₦airaland Forum

Na wa o.

Nigerians are reluctant to buy local rice —– Sellers in Ilorin lament

OCTOBER 15, 2019

Rice sellers in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital have expressed worry over the reluctance of consumers to buy locally produced rice. Lake rice Some rice sellers who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday said consumers preferred to pay more for foreign imported rice than the cheaper locally produced one.

A rice seller, Mallam Mahmud Ismail said only few customers requested for local rice as they always preferred the foreign version. “Hardly will you see one out of 10 customers requesting for local rice in my shop. They always want the foreign rice,” Ismail said. Another seller, Mrs Bimpe Ekundayo said customers complained about the poor quality of the local rice. “Many customers complain of stone particles and the low quality of local rice. I make sales of 10 bags of foreign rice to 4 bags of Nigerian rice due to the quality,” Ekundayo said.

Another seller popularly called Iya Ibeji at Ipata market said sales of local rice was not fast as customers looked down on it. “Local rice is always second choice in their budget. They feel reluctant and sad when I suggest for them to buy local rice. They are even ready to pay more for the foreign rice,” she said. Mrs Iyabo Aina called on the Federal Government to lift ban on the importation of rice and allow free flow of the product in the country. “We are not making sales anymore. Nobody is ready to buy local rice and it is affecting our business.

Government should do something on time,” Aina said. However, Mr Stephen Ikechukwu, another seller, lamented that the closure of the borders against importation of foreign rice had caused sharp increase in the general prices of rice in the market. “Now, we sell local rice for N20,800 while the foreign rice is N26,000. It was never like this before the closure of the border when we used to sell a bag of local rice for N9,500 and the foreign N13,000,” he said.

Also, a rice seller, Alhaja Rukayat Usman urged the Federal Government to encourage the public to patronise local rice and stop discriminating against it. “We need to change our attitude towards locally made products and appreciate Nigerian made. We are fond of prioritizing anything foreign ahead of our locally made products which are bad,” she said. (NAN)

Vanguard

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/10/nigerians-are-reluctant-to-buy-local-rice-sellers-in-ilorin-lament/?utm_source=

Empredboy:
I am also a poultry Farmer. Since 2 years we have not gotten any dime even when they came to our farms. Please let's be sincere with ourselves in this country.
Ask any small scale farmer if he has received grants or loan from government. He will tell you NO

There are many farmers who have received. I have discussed with people who have receives thw loan. Not everybody will get it at the same time. Its like someone applying for NPower and has not received it saying Npower job is not real, whereas thousands of supporters have received it. Keep hope alive. It will get to you once your intentions are genuine.

oldtruth:
You sound so funny. There are better ways to go about that. So, we will wait till investors are ready and everyone starts farming. Don't be sentimental with your thinking. look at it critically and access. People will die, business will shut down and after everything investors will run. Why do you think countries don't use such approach? It doesn't ends well. you will see that he is still going to back out and numerous would have loss badly. Wait and see

Trump is doing it. In fact he plans on building a wall between Mexico and US. He is currently in trade wars between US and China..

Empredboy:
where will he get loan to start rice business if he doesn't have collateral or finance? The minimum wage is 30k and a bag is 18k. So what does that mean to common man?

There is the Govt anchor borrowers programme meant for farmers. People are assesing the Loan as cooperative. Loan and finacial assistance through relative and friends. Start small. No be when person grow tall him dey tall reach heaven.

IceColdVeins:
Can someone analyze how the closure of borders will benefit me as an individual?
Cos all I see is inflation and famine.

May I remind you the rationale for this very closure of borders? Its is almost solely to curb the issue of smuggling..... not just staple foods but everything....up from car spare parts down to your okirika clothes. Now that aside!!

Closure of the bordering gates to curb smuggling analytically means all or most of the smuggled products come through those gates
Now this should be the logic
1. smuggling is corruption (unarguable)
2. All smuggled commodities come through the border (very arguable)
Closure of border will curb/reduce smuggling...........fine
Mitigation of corruption at the borders will curb/reduce smuggling.........fine
Since smuggling is a function of corruption in the borders (S=f(c)) Why not tackle corruption at the borders instead of subjecting the common man to more hardship without putting in place any form of ''shock-absorber''
When America wanted to boost their local steel production value that importation had almost crippled, you know what they did? they didnt even halt the importation, rather they lifted taxes on the local ores and placed huge taxes on the imported. Diplomatically, the market tilted to the side of the local steel production. Now this is how policies from informed set of parliaments look like.
I have always said this, until Nigeria starts to run the government&police like a corporate organisation(bottom-up approach), where KPIs(key performance indicators) are reviewed, operations externally audited with impending sanctions for code of conducts breachers, only then the government can function.
You've been shouting farming, need I remind you that locally made rice as a case study is always double the price of the imported. Now the imported has been banned, you think the prices of local rice would go down? Check your law of supply!!! Anyways thanks God fake/non-durable aba made clothings will be glorified atlast cos nobody go fit afford the original which import duties go don almost choke to death. So poor rats will be poorer cos aba made will now be more expensive once the demand increases.

Government did the right thing for sure but it was poorly strategized and for the wrong cause!!!
Anyways, Orun nyabo, kon shoro enikan (IF sky dey fall, na all of us head e go knack)
Body go teh u!!

You can easily cash in on this. Many Farmers are doing it, so can you. You just need to learn how they do it. Its a simple sturvs..

“When it comes to security, all other laws take a backseat. Nigeria must survive first then we can begin to consider your rights.”

etrouble:
If not for Osinbajo that released Nnamdi Cownu, he would still be in jail now. If them born him papa well, make he step one toe on Nigeria soil, he will join sambo Dasuki and El-Zakzakky in indefinite detention.

That is why Sowore bail condition was so stringent.

FG should put IPOB, Fugitive Kanu and others on notice

RENTS:
Why Spanish court? I don't think it a fair judgement.

Sedition..

Catalan Separatist Leaders Get Lengthy Prison Terms for Sedition
Spain’s Supreme Court gave the former deputy leader of Catalonia, Oriol Junqueras, 13 years. A Spanish judge also issued a new European arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont.



By Raphael Minder
Oct. 14, 2019

MADRID — The Spanish Supreme Court on Monday sentenced former leaders of the Catalan independence movement to lengthy prison terms after finding them guilty of sedition for their botched attempt to break away from Spain in 2017.

The former deputy leader of Catalonia, Oriol Junqueras, received the toughest sentence: 13 years in prison. After the ruling, a Spanish judge issued a new European arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont, the former leader of Catalonia, has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium, after fleeing to avoid prosecution in Spain.

The court verdicts followed a landmark trial in which 12 leaders of the Catalan independence movement stood accused of crimes ranging from rebellion and sedition to misuse of public funds.

The court sentenced nine of the former leaders to prison for sedition, as well as for misusing public funds. The remaining three were sentenced for the lesser crime of disobedience during the events two years ago, which culminated in an unconstitutional referendum followed by a declaration of independence in October 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/world/europe/catalonia-separatists-verdict-spain.html

Bola Shagaya again? From Abacha days.....What service does she render to the high and mighty?

Waoh. How can people be so heartless? You are put in the position of trust and all you can do is to fleece your country..

Imagine if you have to tell your friends for Obodo Oyinbo that you come from a country where people flog poverty "out" by hitting the ground with stick. I'm not sure if people who lived in the first century were this foolish.

FG Demands $62bn PSC Arrears from Oil Majors
October 10, 2019

OPEC grants Nigeria higher production quota

Alike Ejiofor with agency report

The federal government has begun moves to recover as much as $62 billion from international oil companies, being backlog of its share of income from Production Sharing Contract (PSC).



It is basing its action on a 2018 Supreme Court judgment that would enable the country to increase its share of income from PSC.
The government accused the energy companies of failing to comply with a 1993 contract-law requirement that the state receives a greater share of revenue when the oil price exceeds $20 per barrel, according to a document prepared by the attorney-general’s office and the Justice Ministry.

The document, seen by Bloomberg, was verified by the ministry, the agency reported wednesday.
Another report wednesday by Reuters also said the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has granted Nigeria a higher oil output target under an OPEC-led deal to limit oil supply in a move unannounced by the group, following efforts by Africa’s largest exporter to tweak the agreement to accommodate its expanding oil industry.

Under the PSC law, companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, ExxonMobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Total SA and Eni SpA agreed to fund the exploration and production of deep-offshore oil fields on the basis that they would share profit with the government after recovering their costs.

Bloomberg reported that when the law came into effect 26 years ago, crude was selling for $9.50 per barrel.
The oil companies currently take 80 per cent of the profit from these deep-offshore fields, while the government receives 20 per cent, according to the document.

Representatives of the oil companies were said to have met with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on October 3.

Malami told them that while no hostility is intended toward investors, the government will ensure all the country’s laws are respected.

However, the oil companies including Shell have gone to the Federal High Court to challenge the government’s claim that they owe the state any money, arguing that the Supreme Court ruling doesn’t allow the government to collect arrears.

“We do not agree with the legal basis for the claim that we owe outstanding revenues,” Shell’s Nigerian unit said in an emailed response to questions.

Chevron spokesman, Ray Fohr, told Bloomberg that the company doesn’t comment on matters before the court.
Meanwhile, OPEC has raised Nigeria’s oil production quota target under a deal to limit oil supply in a move unannounced by the group.

A report yesterday by Reuters quoted sources it identified as OPEC delegates as saying that the country’s allocation was increased to 1.774 million barrels per day (bpd) from 1.685 million bpd at the last OPEC meeting in July.

However, the newly approved quota fell short of the 2.3 million bpd projection on which oil revenue for the 2019 budget was anchored and also below the 2.18 million bpd that the revenue to fund the 2020 budget, which President Muhammadu Buhari presented to the National Assembly on Tuesday was based.

The quota increase will mean Nigeria will see an improvement in its compliance with the supply cut accord, but it is still pumping more crude than the new target according to OPEC’s own figures and industry surveys.

“It’s happened,” one of the delegates said. “I’ve not heard of any other changes to the agreement.”

Nigeria has had a dismal record in delivering its share of the cut, overshooting by 400 per cent in August according to the International Energy Agency. OPEC put Nigerian production at 1.866 million bpd in August – far above the new quota.

One of the OPEC delegates said OPEC granted Nigeria the target revision because of the new Total-operated Egina oilfield, which started production in January and had not been factored in when the initial quota was calculated.
Some of the Egina production will also classify as condensates, meaning even more of Nigeria’s output would not count towards the new cap.

While OPEC has not formally announced the change, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva, mentioned the new target in a Bloomberg interview last week.

He did not elaborate on circumstances leading to the new target.

The 14-nation OPEC agreed in December with non-OPEC partners, including Russia to curb crude production by 1.2 million bpd from the start of this year.

OPEC’s share of the cut is 800,000 bpd, with Venezuela, Iran and Libya exempt.

It is not clear whether this figure, or any other countries’ targets, have been adjusted to accommodate Nigeria’s increased quota.
Nigeria only started participating in the deal in January, having been granted an exemption in previous OPEC+ cuts due to militant attacks that reduced its output.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/10/10/fg-demands-62bn-psc-arrears-from-oil-majors/

Another street award for their "MENTHOL"

Na the baby on the way part funny pass. Women and their tricks...

Igbo women sabi love sha..
Adanma..

...

..

FarahAideed:
Locate and harness factors of comparative advantage we have for export gains .

Some of readily Available we have today are :

Populations

Petro Chemicals

Crude oil , gas & bitumen( there is so much more we can harness here )

Export Marijuana agriculture ( Marijuana is the next big cash crop on Earth and the sooner Nigeria keys in the better)

Open up ease of mining in the country so proper international mining firms can tap into it .

Nigeria has to be made export efficient for the wealth to come forget all this in-house taxation it can never make any nation rich

Ok.

FarahAideed:
I am not a believer in depending on tax to grow an economy because it's technically not even possible , tax can only help run govt administration but to develope and economy and create wealth you need to devise ways to make money from other economies by harness factors of comparative advantage and exporting them ..Nigeria must learn to harness the abundance of such factors it has and start monetizing with exports immediately.

Develop what? The same Revenue that you agree is not even enough...Can you be more specific?

.

Inside Nigeria’s first smartphone assembly plant



The fact that AfriOne range of smartphones are said to be the “first Nigerian-made smartphones”, is true to a certain extent. The assembly plant located along the Oshodi Expressway of Lagos state assembles smartphones and other devices from imported components.

The AfriOne assembly plant was launched with the Champion and Gravity range of smartphones but will produce more consumer devices and accessories.

isthatso:
where else?

Who will pay? only 2% increase in VAT that affects luxurious goods. Everybody is up in arms against the Govt. Drag more people into the tax net seems a good option but it will not happen overnight.

FarahAideed:
No ministry has a budget of up to a Billion dollars ? Nigeria is not ready

You have a good point. But I have a question. Where do you suggest the money should come from ? Tax?

Buhari has a country to run while wailers have their mouth to run. If you do not agree, go and costest for election and win.

efighter:
Goatluck Jonathan wanted to do something and actually made provision to do something by getting some money from the national treasury, but Diezani Allison-Madueke needed to buy some jewelries worth just $40 million, so Goatluck gave her the money

Quite unfortunate..

Hero Abule. Jonathan, the unmitigated disaster walking on two.

Calabar Seaport Receives 1st Container Vessel In 13 Years

Published 1 on September 27, 2019

By YUSUF BABALOLA



Zenith Account Opening


Thirteen years after its concession, Calabar Port Complex has received its maiden Marguisa Shipping Line’s container vessel. The port has not enjoyed patronage of container liners due to draft limitations on the channel. Currently, Calabar channel has a draft of 6.4 meters at high tide, but requires Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) to complete the dredging to the advertised draft of 9.4 meters to attract regular and bigger tonnage. But the berthing of the MV Boreas in Calabar signifies a milestone achieved through the strategic marketing of Ecomarine Terminals Limited, a terminal concessionaire in Calabar port.

The vessel has length of 116.23 meters, gross tonnage of 6569 and net tonnage of 2874. Built in 2007, the vessel working for a Spain based Marguisa, came with both laden and empty containers and securely anchored at ECM Terminals at about 13.27 HRS on Monday 23 September.

The general manager, ECM, Diran Akorede, who confirmed this said: “The berthing of the container vessel at our facility on Monday was the crowning moment of the several marketing efforts to attract a liner service to Calabar over the years.

“In October last year, we had preliminary discussion with Marguisa representative on possibility of commencing calls to Calabar. To make the call viable to Marguisa, we made several concessions on rates and co-opted other stakeholders into the efforts followed with road shows to sensitise potential clients. The maiden call of the vessel was the outcome of such efforts spearheaded by Ecomarine in conjunction with Marguisa.”



Akorede said, in preparation for receipt of container vessel, the terminal has invested massively on container handling equipment from inception of the concession most of which have been idle ever since.

“We are ISO certified and have well documented processes to ensure transparency and efficiency in our service delivery,” he said. “Our systems are fully automated and the facility is fully ISPS compliant. We also have paved stacking area that has remained unutilised over the years. For us, we have been prepared from the inception and therefore handled the discharge operations in the best professional manner.



“As a port, our pact with Marguisa is to provide and ensure efficient service delivery, quick turnaround for their vessel and incentive scheme to support their voyage profitability.

For us, the pact remains as long as the vessel continue to call our terminal.”

Akorede said ECM terminal is ready to receive more container vessels with its ultra-modern cargo handling equipment. Calabar Port has been plagued by the challenge of low draft due to the failure of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to dredge the channel to the advertised draft of 9.4m and since shipping has evolved to bigger tonnages requiring deeper draft, the port has been seriously constrained.

The ECM manager therefore urged NPA to urgently complete the dredging of the channel to the advertised draft of 9.4m to ease the difficulty in attracting container vessel to the terminal.



He also enjoined the ports authority to introduce a more effective incentive scheme such as the 30 per cent rebate hitherto in place before the concession.

To further facilitate patronage and easy evacuation of cargoes, he said the government should ensure quick completion of the road contract from Odukpani Junction through Ikot Ekpene to Aba, already awarded to Julius Berger.



However, he acknowledged the purposeful partnership they have enjoyed with NPA over the years, especially the commitment of the managing director of NPA, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman who from inception of her tenure has given priority attention to resolving some of the key challenges that have bedevilled the port while emphasising the need for her to ensure the completion of the dredging.

https://leadership.ng/2019/09/27/calabar-seaport-receives-1st-container-vessel-in-13-years/

Vanguard is a known IPOB newspaper camouflaging as a National Paper. Its about time someone answer for their libelous publication

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has written to Vanguard newspaper, asking for apology over a report in the newspaper that he collected the sum of N90 billion from Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS for election purposes.

The newspaper had in the report re-echoed claims by by Timi Frank, a political associate of former President Atiku Abubakar that the vice president is allegedly in trouble because he failed to give account of the alleged N90 billion collected to prosecute the 2019 election. But in a letter by Femi Falana, described the story as libellous as it was published without being based on any facts.

See the full letter below



September 24, 2019

Mr. Eze Anaba,
The Editor,
Vanguard Newspaper,
Apapa, Lagos.

Re: N90 bn FIRS election fund, Osinbajo’s problem, not 2023 politics-Frank

We are solicitors to Professor Yemi Osinbanjo SAN, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (hereinafter referred to as “our client”) on whose behalf and instructions we write this letter.

Our client’s attention has been drawn to your highly libelous story entitled “N90 bn FIRS election fund, Osinbanjo’s problem, not 2023 politics-Frank” recklessly published in the Vanguard newspaper edition of September 23, 2019.

In the story credited to one Comrade Timi Frank, your newspaper informed your large readership that our client’s travail “has nothing to do with 2023 but alleged mismanagement of about N90 Billion Naira (sic) released by the Federal Inland Revenue Inland Service (FIRS) to prosecute the last general elections in favour of the APC”.

The false contextual background and specific untrue and defamatory statement include the following:

“The presidency discovered how Osinbajo allegedly mismanaged N90billion from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

When confronted by the presidency, he confirmed to General Buhari that he indeed allegedly took N90billion from FIRS but it was used for the 2019 presidential election campaign in strategic states of the South-west.

Gen Buhari asked for a breakdown of how the money was spent and he said he gave N11 billion to Lagos state APC leader but when the said national leader and one former APC chairman were invited for an explanation, it was confirmed that Osinbajo gave only N5billion and not N11billion to Lagos state.

‘The cabal is asking to know how come they beat PDP in the South-west with less than 60,000 votes if the money was actually spent in the strategic states of the South-west as allegedly claimed.’

The activist insisted that if the information is true, Osinbajo must resign his position as Vice President, adding that such is akin to the characteristics of ‘yahoo boys.”

It is clear that the entire publication was a vicious, wicked and reckless ploy to impugn the reputation of our client and lower him in the estimation of right thinking members of the public. Without any scintilla of evidence you deliberately gave the dubious impression that our client colluded with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to divert public funds to the tune of N90 billion to prosecute the 2019 general elections in the South west region.

In view of the foregoing we have our client’s firm instructions to request for the immediate retraction of the offensive and derogatory publication coupled with apology prominently published in your newspaper.

Take notice that if we do not receive your formal retraction and apology within 24 hours of the receipt of this letter, we shall proceed with our client’s instructions to seek legal remedies including aggravated damages in the appropriate High Court.

Yours Sincerely,

FEMI FALANA, SAN

https://www.thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2019/09/firs-n90bn-election-fund-report-osinbajo-demands-apology-from-vanguard-newspaper/#.XYsxsCIejwU.twitter

RichDad1:
Is that part of his job description? Why not call the IGP?
We Nigerians are our own greatest problem.

They are looking for who will pay ransom. Dont be surprised that the same people who kidnapped the woman are asking Dare to rescue her.