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Govt To Purchase Cassava Floor Plants – Minister

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The Federal Government  has commenced plans to facilitate the purchase and installation of 18 large scale high quality cassava flour plants that would mill 1.3 million metric tonnes of high quality cassava flour per year.

The plants which would be run by the private sector, would be fully operational within 18 months, all across the cassava growing areas of the country, just as the nation’s cassava flour policy was directed at replacing some of the wheat flour in bread with a view to saving over  N250 Billion annually “in wheat imports”.

Disclosing this Thursday while speaking at the end of a 3-day 39th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development held in Enugu , the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,  Dr Akinwumi Adesina, explained that this alone would make Nigeria the largest producer of cassava flour in the world. ”While skeptics at home wonder, other countries are noticing and applauding Nigeria. Already few African countries have indicated they would import high quality cassava flour from Nigeria as they too wish to follow Nigeria’s example in substituting cassava flour for wheat”.

Continuing, the minister further said: “The tide is turning. Africans are waking up and turning what used to be a poor man’s crop into a commercial crop for the breakfast table and Nigeria is leading the way. Our time for freedom has come.  Our president has set a clear direction: We must eat what we produce, and produce what we eat. Mr. President eats cassava bread. Our cassava flour policy is directed at replacing some of the wheat flour bread to save over 250 Billion naira annually in wheat imports”.

He maintained that “Our research institutions, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Federal Institute for Industrial Research have produced cassava bread. In the past, cassava farmers got excited and grew cassava but the flour mills did not buy the flour from the cassava processors and caused the collapse of some 135 small and medium scale processors” he stated.

According to him, the largest bakeries in Nigeria have all signed on to commercialise the cassava bread”, adding that the United Trading Company {UTC} had launched its cassava bread on a commercial scale.

The minister also disclosed that Nigeria’s Cocoa Transformational action plan was already making waves across Africa, adding that the release of the Eight Cocoa Hybrids in Nigeria “now puts us in a position to reach the One Million MT export volume within ten years”.

On efforts to make Nigeria self sufficient in rice production, Adesina  regretted that Nigeria spends over 350 Billion Naira per year or one billion every day to import rice, disclosing that “our rice transformation plan action plan has a target to make Nigeria self sufficient in rice production by 2015”.

His words: “We are working to ensure that Nigeria has 100 industrial scale rice mills with capacity in place to mill 2.1million MT of high quality rice that can compete with imported rice. They will be in operation within 18months, run by the private sector”.

Also speaking at the ceremony, the Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in charge of Financial System Stability, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, revealed that the apex bank had initiated a policy through which a concrete plan had been designed to facilitate lending to farmers.

The policy, Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, (NIRSAL), he said would gulp N 75 billion  to ensure its step-by-step based implementation.

Explaining the rationale behind the CBN’s NIRSAL policy, he said it was worrisome that despite the fact that agriculture contributed about 40 percent to the country’s GDP, it received less than 2 percent of bank’s lending.

He said the reason for the development was not un-connected to the much attachment to oil sector, stressing that “we are ready to change all that. Banks will now have overwhelming desire to lend to the people for agricultural purposes. Agriculture is a miracle about to happen”.

According to him, banks would be rated by the apex bank on how they lend to agriculture, adding “implementation of NIRSAL based lending is targeted to commence this March, 2012”.

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NPA Assures On Staff Welfare 

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The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, has said the management will continue to accompany its port infrastructure  and equipment  modernization drive  with the development of the welfare of its personnel.
Dantsoho made the disclosure recently while responding to the commendation by the Maritime Workers Union (MWUN) and the senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASGOC) on the  clearing  of the age-long problem of employee stagnation, when the union paid him a courtesy visit at the Authority’s headquarters in Lagos.
A Statement by NPA’s General Manager Corporate & Strategic Communications, Mr. Ikechukwu Onyemekara, quoted Dantsoho as saying,  “our Port infrastructure and equipment modernization drive will go hand-in-hand with continuous staff welfare improvement”.
The NPA MD disclosed that human capital development constitutes the key strategy for creating and sustaining superior performance under his watch, adding that “talent development constitutes a critical success factor for the actualization of the big hairy audacious goals we have set for ourselves especially in the area of Port competitiveness.
“The only way we can meet and indeed exceed stakeholders’ expectations is to deepen the competencies of our human resources assets and boosting their morale.”
Speaking further, Dantsoho commended the Honourable Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, for approving the strategic proposal of the Dantsoho-led Management team that solved the over a decade-long problem of lack of promotion that had fuelled industrial disharmony.
“I must specially appreciate our amiable Minister for graciously approving the multi-pronged stratagem we deployed that cleared all outstanding cases of employee stagnation by conducting examinations in one fell swoop and instituted timelines to forestall a recurrence of such anomaly”, he sad.
Speaking on behalf of the joint maritime labour unions, the President  of Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations & Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Comrade Bodunde stated, “In addition to clearance of the backlog of stagnated promotions, we also wish to express our appreciation for the increase in productivity bonuses, provision of end-of-year welfare packages for staff, and the revision of the Financial Guide to the Condition of Service, which now addresses our members’ concerns about inflationary pressures.”
Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
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ANLCA Chieftain Emerges FELCBA’s VP

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National Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Elder Olumide Fakanlu, has been elected Vice President of the Federation of ECOWAS Licensed Customs Brokers Association (FELCBA).
The election took place during the FELCBA Congress, held from Tuesday, June 17th to Thursday, June 19th, 2025, in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Fakanlu’s emergence as Vice President marks a significant achievement for Nigeria within the regional customs brokerage community.
Apart from Fakanlu, Secretary of the Seme Chapter of ANLCA, Austin Nwosu, was also elected, securing the role of Secretary of Relations with Institutions.
The Nigerian delegation played an active role in the congress, with Michael Ebeatu nominated as a member of the electoral officer team, ensuring a fair and transparent election process.
The three-day congress concluded with delegates undertaking a visit to the Sierra Leone Port, offering insights into the host nation’s maritime operations, followed by a recreational trip to the Tokeh Beach.
The newly elected executives are expected to lead FELCBA in its efforts to harmonize customs brokerage practices, promote trade facilitation, and advocate for the interests of licensed customs brokers across the ECOWAS sub-region.
Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
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NSC, Police Boost Partnership On Port Enforcement 

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In a bid to enhance more enforcement in the nation’s Port, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has reaffirmed its commitment to stronger inter-agency collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
The Council said the collaboration is aimed at enhancing stronger enforcement, compliance and improve operational efficiency across Nigeria’s ports.
Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of  NSC, Dr. Pius Akutah, made this known during a visit to the  Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
The visit, which he said, focused on strengthening institutional synergy, comes in the wake of growing responsibilities for the NSC under the newly created Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.
Akutah emphasized the critical role of security agencies in supporting port operations and ensuring regulatory compliance.
He called for the posting of police officers to assist the Council’s monitoring and enforcement teams at key port locations including Lagos, Warri, Onne, Port Harcourt, and Calabar.
“The posting will complement the activities of our revived task teams and enhance our ability to enforce standards across the maritime logistics chain”, he said.
Earlier, the Inspector-General of Police, Dr. Egbetokun, assured the Council of the Force’s readiness to continue supporting the growth of the maritime sector.
The IGP acknowledged that compliance enforcement is essential to the successful implementation of Nigeria’s Blue Economy objectives.
“The NSC and NPF are expected to deepen collaboration in the months ahead, with a shared focus on building a secure, efficient, and competitive port environment”, to the IGP emphasized.
Chinedu Wosu
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