₦airaland Forum

gratefulme40:
Hi Justwise......I am applying to switch from tier 4 to tier 2. My sponsor is A rated has stated ticked in my CoS that they certify maintenance for me.

Do I still need to have maintenance money in my account?

I switched like you and didn't show any maintenance fee. Recently renewed and still didn't. Your sponsor usually guarantees it and UKBA will also be made aware of your salary so no need. You may need to show maintenance funds for other family members though except if your company is applying for them.

Nigerians consume more than 5 million metric tons of rice every year, with a significant portion of its consumption needs sourced from imports. Rotimi Williams, an ambitious 36 year-old Nigerian entrepreneur and rice farmer, is on a quest to change that.
Williams, a former Journalist, is the owner of Kereksuk Rice Farm, the 2nd largest commercial rice farm in Nigeria by land size. His farm, which is situated in Nasarawa state in northern Nigeria, currently sits on 43,000 hectares and employs more than 100 indigenes of Nasarawa.
I recently caught up with the budding entrepreneur in Lagos, and had a brief chat with him where he recounted his journey and mused on how Nigeria can attain self-sufficiency in rice production in the near future.
What’s your educational and professional background?
I attended King’s College in Lagos. After attending secondary school at King’s College I proceeded to obtain my first degree at University of Aberdeen where I graduated with a degree in Economics. I also obtained a Master’s Degree in Economics from the same institution. My quest for more knowledge led me to enroll for yet another Master’s Degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London where I gained an MSc. in Finance and Development Studies.
Upon graduation, I landed a role as an analyst at the European Economics and Financial Centre in London. Afterwards, Euromoney Magazine- employed me where I covered the African space.
I would say that this is where my journey truly started.
Given your background as a journalist, what informed your decision to venture into rice farming?
While at Euromoney, I had the opportunity to travel around a few African countries. These trips exposed me to countries like Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia and Ghana. A common thread amongst the aforementioned nations is agriculture. Agriculture is at the very core of these countries and this got me thinking. After a few more trips, I decided to move back to Nigeria and sink my teeth into the agricultural space. Nigeria remains the largest economy in Africa from both a GDP perspective and also the strength of the size of our population.
Upon my arrival back in Nigeria, I got a job at a premier Bank where I was promised to sit on the agriculture desk – my hope was that I would gain enough knowledge of the Nigerian agricultural industry and develop myself from there.
Unfortunately, the agricultural desk at the Bank never quite achieved its set goals. I pushed hard for the Bank to adopt policies and gain inroads into the agricultural industry but my attempts were somewhat frustrated. I sincerely feel that the bank wasn’t quite ready to launch fully into the agricultural space.
As my frustration grew, I decided to quit banking and planned to go it alone into agriculture. Frankly, my decision led to a challenging sojourn as attempts to raise funding with my partner proved difficult. We started a Structured Trade and Commodity Finance company. After a while I started consulting for small agriculture companies seeking to raise capital both locally and internationally.
You currently own the second (2nd) largest rice farm in Nigeria with 45,000 hectares in Nasarawa, Nigeria. What’s the story behind your acquisition of such vast land, and what are some of the challenges you’ve encountered in farming in the volatile northern region?
Two years had past and we still had no funds, so I made an offer to the farm owner, that with a 50-50 split, I would develop the farm with both personal funds and external funding. He agreed and that’s how I became part owner of 17,296 hectares of farmland. Knowing that agriculture would become the integral area of focus in Nigeria, I was bullish and ramped up the land to 55,000 hectares. I later parted with my partner as a result of unaligned views and strategy. I maintained 45,000 hectares for myself and today we have started producing, with our quality paddy being sold to major milling companies in Nigeria. However, I must add the following, I often have people ask how I learned abut farming, as everyone thinks you need a special degree in agriculture to be a farmer, but I always tell them the truth, I learnt it all on Google. I downloaded every article I could find on rice production, consumed it and then practiced it in the fields.
Frankly, my experience working alongside indigenes of Nasarawa state has been exceptional. I have learnt over the years that if you approach people with respect even more so while one seeks to set up a business venture. Having a healthy sense of community makes all the difference in attaining one’s set objectives. I lean heavily on the wisdom and cultural approach of the indigenes to carry out farming on such a scale here in Nasarawa.
In the news today, there is a lot of talk about Farmers clashing with Fulani Herdsmen, but we think our approach has been successful. We created a scheme called the Farm Out Of Poverty initiative which I will talk about a bit more later. Under the FOOP, we are able to train approximately a hundred Fulani women in rice farming, at the same time, employing their men as our security and finally, feeding their castles from the rice straws after harvest. Today, we live in peace and all work towards the success of the farm.
What’s your fundamental objective in rice production?
In recent years there has been a concerted effort by the Federal Republic of Nigeria to adopt more wholesome agricultural reforms and policies. These initiatives are highly commendable as they seek to empower Nigerians to also engage and thrive in this industry. Quite frankly, with Nigeria’s swelling population we simply have to look inwards and increase our agricultural prowess as a nation. These initiatives have been further highlighted when we take a candid look at our importing structures. Nigeria imports a whole lot and the numbers reveal that this is not sustainable.
Kereksuk seeks to contribute its own quota to reduce the weight on our economy to keep importing rice – which is consumed in such high demand in our country.
Your farm, Kereksuk, is currently not running at optimization. Why is that?
Kereksuk’s land mass stands at 45,000 hectares; as such, we have been focusing on developing the land in phases – based on our modular plan we seek to reach full optimization by the year 2020. Our expansion plans require significant fund raising too – the scale of our planned operations would explain this.
So how much rice are you producing annually?
We’re currently doing 8,000 metric tons a year, but we are embarking on an expansion programme that’ll see us doubling our output next year.
Have you taken any steps to make your farm more environmentally friendly?
Kereksuk has taken a few initiatives to adopt environmentally friendly measures. For example, we apply organic fertilizers – fertilizers we gain quite seamlessly through our healthy relationship with the indigenes of this beautiful state. Furthermore, we feed straw from our rice to livestock and while I am not at liberty to divulge the details, we are actually working on a project that seeks to generate power from rice.
I see myself as a social entrepreneur – I appreciate engaging the collective through community involvement. This has actually inspired Kereksuk to set up a few initiatives.
Our pioneer initiative is the farm-out-of-poverty initiative. This strategic initiative targets secondary school children. The Nigerian secondary school system is evenly split into two halves – the Junior Secondary School (JSS) years and the Senior Secondary School (SSS) years. Each half lasts for three (3) years. We focus primarily on the Senior Secondary School years by selecting ten (10) students per SSS year to visit our farm.
While on the farm, the 30 students are exposed to the production and economics of rice farming. At the end of the year we set aside N50,000 ($160) per student per year. This accrues to N150,000 (approximately $500) at the end of the 3-year programme per student. We ensure that this sum is matched by a like-minded cooperative organization and the cumulative amount of N300,000 ($1,000) goes towards paying fees at the tertiary education stage.
This programme seeks to alleviate the burden of debt often associated with students and empowers the student through experience in a real-life work environment.
Kereksuk is confident that this initiative inspires and acts as an incentive to those at the lower education cadre to remain in school and aim for excellence in life.
The second phase of the FOOP involves the engagement of Fulani women in rice farming. This concept is unprecedented as there is a misconception that Fulani people are only
What reforms must government implement to ensure that Nigeria attains self-sufficient in rice production?
There is a lot of talk at the moment about rice production and self-sufficiency, but I believe that the Government needs to look at its approach closely. The aim of the government is not only to create jobs, but create wealth and at the same time boost production. However, I believe that for jobs to be created, the notion is quite straightforward, create a plan and make funds available, however, for such development to be sustainable and for wealth to be created, there is much work yet to be done. For example, in rice production, simply growing paddy and selling at market price would not create the necessary wealth for the farmer, without appropriate value addition such as milling. However, because the government lays much emphasis on integrated rice mills and par-boiled rice, these small farmers are already priced out. So for the newly created job to be truly attractive and sustainable, government needs to start thinking about the value additions by the same farmers to enable them grow their operations organically.

https://blogs-images.forbes.com/mfonobongnsehe/files/2016/06/DSC_5041-1200x1805.jpg


http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2016/06/27/meet-the-36-year-old-entrepreneur-who-owns-nigerias-2nd-largest-rice-farm/#78ba921171fd

StOla:
Did Fayose file loan application forms for the purpose of purchasing nomination form? Was any collateral tendered for a loan that wasn't even applied for?


I really do not understand why Nigerian youths pretend to be stupid just so they can convince themselves that a crime committed was not a crime at all, while looking for the most irrelevant comparison to vindicate their argument?

Now answer this question, since we know Buhari legitimately sourced loans from a bank to purchase the nomination form of the APC, how exactly did Fayose's bank legitimately sponsored his own campaign?

Some people truly think every Nigerian is an idiot who ought to support the criminal acts of politicians.

Did Buhari ever say he took a loan to buy form? It's the newspapers that took the loan on his behalf. I listened to him when he made a comment about informing his bank to honour any check from him whether he had money in the account or not. Now how is that the same as I took loan to buy nomination form?

houstonia:
You should come down and see for yourself or ask find a source in Rivers state to verify the story by coming down to Eastern bypass portharcourt.

People shook their heads as they passed by. I decided to share it on nairaland. I don't see anything wrong in that.

I am not disputing your claim that there are envelopes by a construction site. What we don't know is the content of the envelopes. It may be CVs it not be. The fact that you could not go closer to confirm the contents lays credence to my assertion.I and many others are not quick to believe everything we read online especially on nairaland where members and moderators throw false information around. Of recent we saw the supposed picture of the women "beheaded" in Kano. It turned out that she was not beheaded but a member posted it and till date some nairalanders still refer to the incidence as a "beheading". Only a fool will believe everything he sees or reads online, I choose not to be one. Again it may be people's CV or something else. I have a right to ask questions when I am in doubt and that shouldn't call for insults especially when the question is valid. I am just concerned about nairaland's new found penchant for posting and promoting unconfirmed stories as facts hence my request for more information. This has made many intelectuals to leave this forum. I am also gradually becoming less active here. Have a nice weekend.

houstonia:
That's as close as I was allowed to get. Have you ever openly tried taking photos in front of multinational companies in Rivers state. B*tch please.

So how did you know it contained CVs? You also said "huge" which is an exaggeration so how sure are we that you are not being sensational?

houstonia:
What kind of a f00l are you? Until you find your uncle's CV amongst those envelopes you won't believe they're . Bleep off with your pointless recognition-seeking moniker. Nitwit

Why the insults? All I can see are envelopes of various sizes, why should I believe it contains CVs?

OlowoB:
And to everyone in Uk currently, do not forget Today is today o. BREXIt. I am so voting that Uk leaves the EU. Voting closes 10pm.

I pray that UK leaves the EU and that PM resigns. My prayer will be so answered. I so dislike that man.

I'm IN. I like some of Cameron's policies. I don't want him to resign.

claremont:
OK, I will be more regular on this thread from now on as I aim to start another postgraduate programme in Uni in September. As the days, weeks, and months go by, I will try to unleash some useful resources on this thread as it pertains to a lot of things listed below;

1. How to watch ALL Sky and BT channels, ALL Directv/Xfinity/TWC American channels, all movies ever made and those just released, all TV shows ever made and those just released, ALL FOR FREE as long as you have a basic 5mbps internet speed and ideally no usage caps.

2. One guaranteed method for international students with valid visas to be a British citizen in less than 4 years, it could be as short as 1 year depending on how long you have lived in the UK prior to the application. It's a method that I and a few people have used to obtain our citizenship, but it's not for everybody I agree. I don't have a godfather or silver spoon; it's a method only for people who have a long-term plan to use it, get your British passport, and drop it. It's not illegal, and it doesn't involve marrying a big white whale on the pretence of using her for passport.

3. A few work-at-home jobs that international students can engage in that involves buying and selling, requires a basic bit of tech-savviness. All I will do is show you a few facebook groups and the basic outline, it's up to you to implement whatever tactics you want.

4. If you have access to large pool of funds, I will point out some areas in the UK where you can buy some cheap houses and give them out for rent on this thread. If you have just a little spare capital and interested in buying, renovating and renting out properties, I will talk you through the mortgage process on this thread. The rent from the property you buy is enough to pay the mortgage.

4. Everything will be done and spoken openly on this thread and will not respond to pms. I will only email the resources e.g. zip files, that I cannot physically upload on here.

5. I'm also open to questions about anything and everything, and I will try my best to answer them on this thread so everyone can benefit. It might take some time though as I'm involved in a few things on real-life and on other social networks, but it will get attended to eventually.

My first write-up coming up is reference my nos-1 statement on here i.e. getting live TV, movies, TV shows for free anywhere in the world as long as you got internet speed of at least 5mbps. This has nothing to do with using illegal chipped boxes, and for most people who have windows laptops, it requires no expense. This can be used on any TVs with hdmi but you will need to buy an equipment from Amazon, Tesco, Argos or Ebay that costs between £20-£35. This will save you from paying about £200 per month to Sky e.t.c.

I will be posting the details later today or tomorrow; but for those who can't wait, just do some research on ''Kodi''.

Hi Claremont,
still waiting for your update on the other topics you listed, please. Kodi up and running.

Do I need to use it with VPN to avoid any wahala?

So who said she's the one?
Questions for Fayose:
Does Buhari have a daughter named Aisha Buhari?

daremarvell:
If you’ve never travelled by road to Abuja, I think you should give it a try. The feeling is absolutely cathartic! It is the third day of the #C9ja tour and getting to Nigeria’s capital city was a grueling 10 hours ride-not to mention the plenty security checks- but we made!
Our mission: to hunt down Abuja’s exhilarating sites and capture them in powerful detail…
So, we figured starting our photography race with Abuja’s popular landmarks wouldn’t be a totally bad way to tackle our Day three mission- “my CAMON C9, please.”

I trusted my TECNO CAMON C9 to bring Abuja’s many exhilarating sites alive through its powerful camera technology and it didn’t disappoint. About the CAMON C9 camera specs, it’s not all the time you find a budget camera phone flaunt Dual 13.0MP front/back low-light cameras which shoot 83° wider angle shots plus first-of-it-kind 120° panoramic camera presets on both the front and back cameras.
I will spare you CAMON C9 reviews for now; just do your research- you can start here if that will help.


Anyways, back to the adventure. Our next stop was the National cathedral Abuja and you won’t believe this shot was taken while in motion-it no hype the camera preset on CAMON C9 is fantastic!
Fill up the fuel tank and to Gurara falls we go…

We figured adding a bit of nature and color to our photography will give it richness and a broader scope, so we headed for the border. To Niger state we go! It was a fifty minutes drive to the land of the Gurara falls and we could hear waters tumbling down rocks in crashing symphony. Gurara falls beckons us…


Abuja conquered; we set out for the city of coal…

How come you spent three days in Abuja and you could only capture one landmark (Ecumenical centre)? Gurara falls and Zuma rock are in Niger State.

If true then Dieziani is in trouble.
I understand Andy Yakubu has documents on deals she struck that the public is not privy to. He did his best to stay out of trouble. I don't see him being convicted.

geloorrrrdd:
All these sh*t about kano being developed than Kaduna are all LIES. I was born and breed in Kaduna..

Kaduna is the most developed state in the north, quote me anywhere. Most of my coursemates are from other state.

Kaduna has the highest population of christians in all the northern states, during religious fight, muslims fear coming to some areas because they know what would happen to them.

So this op just dey talk Im own. the guy na newbie.

What of Plateau and Benue?

If this is true, it is plain wrong. The link does not open.
This is why I respect Obasanjo a lot. Recruitments were fair during his regime.
I understand that FG jobs must be advertised for 6 weeks in some national newspapers before people are recruited. Even if the recruitment was targeted, I believe the roles have minimum requirements and so should be thrown open to those people with the minimum requirement from which selection can be made.

RedCapChief:
@Claremont, I don't mean to derail this thread. Just want to ask this here.
What are the chances of getting locum jobs for doctors in the UK. Assuming I scaled the PLAB1 and 2, could I settle into the UK system within two months. What about training posts? I know it is difficult for Non-UK/Non-EU doctors but what are the chances of getting in or at least, doing locum jobs that pay the rent.

try this:
https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/

claremont:
OK, I will be more regular on this thread from now on as I aim to start another postgraduate programme in Uni in September. As the days, weeks, and months go by, I will try to unleash some useful resources on this thread as it pertains to a lot of things listed below;

1. How to watch ALL Sky and BT channels, ALL Directv/Xfinity/TWC American channels, all movies ever made and those just released, all TV shows ever made and those just released, ALL FOR FREE as long as you have a basic 5mbps internet speed and ideally no usage caps.

2. One guaranteed method for international students with valid visas to be a British citizen in less than 4 years, it could be as short as 1 year depending on how long you have lived in the UK prior to the application. It's a method that I and a few people have used to obtain our citizenship, but it's not for everybody I agree. I don't have a godfather or silver spoon; it's a method only for people who have a long-term plan to use it, get your British passport, and drop it. It's not illegal, and it doesn't involve marrying a big white whale on the pretence of using her for passport.

3. A few work-at-home jobs that international students can engage in that involves buying and selling, requires a basic bit of tech-savviness. All I will do is show you a few facebook groups and the basic outline, it's up to you to implement whatever tactics you want.

4. If you have access to large pool of funds, I will point out some areas in the UK where you can buy some cheap houses and give them out for rent on this thread. If you have just a little spare capital and interested in buying, renovating and renting out properties, I will talk you through the mortgage process on this thread. The rent from the property you buy is enough to pay the mortgage.

4. Everything will be done and spoken openly on this thread and will not respond to pms. I will only email the resources e.g. zip files, that I cannot physically upload on here.

5. I'm also open to questions about anything and everything, and I will try my best to answer them on this thread so everyone can benefit. It might take some time though as I'm involved in a few things on real-life and on other social networks, but it will get attended to eventually.

My first write-up coming up is reference my nos-1 statement on here i.e. getting live TV, movies, TV shows for free anywhere in the world as long as you got internet speed of at least 5mbps. This has nothing to do with using illegal chipped boxes, and for most people who have windows laptops, it requires no expense. This can be used on any TVs with hdmi but you will need to buy an equipment from Amazon, Tesco, Argos or Ebay that costs between £20-£35. This will save you from paying about £200 per month to Sky e.t.c.

I will be posting the details later today or tomorrow; but for those who can't wait, just do some research on ''Kodi''.

.
Cool. Just heard about Kodi from my colleagues last Friday. It seems to be good but at the same level of legality as other streaming sites.
NB: Justwise, Disguy you can use vipleague.is

I started looking at UK immigration laws recently(as it pertains to my visa type i.e Tier 2) and I seem to have found a minor "loophole". Waiting to hear your tip on this

meanwhile, in the UK . . .

Over 120,000 jobs are expected to have been lost between 2014 and the end of this year because of the severe hit inflicted on the UK oil industry from tumbling global prices.

The strain of low oil prices has caused massive layoffs and cost-cutting across the sector and in related industries over the last 24 months.

New employment figures released today by industry trade body Oil & Gas UK forecast 40,000 job losses in 2016 alone. Last year, around 84,000 jobs were cut.

http://www.cityam.com/243014/120000-uk-jobs-lost-from-the-oil-price-crash

udumosam23:
I don't get it, a product is scarce, someone finds a way of making it available, rather than encourage him you destroyed it. First it was creativity even though its criminal you can legalise it.

2nd it meets the need of the people, demand of the product is high for Gods sake, we even import fuel. And we say we're encouraging local production start with legalizing local refineries.

3rd it reduces the rate of unemployment, is the the govt still looking for chances to create employment especially for those who wants a job in oil and gas?


4th it will make the naija delta guys less aggressive, na for their land o, allow them do their thing at least make them feel among the follow cut oil share. Now that you've destroyed their local refineries do you think you can oparete your foreign refineries freely?

Or you think the moment you destroy this refineries they go back home and sit down.

Abeg make person wey get sense borrow govt small, make them do the needful.

For me, I see opportunities in the endeavor of these kids.

There are already legal means for refining products. All they need is to get a license. I assure you that they will not be in business if their activities were legal. Add the cost of quality control, cost of crude, personnel cost, safety measures and so on even with zero tax, they won't be profitable. This is simply because with their technology, they are unable to maximise yield leading to waste of crude.

jaymichael:
Even Little children as young as 7-9 years do surf. I asked a kid how he learnt to surf, he said they learnt from those white people.

Saw the visit of the US ambassador to your island today. I immediately recognised the name when I heard it on TV. I hope the government will heed his advise and provide basic amenities.

Is there no vehicle registration record?

jwillng:
Thanks.

Im not too good with the web. Still getting training on how to manage a blog. I will do my best. I am finishing the report this week and will send it to as many people as want it free. I will post it on Nairaland too.

Bro-that visa cost me money-i have to make the money back! Since I cannot work here-I already planned on some juicy things I could do to make money. All legal o! There was a thread on NL some years back-and I got my ideas from there. I have mainly just bought some cheap items and brought them to Naija first time I came. I was able to make contacts here then -and the relationships have continued. Its all buying here and selling in Naija.

Hi,
how do you intend to get your green card? or are you going to be shuttling between Nigeria and the US every 6 months? won't that raise suspicion of the border agents? Thanks.

DONSMITH123:
The Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, Danladi Umar on Wednesday kept the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, waiting for one hour-forty minutes before commencement of trial.
Umar had previously announced that the tribunal shall commence sitting as from 10pm till 6pm on a daily basis.

Checks by DAILY POST revealed that Umar had previously kept the Senate President waiting.

Umar had yesterday arrived the tribunal one hour-forty minutes late without an apology.

However, at today’s resumed hearing, Umar apologised for coming late saying, “I’m sorry for coming late and by tomorrow, we will start by 10 o’clock.”


http://dailypost.ng/2016/04/20/false-assets-declaration-why-tribunal-judge-kept-saraki-waiting-today/

Seun this is getting ridiculous. From the story, can you or your moderators point out the "why"?

My time here is nearing an end.

chizidgreat:
First, I observed that the train was faster than many people think. We left Portharcourt by 7am and reached Enugu around 3pm , something I never thought would be possible with the Nigerian train. Well, you should know that there is no traffic jam associated with the train.

8 hrs?

What is wrong if she flies 1st class as long as she can afford it? And how do we know it is not a false accusation? I bet if they had seen her in first class someone would have taken a picture secretly.

Good move. They need to start offering a broad range of services.

Islie:
…South-south to produce Reps Speaker




http://sunnewsonline.com/2019-pdp-zones-president-to-north-vp-goes-to-south-east/

Why did they group the North as one and divided the South into 3?

SageTravels:
Thank God.


FUTA Student Who Was Reported Missing Has Been Found. See What Happened. Photos

I think Nairaland is bigger than some nonsense Title. Nairaland to me is beginning to lose it's value. There is no amount of traffic your looking for you don't have. Admin pls Maintain professional journalism.

Same thoughts here. I was even considering leaving before I saw your post. Nairaland now is more about the cash now than credibility.

Good development, beginning of the end of Boko haram.

following . . .

PROVACATEUR:
APC is suffering from numerical madness.


600,000,000 x 12 = 7.2 trillion.


Our budget is 6.9 trillion.


We are now left with 3billion



How come buhari packed brainless and dullardss around him just to dull theirselves.

600 billion has nine zeros.
Per annum means every year.
Always look before you leap.

bright007:
Propaganda yet again!

GEJs refineries that were never built