral Air Service Agreement fund \'>15 being wiUldrawn lvitl,oul due a»pl'Ovais. She said UJe money \\<IS still in O,e custody of Central Bank of Nigeria and that nobody oouId gain acress to it ,\;U,out presidential and legislati,'Cappl'O\-aIs. Oduah said, - It is absolutely im possible for anybody to access that fwld lvithout aD necessary approvaJs. The money is in the CBN, and as l.speak I,ith ),00. the money has not been spent, e\1!II though \\'C' are subsequenUy going to.spend \\'hat has been applU\-ed. -Abol-e all, the CBN must certify thai you ha\'e folloln~d aD tllC processes before they can allow any withdrawals. In summary, all envisaged processes hal'C been follo.....ed and tlle n~' approvals secured Nobody can, Ulerefure, a~ that fund fraudulenUy or otherwise."