Business
Don Tasks FG On Power Supply
A senior lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Lagos, Dr Tunde Adeoye, wants the Federal Government to focus its attention on the provision of adequate power supply in 2013.
Adeoye told newsmen in Lagos on Saturday that an improvement in power supply would engender the creation of more job opportunities for unemployed youths across the country.
He stressed that inadequate power supply was one of the major challenges confronting the real sector, adding that the government should be more proactive in efforts to revamp the ailing power sector.
He reiterated that stable power supply was vital to the manufacturing sector, adding: “ Lack of adequate power supply constitutes a major impediment to growth in the real sector.’’
Adeoye noted that many companies in the country had closed down due to the epileptic power supply, adding that some of them had relocated to some neighbouring African countries where there was stable electricity.
The don stressed that government’s programmes such as the provision of bailout funds and waivers for the real sector would continue to be counterproductive if the power sector was not overhauled.
Adeoye said that the seasonal downsizing of staff by companies could be attributed to the high cost of running electricity generating sets, adding that the development had also compounded the unemployment situation in the country.
He noted that the increase in kidnap cases and armed robbery attacks across the country was as a result of youth unemployment.
He, nonetheless, advised the government to be more aggressive in efforts to improve the power supply situation in Nigeria so as to attract foreign investors into the country.
“No investor will be willing to invest his money in a country where the cost of doing business is high,’’ he said.
Adeoye said that with the influx of new foreign investors into the country, more job opportunities would be created, while the crime rate would be drastically reduced. He also said that if new investments cropped up, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would increase, while the pressures on the national economy would be reduced.
Business
NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products
Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.
The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.
“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.
NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.
