AutoJoshNG: Uber and Taxify are currently the top cab hailing apps in Nigeria. They are extreme rivals, however, their services are rendered to the similar customers using the same cars and drivers in most cases. The service is far better than where we are coming from but we can’t stop there. It is also important to note that these organisations cheat us in one way or the other and I will mention 4 ways that comes to mind.
They take longer routes This particular issue is so sad. Their navigation systems and some drivers have been programmed to take you through longer routes in order to get the maximum bucks out of every trip. Few weeks ago, I booked Taxify from Ikeja Computer Village to Ijora. Before I knew it, the driver and his navigation entered Awolowo Road to go take 3rd Mainland Bridge through the old toll gate area.
Then I asked the driver to turn and take Ikorodu Road through Maryland which he did. All through the trip, the map kept telling us to make a U-Turn and go through 3rd Mainland even after we got to Anthony on Ikorodu Road, the map kept asking us to re-route. Just Imagine taking 3rd Mainland Bridge from Anthony to Ijora. Too bad! .. If you are thinking there was traffic on Ikorodu Road, no.. there wasn’t.
Just this week again someone who was going from Ijesha express to Ilupeju (10 minutes journey) was taken all the way to Ikorodu Road through Stadium (30 minutes journey).. your transport fare will be more than double.
So it is better you to know the best route to your destination.
Cancellation of trip before pick up Uber charges N1,000 request cancellation fee and it became even worse after their drivers became disgruntled with them.. so the drivers started taking advantage of that. They will accept your pick up request with prior knowledge of not coming to pick you up. Then they will cancel your request after 5 minutes with an excuse that they can’t come pick you again.
Despite the cancellation being the driver’s fault, Uber will deduct the N1,000 from you card immediately or they’ll add it to your next trip fare. See trouble o!
Rickety cars Sometimes you’ll be feeling cool that you just requested a cab through your phone expecting a fully air conditioned and stress free ride. Instead, some cars will just arrive with terrible shock absorbers, fuel smell inside the car or AC not working. Has anyone experienced this? Tell us your experience.
Surge pricing You’ll get adverts on price discounts flooding your phone but when you are actually booking a trip, everything will be on surge. Do the calculation, they give you 20% discount but surge price is 1.3x. Maintaining the status quo is sometimes better.
Do you have any that comes to your mind? Tell us in the comment section.
callydon: Some Uber drivers in Lagos have been using a fake GPS itinerary app to illicitly bump up fares for local riders.
Initially created for developers to “test geofencing-based apps,” Lockito, an Android app that lets your phone follow a fake GPS itinerary, is being used by Uber drivers in Lagos to inflate the cost of their trips. In some cases, inflated trips can cost riders more than double the rate they should be paying. “It’s more like a parasite,” says Mohammed, a driver for both Uber and Taxify in Lagos. “It sets the false GPS movement while allowing the phone also to keep track of its actual movement. The Uber app can’t tell the difference between both so it just calculates both.”
When a driver uses Lockito for an Uber trip he or she can have the fake GPS running (and calculating a fake fare) from the pickup point to the drop off location, before the passenger has even got into the car. When the real trip starts, the real GPS starts running and calculating the actual fare. But at the end of the journey the fares from both trips (real and fake) are tallied up as one fare which the unsuspecting rider pays.
Uber Nigeria is aware of the abuse of Lockito by certain drivers. Spokeswoman Francesca Uriri, said it is in violation of Uber’s guidelines and the company is “constantly on the lookout for fraud by drivers and riders who are gaming our systems.”
The drivers Quartz spoke with said Lockito or “Locki”, is simply a reaction to Uber’s 40% slash of its base fare implemented in May. Many drivers were unhappy about the price drop and there were a series of protests which had little impact.
Williams*, an Uber driver who asked his real name not to be used, says he heard about Lockito a while ago but initially had no interest in using it. “Uber was sweet, until they slashed the price,” he says. “They did not bring back their price up, so the work started getting tough and tougher.”
“When the thing was just getting tougher, I had no choice but to go on Lockito.”
He claims he uses the app four to five times a week, but has specific targets and does not use it on just anyone.
Williams says the main reason he uses the app is to ensure he can meet his weekly payments to his Uber partner [the owner of the car], a situation he says many other drivers are in. Most ridesharing drivers in Nigeria do not own their cars, instead they partner with car owners and pay them a weekly fee, which according to Williams has become harder to meet as a result of the base fare slash.
Despite coming out of recession in September, the economic situation is still tough in Nigeria, which is still struggling to bounce back from the global drop in oil prices. A recent report from the World Poverty Clock predicts that by February 2018 Nigeria will overtake India and become the country with the most people living in extreme poverty. Food prices are still high although inflation has dropped and many Nigerians still lack access to basic amenities. Unemployment and underemployment are rife, leading some Nigerians to cut corners to make things work.
In recent weeks, two Uber drivers representing other drivers on the platform have started a class action suit in Nigeria’s economic hub arguing that they should receive employee benefits from Uber.
“There are a lot of drivers on Locki, every driver on Uber is on Locki,” Williams says. “The only ones that are different is the new drivers…and they’re still coming to us to teach them Locki.”
Some drivers use Lockito to inflate fares by adding 1000 naira to 2000 naira extra (roughly $3 to $6) but some drivers are believed to inflate fares to exorbitant levels.
A trip from Lekki, a neighbourhood in Lagos, to Murtala Muhammad International airport is roughly 32 kilometers and would normally cost just under 3,000 naira ($. Williams says he recently heard of a Lockito trip that cost more than 5 times that amount.
Williams’ highest Lockito ride so far is 10,000 naira, (the trip normally would have cost the rider N3,000), and although he has expressed guilt over using the app he remains adamant that an increase of the base fare is the only way to stop it being used, a sentiment shared by other drivers.
“If you block that same Lockito today, another one will come out,” says Uchenna*, a partner and driver on Uber who claims not to use Lockito. “If that base fare is normal [and] everybody’s receiving their incentive on a normal level, that thing [Lockito] will go off. They want to get the normal, accurate price that Uber were before.”
“Lockito or no Lockito,” adds another driver who asked not to be named, “if Uber want the Lockito not to exist, that means they have to come back to the base fare.”
Perhaps most surprisingly, drivers accuse Uber of not only knowing about app, but purposely not doing anything about it because they still want to maximize their profits.
“If you’re using Lockito [with] Uber [it] will tell you “fake location detected”…they will tell you [the driver],” says Williams. “Sometimes when I run it [Lockito], Uber will tell me, “your map of your location…is fake,” you’ll now click OK…and still yet, I take my money…”
Uber denies these allegations. “Uber has automated rules in place that warns and permanently deactivates any account or accounts associated with fraudulent activity,” Uriri says. “Uber encourages both riders and driver-partners to rate their journey at the end of the trip. Honest feedback helps ensure that everyone is accountable for their behavior.”
Uber says all riders that report fraudulent activity will be refunded. But Uriri adds that the use of the Lockito will not impact Uber’s pricing policy.
Taxify, one of Uber’s biggest rivals in Nigeria, has been blocking drivers that try to use Lockito.
“You can’t do that anymore on Taxify, they were doing it before on Taxify but then Taxify made drivers update the app, once you update your app, you can’t use Lockito anymore,” says Williams.
Despite issues with the base fare, Uber’s brand stays strong in Nigeria and drivers want the company to remain, but only if the system changes. This is important as competition increases from newcomers including local e-hailing apps like Motionplus and Alpha One, some of which are offering to pay fuel for drivers.
“I pray Uber should learn from now,” says Williams. “This is Nigeria, not abroad, the more things are getting worse, the more drivers are planning things.”
^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ I wonder why some people love to cheat others with impunity?
These rogue Uber drivers using the so-called lockito have no conscience! Uber should immediately follow what Taxify has done by updating their app.
Anthony Joshua and Carlos Takam fight in Cardiff this Saturday night in the British heavyweight's first bout since defeating Wladimir Klitschko in April.
The 28-year-old was primed to face Kubrat Pulev, but the Bulgarian pulled out of the clash with a shoulder injury.
A packed out Principality Stadium will be watching on as Joshua defends his IBF and WBA Super Heavyweight titles.
[img]http:///a/img923/5396/yBkp4b.jpg[/img] Joshua boasts an unblemished professional record of 19 KO wins from 19 fights, including a memorable triumph over Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley in April. Both his IBF and WBA belts are expected to be on the line.
In his 12 years as a professional boxer, Takam has suffered three defeats, with one draw and 35 victories. Standing at 6ft 1in tall, the heavy-handed slugger has the strength and physicality to test Joshua - in theory.
Onegai: Are you into flowers and gardens? Do you love plants? Get in here!
Welcome to the Inaugural meeting of The Hibiscus Flower Society
(abeg don't keep quiet o, clap! )
Please feel free to showcase your plants, share your stories, identify different tropical blooms and share any knowledge about potting soil, aphids or best times to plant or what to plant indoors (especially in dark areas) with us. We are all here to learn.
For now, we will keep the discussion on local tropical plants and trees. Stuff growing here already.
iedide: I couldn't ignore farming ginger this year because of what i experienced personally last year in southern Kaduna. I stumbled on an agric commodity here on nairaland called "dried split ginger", so much was said about it that i decided to travel down to Kafanchan to see things for my self. I experienced dried split ginger buyers troop into the different markets on market days rushing to buy the commodity - dried split ginger is clearly the most sort after commodity that Southern Kaduna has to offer. Dried split ginger price went up to as high as N650k/tonne(for grade 1 cleaned) around January ending this year as against about N550k/tonne when i first arrived Kaf as at first week of December 2016. There are many kinds of buyers for this product: Exporters(This ones buy only grade 1 cleaned ginger and bag them in 40kg bags ready for export, 25bags make 1tonne), Local buyers(who come to the open market to buy and then go clean them to standard and supply to exporters who hardly come to buy in the open market themselves) and then lastly, Buyers from the core Northern part of Nigeria(who bring their trailers to the open market to buy and load ginger to their location. i believe this product is exported from there to nearby Niger, Chad etc). My interest is selling my grade 1 cleaned dried split ginger to exporters(assuming the local price will go high at the opening of the ginger season around November this year like it did last year; because as of now, this isn't the case) or export it myself. So enough of the intro, i got some partners to do this with me and together we were able to plant about 10hectares of ginger farm on two separate locations in the same village of Tudun Wada(Kanikon) of Southern Kaduna state. Planting was completed on the 2nd week of June 2017(of course after overcoming a lot of challenges). Going forward, i want to share updates on the farm here so others can learn. I will give update on what has been done so far now, and then future events of the farm will follow up to harvesting, processing, warehousing and eventual selling off of the commodity.
So far First, we had acquired about 6 hectares of farmland in Tudun Wada 2 from the village head and 4 hectares of farmland from someone else in Tudun Wada 1(the farms are about 1.5km apart). They series of events that followed are:
Land Preparation - Land clearing to remove tree stumps first, then plowing the land with a tractor. Followed by spreading/spraying of chicken manure(not fresh, but kept for some months to compost). Manure was not mixed with soil yet, this was done during planting. The last thing for land preparation was making main blocks, sub blocks and rain gutters. Main blocks so that we could divide each partners farm appropriately, sub blocks to control the spreading of ginger appropriately to avoid over-clustering(we knew how many bags of ginger we wanted in a block), rain gutters to control movement of rain water in the farm to avoid washing away of ginger after planting.
Seed Preparation - A full ginger body has to be broken into pieces depending on how many bud mouths are visible on it, this allows for multiplication; in fact, this is the reason we are farming the ginger itself, multiplication. So we organized women in the community in groups to break up the ginger according to specification. We had a supervisor to each group to keep record of what each person in the group has done for payment purposes and to monitor and make sure ginger is broken as instructed.
Planting - Planting ginger is quite stressful. They planters are divided into groups of about 5 persons per sub block, one out of the rest breaks up the soil in a straight line with a hoe while they other group members quickly places the seed spacing it about 6inches apart. The soil breaker then goes on to repeat the same thing he did just next to previous line, thereby covering the first line of placed ginger with soil and in the process mixing up the compost manure and the soil. This is repeated until a sub block is completed. There is a supervisor appointed for each group to make sure that ginger is planted according to specified spacing and for record keeping.
Weeding -Hand weeding is ruled out because of the size of this farm. I believe it will be way too expensive to achieve hand weeding with the size of this farm because of the number of labourers you have to employ to achieve this. First of all, immediately after planting each major block; we did spray "cutlass" or "double force" depending on which of them was available in the market at the time of purchase, both are herbicides and have equal strength. Our consultants advice that we do this to avoid having overpowering weeds in the farm for a very long time. I think they were right on this one because considering the time which we finished the first major block - 22nd of may - up to this point, we do not yet have overwhelming weeds in the farm; weeds only started sprouting in some places after about 6weeks of planting that block. My guess is that we should have had a considerable amount of weed in that farm by now, seeing that the ginger itself had grown considerably, and secondly rain is falling. A fortnight ago, we embarked on the second spraying of the farm with herbicides; concentrating only on those places where sprouted weeds are obvious. This time, our consultants disapproved of cutlass or double force because of their strength - the ginger plant is already shooting and may be killed along side the weeds. They advised us to use "diuron" or equivalent product combined with "dragon" to do the job. We used "Diutex" - a diuron equivalent - this is what was available at the time of purchase. The effect of this combination is milder on the ginger itself. The ginger turns a little yellowish a few days after spraying and then recovers about 7-10 days after spraying as far as rain is falling. A full sachet of diutex is mixed with 1 liter of water and then a full peak tin milk container of it is poured into the sprayer(which has a 16 liter container), half peak tin milk of dragon is also poured into the sprayer, and then water is filled to the bream of the sprayer. Everything mixes together and then spraying begins.
Application of NPK Fertilizer - After weeding we did apply NPK and hope to apply Urea July ending.
Costing - Let me give you a rundown of costing so far for only one major block of the farm where we succeeded in planting 135bags or solos of fresh broken ginger owned by one of our partners' SEPJOCA Nig. Ltd. *Land renting for 1 farming season plus clearing plus tractor plowing - N250,000 *100 bags(bags plus caps) of ginger bought @ N10000/bag as at the time of purchase, now N7000 - N1,000,000 *Ginger breaking labour - N75,000 *Transport/loading/off loading of 100bags of ginger to place of breaking near farm location @ N500 - N50,000 *Purchase 400bags of chicken manure @ N800/bag - N320,000 *Transport 135bags(bags without caps this time, thereby making it smaller) of broken ginger, 400 bags of chicken manure from farm warehouse to site including packing of ginger in bags/sewing of bags and loading/off loading - N120,500 *Planting 135bags(bags without caps) @ N1,500/bag - N202,500 *6 Planting supervisors @ 1500/day - N9,000 *Spray of herbicides so far - N70,000 *25 bags of NPK 15:15:15 @ N8,500 - N212,500 *Transportation of NPK plus loading/off loading plus spraying labour - N10,000
Total so far for this block = N2,319,500.00
Our expectation: This is one part i am careful to talk about since this is my first time of planting ginger, but the community farmers claim that this is their second year of planting ginger and that ginger did marvelously well here last planting season - we'll see. Like i said earlier, multiplication is the name of the game. For instance, for the block which i gave costing above; we have planted 135bags, will we get say x20 of what we planted? Some farmers in the community claim that last year the did x25 of what they planted - we'll see. For me, i am anxiously waiting and hoping that the harvest comes out as speculated and that the price of dried split ginger goes somewhere near what happened last year at the beginning of the season in November.
Hopefully in 3weeks time i will be able to upload the present pictures of the farm(I'm not around at the moment).
We are putting these out in the court of public opinion for Nigerians to make their verdict. Here are some of the primary 4 competency test scripts conducted for primary school teachers in Kaduna State.
Lesgupnigeria: Thanks @ pavore9 for bringing my attention to this. Mr foluso contacted me last year that he wanted to venture into cassava farming that I should advice him although we have had business relationship prior to last year ( we sold some acres of farmland to him). When he told me about his idea of wanting to venture into cassava farming last year and will like us to oversee the cassava farm.
I said ok, we can set it up,oversee it and link you with the sellers with your representative/yourself on ground at least once in a bluemoon during the growing stage and then at the time of selling the cassava for transparency sake.
About 3 months into the cassava planting,we had fire incidence on our farm that consume about half of our cassava farm including his farm and some other clients farm. I informed every cassava farm owners, and some of the challenges of small animals invading the cassava farm.Thankfully we were able to put it under control but not without some losses of acres of cassava which we wanted to replant but because of the dry season, we could not.
In order to recover for the losses,early this year (April/May),we had to start replanting those lost acres so that we can be able to meet our target which we did successfully. Around July I started receiving calls practically almost every hour, to sell off his cassava and return the proceed to him. How would I sell immature cassava or how would I use 25tons of truck transport 10tons or less worth of cassava?A lot of questions keep racing through my mind.
With so much pressure after some months,I finally succumb and have to sell some of our cassava with his own with the proceed sent into his account. We presently have some of his planted and not-yet-mature cassava on our farm
Immediately after he acknowledge the 100k of the proceed paid into his account,he keep telling me I cheated him,and he will deal with me and that I will not survive this. Even though I call and send SMS to explain things to him but he will it give me a listening ear. I guess this is one of his strategy to paime me in a bad light? He started sending life threatening message to me,I decided not to pick his call.I am still seeking advice on next steps to take I think this is beyond business,Even if you have any personal issue with me,its something that you can discuss with me than trying to assassinate my character
^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ I believe you mean well but the alleged fire set you back.
Did you not get Agric Insurance?...
I suggest that you give him MORE money so he can pay up his rent and take care of the immediate needs of his family since he has lost his job since 2016!
You can then go ahead and harvest the replanted crop of cassava and sell to the offtakers when the crop cycle ends at a good price. You can even process the cassava into gari, fufu, chips etc, to make more money.
It is a sacrifice YOU have to make and please pick up his calls. You need to under-promise but over-deliver!
pk2000000: hello all, kindly read my story and advise
my name is folorunsho kayode, in 2016, i engaged mr yusuff gbenga adewale whom i met on nairaland, he is into farm management, we all know him https://www.nairaland.com/lesgupnigeria. I lived in the north, i sent him money to purchase a four Hectares of land for cassava plantation, i gave him money for cassave stems,planting, weeding, etc for the 4 Hectare of land, according to the schedule he sent to me, each Hectare is expected to yield N375,000, according to the schedule below, the the total yield for 4 hectare would be N1,500,000
STAGE 1 Farm Size 1 Hectare Stage 1.1
Clearing 30,000 1 st Ploughing 7,000 2 nd Ploughing 7,000 Stage 1.1 total (N) 44,000
Stage 1.2 N350 per bundle 60 bundles/hectare
10 month improved cassava stem 21,000 Transportation of stems 30,000 Planting 12,000 Stage 1.2 Total ( N) 63,000
Stage 2
1 st weeding 9,000 Poultry manure 6,000 Application 7,000 Stage Total (N) 22,000
now, my brothers and sisters the cassva has been harvested according to mr yusuff gbenga, and what he sent to my account is N100,000 as harvest yield for 4 hectares of cassava plantation He could not give any reasonable explanation to this ridiculous figures, right now he no longer picks my calls. this is the money am expected to use to pay my rent, i have been out of job since 2016, i have 5 children, now we have been given quite notice. please help me beg him to give me my harvest money, this is the business i thought would bring succor to my family after days of hunger and humiliation. his phone no is 08164628081. for any assistance on this issue kindly contact me on 08038177671. i also plead to admin to help put on front page, i want all Nigerian to contribute to this
^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ Did you sign a legally binding agreement with him?
Theswdmanjohn: This is plantain plantation simplified, Do you that with just 350k you can be a proud owner of one acre of plantain plantation on rented one acre of land and make great profiit withoout lifting a hoe or cutlass...
This will not even disturb your current business or career and yet create another source of income. The 350k will include lease of the land purchase of hybrid suckers (1000pieces) irrigation and farm management for the year till harvest planting and clearing of the farm land weeding and farm maintenance...
we shall not collect any physical cash from you but all transactions must be made throught the company's account for better tracing, documentation and accountability.
you can reach me on 08135167437, i will be happy to help you creat alternative streams of income.
Huffington: I consider it an honour to stand before this great gathering today and talk about the future of Nigeria. Fellow compatriots; Agriculture is the future of our country. If we look back a little, we may recall that the earliest foundation of Nigeria’s economy was laid in Agriculture. And I dare say that with the fast approaching irrelevance of oil, Agriculture will resume its pride of place in our national economy. This is not a prophecy. No! This is the fact before us!
Now, before go further, I must of necessity, thank Adegboyega Awomolo & Associates Annual Colloquium for finding me worthy of delivering this year’s lecture. I have always said that what makes any democracy strong is not only the presence of institutions but the quality of conversations and dialogues that happen among its citizens. Adegboyega Awomolo & Associates are lending a big depth to our democracy with this initiative. I think they deserve a round of applause. Thank you.
Why Agriculture? Now, it may be important to note that no meaningful conversation on agriculture can take place in Nigeria without remembering that this great country has 91 million hectares of land out of which 84 million hectares are arable. And that only 40% of this 84 million arable land has been cultivated so far. That Nigeria is blessed with 230 billion cubic meters of water. That Nigeria is blessed with the presence of two of Africa’s largest rivers and has abundant rainfall in over two thirds of her territory. I suppose this makes Nigeria a natural habitat for agriculture. No wonder therefore that before we finally allowed ourselves to be lulled to sleep by the flow of crude oil, Nigeria was a global agricultural power, noted as the world’s largest producer of palm oil and groundnuts and the second largest exporter of coca in the 1960s.
My further research efforts into our agricultural environment revealed that Nigeria is currently ranked as the second largest producer of tomatoes in Africa and the 13th in the world with a production output of 1.701 million tonnes of tomatoes per annum. I also found out that Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of Shea Nuts with 57% contribution to the global output that is valued at $3.8bn dollars. Shea Nuts which are the primary source of Shea Butter are grown in Kogi, Kwara, Oyo, Ondo and Ogun States at the moment. It can be grown in other states of the federation. I also found out that Nigeria consumes 6 million tonnes of chicken in a year but we produce only 1.5 million tonnes. So, any smart investor can see the goldmine that is waiting in poultry and Shea Butter farming. But that is by the way!
Let me quickly observe that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has done a good job in articulating a brilliant Agricultural Vision for the country. According to them, the vision is to “achieve a hunger-free Nigeria through an agricultural sector that drives income growth, accelerates achievement of food and nutritional security, generates employment and transforms Nigeria into a leading player in global food markets to grow wealth for millions of farmers”.
Fellow compatriots, it is not hard to see that perhaps driven by this Vision, Nigeria experienced a surge in national food production between 2011 and 2014. Facts from the official website of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture indicate a growth of 21 million metric tonnes which had a significant impact on food imports. Expectedly, during that period, our food import bill dropped from N3.19 trillion in 2011 to N635 billion in 2013, indicating a reduction rate of 403%. It is impressive to note that we recorded this feat in only two years.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am taking us through all these facts so that we can all see what we left behind in the choice we made in the past and what we can gain from redirecting our gaze to Agriculture as one of the most attractive alternatives to our mono-economic status. Indeed, Nigeria has everything it takes to change her economic narrative and change her history! Interestingly, that is exactly what we are trying to do in Anambra State today –
Anambra State We have a very interesting story in Anambra State. With only 4,844 square kilometres of land, Anambra is Nigeria’s second smallest state. It is just slightly bigger than Lagos. And with over 950 deep gully erosion sites, we are obviously smaller than Lagos in land mass. Thankfully, that is where the bad side ends. The good side to the Anambra story is that the state has 100% arable land. The second point also is that we do not only have the knowledge of what to do with our land we also have the needed human capital who have the resources and the know-how to do something with what we have.
As some of you may be aware, Anambra is home to some of black Africa’s most illustrious men and women. We are pioneers and achievers in so many fields. God has blessed us with a large repository of gifted men and women who any focused leader can call upon to lend a hand in the effort to build a better state. And that was exactly what we did when I was sworn in as the governor of the state on March 17, 2014.
Our Story It is important to note that every purposeful journey ought to begin with a plan. A plan serves as a compass that guides us like the solitary star that guided the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem to see Jesus. In appreciation of this, my team and I started with clear Vision and Mission Statements. I declared that my Vision is to make Anambra State the First Choice investment destination and a hub for industrialization and commercial activities while my Mission is to make Anambra State a socially stable, business-friendly environment that would attract both indigenes and foreigners to seek wealth creating opportunities. I also crafted an Economic Blueprint known as the Four Pillars of Development which seeks to develop Anambra through Agriculture, Trade & Commerce, Industrialization and Oil & Gas.
Ladies and gentlemen, you can see that from the very beginning, I had clear Vision and Mission Statements. You can also see that I have an Economic Blueprint. And perhaps more importantly, you can see that Agriculture is the number one pillar of my Blueprint. So, we did not get to where we are by chance. That is why when people doubt some of the modest achievements we have recorded and seek ways to put them down, we do not pay them any mind at all because there is nothing that is happing in the agricultural sector in Anambra State today that we did not plan for. There is nothing we did not prefigure. And that, to my mind, is the way it should be.
Agriculture should not be a subject of speculative or haphazard engagement. It should not be something we stumble onto by chance. It should be a deliberate and pragmatic choice. That is the only way we can extract value from it. That was the way our founding fathers made something of value out of it. For instance, a trip through the old Eastern Region would easily show all the farm settlements across the region set up by the former Premier, Dr. Michael Okpara that covers diverse crops from rice, cassava, plantain and pineapple to palm oil and cocoa. I am happy to say that we are travelling on the same trajectory in Anambra State today as we continue to follow a special blueprint put together by the 14-Man Committee on Agriculture that I set up shortly after my inauguration that was headed by the renowned Professor Chukwuemeka Omaliko, a well-known agronomist.
First Steps When we set out, my team and I were quick to realise that with only 4,844 square kilometres of land, we certainly do not have enough elbowroom for agriculture in Anambra State. Out of this lot, about 309,120 hectares of land, which is about 55% of the arable land, is already under cultivation. So, we figured that we had to be strategic in our management of land. As a result, the 14-Man Special Committee on Agriculture headed by Prof. Omaliko was mandated to carry out extensive tests on soil types and advise us on what crop should grow where. We figured that it was important to know where rice would grow best, where cassava would grow best and where maize would grow best based on soil type. We went a little further than that, actually. We also set up a Land Acquisition Committee, headed by Dr. Tim Menakaya; a former Minister. The Land Acquisition Committee was vested with the mandate of negotiating with the different communities across the state to acquire land for large scale farming and other purposes. Today, as more and more Agro-investors come to make inquiries about the possibilities of mechanized farming in Anambra State, we welcome them with open arms and strong assurances that come from having done our homework well. I would advocate a similar strategic approach for Nigeria. We must conduct a thorough assessment of what we have in terms of land and crop suitability to specific soils as a precursor to intense agricultural production in the 21st Century. The era of guesswork and gut-feeling should be behind us!
How we are structured One of the things that have given us a huge advantage in our quest to position Anambra State as a leader in Agriculture in Nigeria and beyond is what I choose to call Precision Agriculture. What this means is that we have effectively adapted technology to serve specific purposes in our agricultural programme in the state. And this is what we did – we set up a Situation Monitoring Room in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization, Processing and Exports where we carry out a smooth monitoring and evaluation of activities in all farms in Anambra State. We have a data bank of our farmers, their farms, the location of their farms and the crops they produce and we can effectively monitor progress on these farms from the Situation Room in Awka. By this also, our investors are more informed about the level of bankable investment that they require .We also put a call and SMS through to these farmers when necessary. At the moment from our database, we have 93,000 validated farmers and 1850 validated cooperatives spread across 21 local government areas in our data bank. A breakdown of this figure shows that 11,425 farmers are involved in rice production, 36,245 farmers produce cassava while 4000 farmers are into maize production. We also have 649 cooperatives involved in cassava production, 621 cooperatives in rice production and 155 in maize production. While more farmers are being captured to update the data bank, a look at the farmers distribution chart shows the following –
SEE TABLE 1 AND 2 ATTACHED Similarly, the production targets that Anambra has achieved on account of our intervention on our three staple crops are as follows – Farm Type
SEE TABLE 3 ATTACHED All these were achieved because of the training and other assistance that my administration provides to Anambra farmers.
Lighting the Flame When we ignited the fire of the Agro-Revolution in Anambra State on May 15, 2014, many people did not think we were serious about our action. It just didn’t make sense that anyone would be talking about farming in Anambra State. People wondered what had happened to the markets in Onitsha and Nnewi and all the markets across the world where our people are driving commerce. They believed the stereotype that portrays Ndigbo as nothing more than traders looking for the smallest human settlement to set up their shops. But we know that from pre-historical times, our ancestors had great farmers whose wealth was measured in the number and size of the barns where they stored their yams. It was a thing of pride among our ancestors to go beyond feeding one’s family to organizing lavish feasts for the entire community. This often manifested when they took highly revered titles or when they gave out their children in marriage. Our thinking then was, if our ancestors could feed an entire village in pre-history, Anambra State should be able to produce enough food to feed Ndi Anambra and still have enough remnants to export to the rest of the world. So, when I lit the fire of our Agro-Revolution in Nteje, Oyi Local Government Area, I knew that I was not only starting a new and dignifying chapter for my people but I was also challenging ancient stereotypes. Nevertheless, I went ahead to ignite the Revolution with the flag off of the Farming Season. It turned out a battle cry of sorts. We rolled out 100 tractors and handed out tonnes of improved varieties of seedlings. We organised our famers into cooperatives for ease of management and effective distribution of agricultural support.
Our Approach In order to keep a sharp focus on our drive for excellence, we had to come up with a concise objective in Agriculture. We declared that our Objective is to ensure that Anambra State joins the Top-3 states in agricultural production in Nigeria. We needed an objective that would galvanize all our efforts in one direction. With our objective intact, we began the quest for credible partnerships. It is important to note at this juncture that there can be no serious transformational effort in agriculture without a strategic partnership with the private sector. In our case in Anambra State, we have the advantage of having many entrepreneurs who have the resources and the knowledge to play a role in our programme. What was needed from us was to demonstrate a bold resolve to push through our initiatives and show commitment to our own plans. In other words, the investors were simply waiting for our body language.
A major part of our body language is the setting up of the Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency (ANSIPPA) which was conceived as a one-stop investment supermarket that offers almost instantaneous solutions to the challenges a prospective investor encounters in the process of putting down his money for profit within an economic system. ANSIPPA made the entire process of investing in Anambra State seem like a walk in the park; eliminating all the bureaucracy and making our response rate to investment inquiries work like magic. I must not fail to note at this juncture that before ANSIPPA, we had also demonstrated a more convincing body language with the intense crackdown on criminals in the state which turned Anambra into the safest state in the federation. All these form a major part of making the operating climate friendly and receptive to investors.
Our Investment Story A direct result of creating a favourable investment climate is that it creates a ripple in the investment community. Investors are often highly aware of the existence of a new investment haven. Being risk takers, they have a nose for unlikely information and are more likely to hear local news than the residents of a particular community. The same principle applies to our narrative of excellence in Anambra State. On hearing the modest achievements we had recorded in fighting insecurity and in setting up a proper institution like ANSIPPA, many investors came knocking on the door. Among these risk-takers are 9 Agro-investors who together have collectively changed the agricultural landscape of Anambra State. These investors include Coscharis Farms which invested $110m dollars in rice production, Joseph Agro Limited with $150 million dollars in rice production, Delfarms Ltd with $200 million dollars in integrated farm project, Novtech Farms with $50m dollars in rice production, Eckcel Farms with $100 million dollars in tomato production, Lynden Farms with $61 million dollars in integrated farm project, MIP Farms with $10 million dollars in tomatoes and Greenhouse production, Tricity Integrated Farms with $11.4 million dollars and Silos & Grains with $23.5 million dollars in a malting plant.
Success Stories While most of our partnerships with Agro-investors in Anambra State have taken off, companies like Coscharis Farms, Joseph Agro Ltd, Delfarms, Lynden Farms, MIP Farms and others appear clearly in the lead at the moment. In fact, Coscharis Farms has demonstrated extraordinary passion and commitment to change our agricultural narrative. The company played a key role in pushing our local rice production from 80 metric tonnes to 210,000 metric tonnes. Anambra consumes 320,000 metric tonnes of rice per year. At this rate, Coscharis Farms alone can easily help us to meet and surpass our rice consumption in Anambra State in two or less harvest seasons. Coscharis is practising big industrial farming with ultra-modern machines. The company sits on about 2800 Hectares out of which only 2000 hectares have been cultivated so far. At optimum capacity, Coscharis will be producing about 120,000 metric tonnes of rice per annum. There is also Joseph Agro which farms on 500 hectares and Novtech Farms with 1000 hectares and 200 hectares.
The Special Story of Stine Industries Ltd Stine Industries has earned a mention in this lecture because of the prominent role it played in the emergence of the famous Anambra Rice. Stine is the leading rice mill in Anambra State with a capacity to produce 440 metric tonnes of rice, approximately 10 trailer loads of rice in a day. Stine is one of the success stories of my administration as it is a beneficiary of the first round of disbursements of N2 billion we made to start-ups in Anambra State under the auspices of the Anambra Small Business Agency (ASBA).
Indeed, what we know today as Anambra Rice is a product of the collaboration between the rice farmers and Stine Industries. The good news is that Anambra Rice was adjudged the Best Rice Brand in Africa at the last African Produce Exhibition in Lagos in February this year. It defeated contending brands from South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Cameroun, Zambia and Ghana to emerge Africa’s Best. Ladies and gentlemen, you may recall that we set out to become one of the Top-3 states in Agriculture in Nigeria. But we now have an international recognition in less than two years. That is the power of vision and focus!
Our Export Success Story Another success story that I must not fail to mention is our Agricultural Export Programme. In anticipation of the outcome of our Agro-Revolution, we established the Desk and mandated it to do the following –
- Develop Agro allied export market potentials for the State. - Identify exportable products and align them with the various famers cooperatives - Develop market linkages internally and across the value chain. - To Ascertain and identify IGR opportunities that exist in each process. - To develop opportunities with industrialists and manufacturers who require Agro products as raw materials.
Explorers: The most armed man in America says he's sold more guns out of his Colorado Springs compound in the past three weeks than in the last eight months after two deadly mass shootings in Las Vegas and Texas.
In the aftermath of two of the worst mass shootings in American history, Bernstein is having record sales.
'We've been selling more guns in the last three weeks than we have in the last eight months,' Bernstein said to ABC News.
Bernstein also said his gun shop sold out of bump stocks shortly after the Las Vegas massacre, which killed 58 people and injured over 500.
Mel Bernstein, 71, became known as the most heavily armed man after he got thousands of high-powered weapons, bazookas and machine guns.
He claims to have over 4,000 weapons at his compound known as Dragonland, which includes a gun shop, six shooting ranges, military museum, paintball park, motorcross park and his home.
Bernstein's military collection is worth upwards of $10million( ₦3.56Billion)
Fulaman198: Fulbe, bibbe fulbe lessdi afrika, mi noddi on! I want to share this video no matter if you are a Nigerian Fulani, Guinean Fulani, Mauritanian Fulani, Senegalese Fulani, Nigerien (from Niger Republic) Fulani, Ghanaian Fulani, Chadian Fulani, Malian Fulani, Sierra Leonian Fulani, Cameroonian, Fulani, Burkinabe Fulani, etc. etc. you need to remember your culture and your root. A Fulani man or woman does not eat alone and is always giving to those around them. Be finatawa men! Allah wallu en!
Fulaman198: Your assessment isn't exactly correct. The Fulani in Nigeria are from all different parts of Fulani lands. There are about 20 - 25 different clans in Nigeria and about 3 or 4 major Fulfulde dialects. Some Fulani currently living in Nigeria came from what is today Mali. The Fulani in the Northwestern Part of Nigeria speak a dialect similar to Fulfulde spoken in Mali, Western Niger Republic, Burkina Faso, etc. It is often referred to as Maasinakoore or Central Fulfulde.
The Fulfulde spoken amongst the Fulani in Eastern Niger Republic, NE Nigeria, Chad, Central African Republic and Sudan is 25% different from Central Fulfulde. It is often referred to as Eastern Fulfulde or Adamawaare.
NOTE: Fulani are not monolithic and did not all come from the same area. There are Fulani in Nigeria that have dialects similar to those living in Senegal, there are Fulani in Nigeria that have dialects similar to those living in Guinea and there are Fulani in Nigeria that have dialects similar to those living in Mali.
^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ @Fulaman198
Brilliant info... Mallam Nasir El-Rufai said on Channels TV crew[Maupe, Chamberlain] in 2016 during the Kaduna Economic Summit that his ancestors came into present-day Nigeria from Futa Jallon in Guinea, West Africa.
He gave this info while talking about how the Fulani herdsmen got their weapons.
StreetView is available in major areas of Lagos and the tech giant is looking to make the feature available across the country soon. If you don’t know what Google StreetView is, I’ll break it down for you: it is a super handy feature on Google Maps that lets you view panoramic images of, well, streets. Basically, you will be able view 360-degree images of streets and you can do that now because the feature is now available in Nigeria, starting with Lagos.
Suren Ruhela, who leads Google Maps for emerging countries, made the announcement at the Google For Nigeria event which took place at the Landmark Event Center, Victoria Island, Lagos, yesterday, Thursday, July 27, 2017. The Google exec, in his announcement, stated that StreetView is available in major areas of Lagos and the tech giant is looking to make the feature available across the country soon.
In addition to StreetView, Ruhela also announced that thousands of new addresses have been added to Maps to improve adress search experience for users. Detailed outlines of buildings, both residential and commercial, have also been added to Maps of Nigeria so users can get details as close to the real deal as possible. More than 100,000 new small and medium-scale businesses have also been added to Maps to improve your experience and the quality of Google Maps.
In another announcement, Ruhela also stated that the number of Nigerians who use Maps have doubled in the past year, adding that Google’s Local Guides program now has over 100,000 people in its network. You can check out Google StreetView by clicking on the figurine located at the bottom of the zoom buttons on Google Maps.
ADEWUMIMichael: Not so long ago the Nigerian Naira was a very strong currency, so strong that in the 70’s and 80’s and to be specific as at 1979/1980 fifty five kobo (55k) could fetch you about one dollar ($1).
Ever since the exploitation and discovery of crude oil in Nigeria, the major source of foreign currency (Forex) in Nigeria shifted from agriculture to crude oil hence the foreign reserves was deeply affected with the discovery of shale oil process of extracting oil, the crude oil price dropped significantly hence depleting the foreign reserves.
The love for western made products also played a significant role in fall of the Naira currency as most products were imported into Nigeria which required Dollars to purchase hence making the demand for the Dollar a scarce commodity. Importation was so bad that Nigeria which was one of the highest exporters of agricultural products became an importer to products such as rice, garri, cocoa and much more.
Older generations would be able to relate to the good times better when the Naira was as strong as the Dollar but for the newer generation seeking the history of the Naira against the dollar this article should help you with that.
Lesgupnigeria: yusuffgbenga gmail.com, info@waleagroservicesnigeria.com 08092034147/08164628081 Farm setup,Farm Management and Consultancy (Crop production &Processing) Check my facebook page on www.Facebook.com/waleagro
Born2Breed: Both of them were close and swore to an oath to protect each other no matter what.
Seems they both had promination or Bello was in the know of the counter coup and hinted Nwankwo.
^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ I read an interview 2 years ago which was granted to Punch by one of the children of Adekunle Fajuyi indicating that Northern/Middle-Belt soldiers didn't want to kill him... but his killing was unintended and Theophilus Danjuma apologised/condoled with the Fajuyi family.
The real target was Aguiyi-Ironsi, but Fajuyi's Ekiti "strong-head," laced with military loyalty and discipline led to his death!
Nwankwo saw an opening in the Ibadan forest and promptly escaped with his injuries while being aided by his friend - Bello.
Olu317: These are older Yoruba words used instead of modern day ones. Dialects of central Yoruba and Eastern Yoruba, when these words are pronounced don't sound 100% like North West Yoruba, despite the fact that they speak same language which is intelligible to all to understand. Take for instance, Ala means white,which is an older word for white in Yoruba. And white can also be funfun, while some Eastern Yoruba dialects pronounce funfun as finfin. Yoruba is complex but not as bad as not knowing the truth about ourselves to large extent. Despite influence from different groups, certain facts can't be taken away, which is oral history despite its flaws, which is normal. Itsekiri language is absolutely one major dialect of Yoruba.
^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ @Olu317
Your lucid post about older Yoruba words just made things clearer for me
Did you know that the Olukumis of Aniocha North LGA, Delta State who are indigenous to that area after migrating from Bini area during the Ogiso era [according to the king of Ugbodu, HRM Oloza Ayo Isinyemeze], via Esan territory?
Oloza [means Oloja] title.
Olukumis are of Yoruba ancestry from the Akure/Owo axis and the call white [efun]. One of the 5 Olukunmi communities apart from Ugbodu[The hometown of the 1985 U-16 World Cup Champion captain Nduka Ugbade], is Ukwu Nzu[Eko Efun in Olukunmi language] or White Chalk in English.
Acculturation of the Olukunmis came as a result of interactions with Ibo-speaking communities of Delta North or Anioma. Ibo-speaking does not necessarily mean all the people of Delta North are descendants of Eastern Ibo. Igalas, Esans, Bini, Yoruba, Urhobo, Ibo constitute the ethnicities that make up the ANIOMA axis of Delta State.
kn23h: Niyi Omodara, a young entrepreneur and member of the YALI Network, is the founder, designer and principal craftsman of Extra Valuable Apparel (EVA)
gidgiddy: On the 29th of July 1966, Major General Aguiyi-Ironsi, the Military Head of state, stopped over in Ibadan as part of a Nationwide tour. He was recieved by Lt Colonel Fajuyi who was Military Governor of the Western Region. Before this visit, Ironsi had been warned several times that Northern elements in the Nigerian Army were planning a counter-Coup to which Ironsi dismissed as 'mere rumour'. After Ironsi and Fajuyi had conducted several meeting and consultations, both men retired to Government House for the night. Early in the morning the next day, a detachment of Soldiers led by Major Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma surrounded Government house Ibadan. On sensing the danger outside, Ironsi hid his son, Thomas Ironsi, in a wardrobe before the Solidiers forced their way into Government House. Ironsi, Fajuyi, Ironsi's ADC Captain Nwankwo and Fajuyi's ADC Lt Bello were all arrested. The four men were taken to a thick forest on the outskirts of Ibadan, off Iwo road. Because Lt Bello was a Northerner, he was released while Nwankwo, Fajuyi and Ironsi were badly beaten. When Fajuyi could no longer stand on his two legs, he was gunned down. It was during the shooting of Fajuyi that Lt Bello created a distraction which helped Captain Nwankwo to escape. Thereafter, Ironsi was also executed.
As part of the Aburi agreement, Ironsi's body was later flown to the East where he was given a state burial in his hometown Umuahia. People openly chanted at Ojukwu to pull the Eastern Region out of Nigeria during the burial proceedings.
Ironsi's ADC, Captain Andrew Nwankwo escaped from Ibadan back to the East and would later fight on the Biafran side during the war. He later became a Senator representing Ebonyi state.
Lt Bello who helped him escape died in the war
Thomas Ironsi would later become a minister under the regime of Obasunjo.
Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma who killed Ironsi would later become Chief of Army Staff. He retired from the Army in 1979 and went on to become Chairman of Nestle Nigeria. He was appointed Defence minister during the regime of Obasanjo and is today a billionaire Oil mogul.
^^^^^^^^^ Seeing this rare historical picture for the first time.
The ADC to Ironsi has the Lt. Bello to thank for making his escape possible.
kn23h: Instead of going for shoes made in Aba, I would rather go for shoes made in Ibadan because when it comes to cheap prices and Quality product I trust Yorubas.
Niyi Omodara, a young entrepreneur and member of the YALI Network, is the founder, designer and principal craftsman of Extra Valuable Apparel (EVA), a footwear company in Akure, Nigeria. He is a self-taught craftsman who started making slippers for his family in the early 1990s. Omodara is now producing “bespoke” shoes, customized for a client and made to order. His vision for EVA is to “manufacture world-class leather products through superior designs and quality materials.”
^^^^^^^^ Brilliant... SW guys have blown to international standards.
#NO MORE IMPORTED SHOES #BAN IMPORTED SHOES
Just get treated leather from the North and voilà, bespoke shoes are ready! Proud of what creative Nigerians from all the major parts of Nigeria are doing now.
Stanlyag: The son Of late General Philip Effiong (Biafra's Second In Command during the Nigerian Biafra war), Dr. Philip Effiong Jr., Lectures On Biafra . WATCH
Olu317: *BRITON CONFESSES TO FRAUDULENT CENSUS IN NIGERIA* The man Harold Smith is not new in Nigerian history. He is one of the architects of colonial foundation that midwife Nigerian independence in 1960. His response was "I am in my 80s now; I have agreed but in the past' they' did not want me to say anything, but now I don't want to go to my grave without telling the truth about the atrocities perpetrated in Africa by the colonialists. Brothers and sisters; on Ben TV last Thursday, Harold Smith was on a program to reveal what went behind the scene before the independence. The Oxford University graduate had this to say about his role in Nigeria pre and after independence era. ‘Our agenda was to completely exploit Africa . Nigeria was my duty post. When we assessed Nigeria, this was what we found in the southern region; strength, intelligence, determination to succeed, well established history, complex but focused life style, great hope and aspirations… the East is good in business and technology, the west is good in administration and commerce, law and medicine, but it was a pity we planned our agenda to give power "at all cost" to the northerner. They seemed to be submissive and silly of a kind. Our mission was accomplished by destroying the opposition at all fronts. The west led in the fight for the independence, and was punished for asking for freedom. They will not rule Nigeria ! Harold Smith confessed that the Census results were announced before they were counted. Despite seeing vast land with no human but cattle in the north, we still gave the north 55 million instead of 32 Million.This was to be used to maintain their majority votes and future power bid. He stated that the West without Lagos was the most populous in Nigeria at that time but we ignored that. The north was seriously encouraged to go into the military. According to him, they believe that the south may attend western education, but future leaders will always come from military background. Their traditional rulers were to be made influential and super human. The northerners were given accelerated promotions both in the military and civil service to justify their superiority over the south. Everything was to work against the south. We truncated their good plan for their future. "I was very sorry for the A.G; it was a great party too much for African standard. We planned to destroy Awolowo and Azikiwe well, the west and the east and sowed a seed of discord among them". We tricked Azikiwe into accepting to be president having known that Balewa will be the main man with power. Awolowo has to go to jail to cripple his genius plans for a greater Nigeria . However, Harold Smith justified the British agenda of colonialism in Nigeria , which he believed was originally to help build Africa after the ruins of slave trade, but lamented that the British only looked after themselves and not after Nigerian interest. The British really let Nigeria down. When I see Nigerian been accused of fraud and from what I saw on the streets of Lagos ; the British were worst fraudsters.Looking at the northern leaders now he said, "If they have any agenda in Nigeria at all, sadly it is only for the north, and nothing for Nigeria . He stated that the British look after the British people and this is so all over the world. He said the time has come now to see people of intelligent minds with an open and inclusive agenda for all Nigerians in power…people who will really look after Nigerians large population…but "I still curiously and sorrowfully see now that the British has not let go of Nigeria…her wealth,. her potentials, her future. He opined that the Caucasian people now assert themselves as the keeper of the "New Age" keys. He therefore said that it is only logical for Europeans to maintain their position of power, scientific superiority, economic exploitation, they must continue to perpetuate their lies and falsehoods and this is the most unkindest cut of all in relation to Nigeria situation!
According to him, Nigeria , a great nation was crippled not because of military juntas or corrupt leaders alone but by the British and American fear of Nigeria great future. He confessed, "The fear of the place that will be our ‘dumping ground' really occupied our minds". Some of the things he said were not new to Nigerians or to the whole world but hearing it from the horse's mouth is quite revealing and established more reality zones. He finally submitted that the colonial masters have caused havoc while they were in Africa , and planted timed bombs when they finally left. What we see since independence, the administration of new internal colonial masters by fellow Nigerians holding sway in power is doing more damage to Nigeria . Instead of detonating the time bombs planted by the British, the north is planting mines. He added that ‘It was my duty to carry out all of the above and I was loyal to my country. Nigerians should try to be loyal to their country leaders and followers alike. Love your country. You have got the potentials to be great again and the whole world knows this'. I am sorry for the above evil done to Nigeria . I can't say sorry enough……
Travel › Re: 4 Ways Uber And Taxify Are Cheating Nigerians by Konquest: 11:26pm On Nov 14, 2017
. Williams says he recently heard of a Lockito trip that cost more than 5 times that amount.
