Poultry farmers meet Osinbajo

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By Levinus Nwabughiogu

Poultry Farmers  Association of Nigeria has appealed to federal government to intervene in the lingering scarcity of maize in the country.

This was as government has urged Nigerian Customs and other relevant stakeholders to increase border surveillance to prevent the smuggling of deadly frozen foods in the country.

The association said such shortages had  led to the increase of the product which had in turn affected their business.

Minister of State for Agriculture, Heineken Lokpobiri made the call on Friday when a delegation of the association met with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa, Abuja.

Speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, the minister said that the intervention was necessary to assist the farmers.

He also warned those hoarding the grains to desist from such practice, warning that the federal government would not buy their grains.

“We had a meeting with the Acting President over some concerns in the poultry industry. Poultry industry is one of the most organised in Nigeria and one of the most important. Input of the industry are maize and soya beans and because of what happened sometimes last year about the invasion of Army worms on maize farms, we have a huge shortage of maize and soya beans in the country.

 

 

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This is not the change they preached to us —Cardinal Okogie laments

Okpozo laid to rest amidst eulogies

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THE remains of Sec-ond Republic Senator and South-South leader, Senator Francis   Okpozo were yesterday laid to rest at his Ozoro home in Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta amid encomiums.

His funeral ceremony attracted dignitaries from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and All Progressives Congress, APC, including the state governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu, Senator James Manager, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Leo Ogor, Chief Great Ogboru and Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, Mr. Monday Igbuya among others.

Okpozo, a member of the Board of Trustees of the   APC and erstwhile Deputy Speaker of the defunct Bendel State House of Assembly died on December 26, 2016, at the age of 81.

His remains arrived at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ozoro in a white ambulance marked ‘Another World Limited Funeral Undertakers’ at 10 am for a funeral service.

In his homily, Rev. Fr. Cletus Ewhefa emphasized the inevitability of death and stressed the need for all, no matter how highly placed, to serve God.

He said: “Life has a way of slowing you down and for those of you who are elderly you can no longer be as fast in anything you are doing as you used to. If we think about death in our daily lives, it will help to restructure the way we behave and the way we relate to others.

“Death has a very powerful grip on humans. So what are you doing with your breath? You must use your breath for the service of humanity.’’

In his remarks, Okowa described Okpozo as an accomplished politician and a true family man who trained and brought up his children in an upright manner.

He said:”It is a difficult experience to lose a loved one no matter how old he is. We are consoled that he lived a loving life.

“It is important for those of us who are alive to do the right thing. What will you be remembered for? What do we do with our positions when we are powerful in the society?

“Most times, we live our lives as if we have control of our lives. What will our children, those who are dear to us remember us for?’’

On his part, Kachukwu described Okpozo as someone, who would be remembered for his ordinariness.

Kachikwu said: “He was somebody who focused on education and that is a legacy that he has left behind not only for his children and family but for the community and us all”.

Meanwhile, the Delta and Edo State Houses of Assembly on Thursday held a joint valedictory session for Okpozo in Asaba.

Other dignitaries present at the burial ceremony, include Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, former Secretary to Delta State Government, Comrade. Ovuzorien Macaulay, Chairman of APC in the state, Prophet Jones Erue, President General of the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, Olorogun Moses Taiga, President General of Isoko Development Union, Chief Iduh Amadhe, Senator Stella Omu, Majority Leader of Delta State House of Assembly, Mr. Tim Ohwofere, Mr. Godwin Ogorugba, Mr. Emmanuel Egbabor and Mr.   Ithiako Ikpokpo   amongst others.

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Hunger crisis deepens in Lake Chad Basin — FAO

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By Gabriel Ewepu

THE Food and Agri-culture Organisation yesterday raised alarm over deepened hunger crisis in the Lake Chad Basin, which 7.1 million people are now endangered.

This was revealed by the Director, Emergency and Rehabilitation Division, FAO, Dominique Burgeon, in view of the upcoming United Nations, UN, agencies and governments Oslo Summit that will focus on tackling expanding humanitarian emergency.

Burgeon said famine will continue to ravish the over 7.1 million people living in the region if farming activities will not resume and whose population has about 90 per cent farmers.

He said: “In the worst-affected areas, famine continues to loom — and millions will remain trapped in cycles of severe hunger if we don’t enable farmers to start cropping now. “Our collective efforts cannot be limited to merely avoiding massive famine they need to allow people to return to a dignified life. And supporting agriculture is the key to both.

“Besides reducing hunger and boosting nutrition, investing in farmers also provides much needed job opportunities that reduce migration and limit the potential for radicalisation of unemployed youth.”

FAO collaborates with the World Food Programme, WFP, to ensure vulnerable families, mainly IDPs and host communities receive food assistance, and at the same time  agriculture-based livelihood support in the form of provision of seeds, tools and fertiliser.

The Oslo Humanitarian Conference targets mobilisation of international funding for the crisis-struck region, where 80 to 90 percent of people rely on farming, fishing and herding for their livelihoods, where now 515, 000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, which poses a dangerous condition which if untreated can lead to permanent damage to a child’s development and even death.

 

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IDSL not responsible for NLNG pipeline explosion – NNPC

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By Michael Eboh

Integrated Data Services Limited, IDSL, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, denied responsibility for the pipeline explosion which occurred Thursday, at a Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, NLNG, pipeline in Emohua Local Government Area, Rivers State.

In a statement signed by Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, IDSL said its operation crew which was engaged in acquiring seismic data for SPDC in Oil Mining Lease, OML, 17/22 ROBO 3D prospect, observed approved safe distance standards contained in the Department of Petroleum Resources,’ DPR, regulations and as such could not be the cause of the blast.

It said, “Our activities involved the use of seismic explosives of size two kilogrammes and detonators. The drilled and exploded depth is 45 metres. At this depth the effect on the surface cannot affect any structure.

“The suspected gas leakage on the gas pipeline between Eveku and Rumodogo 1 communities in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State of February 22, 2017 was not caused and cannot be caused by NNPC, IDSL Party 05 seismic operations. Our closest activity around the incident area yesterday was 798 metres away from the pipeline.”

Ughamadu stated that as a responsible corporate body, IDSL’s crew on operation in Emohua Local Government Area observed, to the letter, DPR’s regulations governing such activities which include: maintaining a minimum distance of 25 metres from tarmac roads, 50 metres from houses, 100 metres from pipelines, and a minimum distance of 200 metres from well heads or oil wells.

According to him, IDSL crew was 798 metres away from the exploded pipeline, adding that relevant authorities in Rivers State have been informed of the incident.   Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, also disclosed that it had secured a $416,000 per day reduction, about N126.88 million daily, in its deep offshore rig-rate.

According to a statement by the NNPC in Abuja, its Group Managing Director, Mr. Maikanti Baru, stated this at the 14th Annual Aret Adams Memorial Lecture. Baru, was represented at the event by the Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power, Mr. Saidu Mohammed. Baru also stated that the NNPC has successfully reduced its Unit Technical Cost, UTC, from $70 per barrel of crude oil obtainable in 2014, to about $27 per barrel as at the end of 2016.

Baru noted that the deep offshore rig-rate was renegotiated from a staggering $580,000 to $164,000 per day, saving the country a 71.7 per cent cost of executing a similar operation in the past.

He added that the NNPC had achieved a 35 per cent downward review of rig rates per day for both swamp and land operations in its portfolios.

 

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My story of focus, determination, triumph in Anambra—Obiano

Why Obaseki wants development to start from the grassroots —Shaibu, Edo deputy governor

Shettima commissions N1.68 b Base Camps for humanitarian workers in Borno

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BY NDAHI MARAMA, MAIDUGURI

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State, yesterday commissioned the N1.68 billion “mobile base camps” for United Nations humanitarian workers to enable them carry out assessment and intervention for 1.3 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in eight field hubs across the state.

He also promised that government will provided an enabling environment for UN-OCHA personnel to perform their functions at optimal level.The consignments of base camps were donated by the Swedish Government and its taxpayers. Each of the camps is equipped with communication unit, conference room, warehouse, kitchen, gymnasium and a clinic among others.

The camps, according to the Deputy Coordinator of the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), Peter Lundberg, will provide secure accommodation for workers; while they render humanitarian service to IDPs in the eight hubs.

He said the hubs are located in Gwoza, Gambouru/Ngala, Damboa, Monguno, Kukawa, Damasak, Dikwa and Bama liberated Local Government Areas of Borno.

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