₦airaland Forum

Feed me more: Wow!

See? NPF can be brilliant when they really need to be, it's just the incentives aren't there for them to carry out thier job. The risk they face is enormous and so they should be well paid for them to carry out their duties.

Bravo to them, the task of unearthing the criminals from different states must have been a daunting task, they did a diligent job.

Once again Bravo!

Omen100: what gesture are you commending? were was him when the project was initiated? please don't allow yourself to be deceive by those clueless balyesan.

Omen100: what is good about nothing because nothing is been done there.

spywareczar: ubanka munafiki ne, kuma uwaka kafiri ce, shege dakiki kamar ka. Deep inside Ɣøµ, Ɣøµ re rejoicing with them, who is kafiri?? Uwaka ko?? Bloody jihadist lyk Ɣøµ.

sakaguchi: If their is a way Jonathan can learn how these Boko Haramites are trained so that the Nigerian police can learn from them. The way the gallantly engage security agencies in gun-battles with intrepid demeanour is quite commendable, many at times in their gun battle with Nigeria police force, our men in black take to their heels.
Their has to be a way Mohammed Shekau is running his government in this regard that the federal government is not, despite their short span of training.

phreakabit: WOW! That's simply AMAZING! I am sure anyone that looks at all threads started by you (link below) will know why.
[url]https://www.nairaland.com/taharqa/topics [/url]


[size=18pt]SMH![/size]

maclatunji: It will be difficult to educate you when you are typing 'i and nil' when you mean 'aye' and 'nay' which mean 'yes' and 'no' respectively.

Anyway, Google his name and read more about him, you can do the same for GEJ. Then compare and contrast the two.

It is not certain that the APC will go for Tambuwal but make no mistake, he is a man with conviction and good leadership qualities. If he leaves the PDP and runs for President, he is likely to get my vote.

Akainzo: So by your reasoning, importers spend the Foreign reserves without paying or reimbursement to the FGN.

You CANNOT save what you did not budget for! Since FGN did not budget for this importation, how then did they save the money / funds?

The right thing to say is that importation REDUCED, but definitely not saved from the FGN perspective.

You also claimed that dollar demand reduced, can you show where that was displayed? In 2012, the dollar rose from 158 to 160, so if there was less demand on the dollar, where commeth the increase in exchange rate? All this voodoo maths / claims that GEJ and his government keep dishing out, one day, it would all come unraveling.

Nigeria's dream of becoming a major player in the steel sector is finally coming to reality, as its first consignment of steel for export begins this month. African Foundries Limited, a foreign company operating in Nigeria, will begin export of steel to Ghana this April, to finally break the jinx and put the country on the global steel map.

African Foundries Limited, with production capacity of 500,000 tons of steel billets, has a state of the art continuous rolling facility, and is the only TMT producing mill in Nigeria, and its first export consignment is about five metric tons.

Sanjay Kumar,the company’s managing director, said exports would commence on April 27, 2013.

“Today is a proud and pleasant moment, and we are showcasing our feat to announce the breakthrough, because we have started to produce for export,” Kumar declared, adding that the firm started with one five ton capacity induction furnace in 2010.

Kumar added that the company now has multiple furnaces of bigger capacity, along with a re-bar mill and a structural rolling mill, with current capacity at 500,000 tons per year.

“With this plant and the two others in Ikorodu, Lagos and Suleja, in Niger state, we are targeting 1 million metric tons per year to be able to position ourselves for the 1.5 million metric tons Nigerians demand for steel.”

African Steel mill has 200,000 metric tons capacity while Abuja Steel mills in Suleja which will be commissioned soon have 150,000 metric tons per year capacity.

Kumar said the company's products are at par with what obtains in other parts of the world, adding that the main component is scraps sourced by about 5,000 otherwise unemployed youths.

African Foundries' clients are drawn from the construction industry, where lots of heavy construction projects are on-going across the country. This is complemented by the normal market consumption from the 36 states.

“Big construction firms depend on us and we produce to their specifications”, says Kumar who highlighted several challenges of which infrastructure and import duty regime are key.

“The steel industry will develop better, if the import regime is favourable. Nigeria is one of the richest ,especially in iron-ore, and the development of the industry will put the country at par with others in five years,” Sanjay said, adding that infrastructure such as good roads is hampering production.

The country’s feat is coming on the heels of the Federal Government’s protracted failures to develop the steel sector due to mismanagement and abandonment of its several steel companies.

The Federal Government in 1971 established an extra-ministerial agency called “Nigerian Steel Development Authority” (NSDA) and backed up by Decree to focalise efforts required to focalise a steel plant.

The agency that was later dissolved, gave birth to Ajaokuta Steel Project, Ajaokuta, Delta Steel Company, Ovwian - Aladja , Jos Steel Rolling Company, Jos , and Katsina Steel Rolling Company, Katsina.

Others are Oshogbo Steel Rolling Company, Oshogbo, National Iron Ore Mining Company, Itakpe, National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency, Kaduna, National Metallurgical Development Center, Jos and Metallurgical Training Institute, Onitsha.

Today however, despite the huge resources ploughed into Nigeria’s steel industry, the sector has been comatose and Ajaokuta Steel Complex, Kogi State; Delta Steel Complex, Aladja, Delta State; Osogbo Steel Rolling Mill and Katsina Steel Rolling Mill, are in pathetic situations.

But where the government has failed, African Foundries Ltd, a flagship of the African Steel Mill group, commissioned in 2011 and located in Ogijo, Ogun state has succeeded and will begin export of about 5,000 metric tons of TMT rebar to Ghana by the third week of April.

gtrust:



You're so so negative and I wonder what you're trying to achieve

You are fully aware that the 3rd component you mentioned (CBN defending the Naira!) is where people looking for Dollars to import goods go to!
So, if people are not importing then the demand for dollars declines and hence the Naira appreciates and ofcourse the foreign reserve will grow.
It is very elementary and very clear even from your own write-up!

Men, Nigeria is our ONLY coountry oh!
Try your best to help build it!

thelastPope: Techncally, the judge didnt commit an offence, so you cannot met out a criminal punishment to him. This is more on ethics. Except evidence emerges that he actually collected bribe, this is the best they can do. So I think it is still a great step.

omo mame: Its not all about tribalism or religion bro.... Its all about competency and a good patriot who can serve with the high interest of the masses

lacasa: Tambuwal can pass for Nigeria, i'm oк with this arrangement if it is eventually agreed upon

Missonas: FG knew dat only 520,000 wud most lykly be admitted and yet sold d forms to abt 1.7m candidates?height of insentivity on the masses!and they tawking abt mega universities when they cant even manage the mini ones we have.yea ryt mr president is concerned bt wat will dat do 2d studnts dat studied hard,passed and would still be denied admission?

slimghost: Truth is, Amaechi is so useless to GEJ now that he can afford to give him the Sylva treatment. You lost souls were here on NL beating the drums for Sylva and immediately made him a saint. My question is, where is Sylva now? I really thought Amaechi was a wise man. Dude is an example of a retardeen and cluelessness personified!

Sincere 9gerian: Some say there no good news in Nigeria but why would there be good news if reports such as these are killed behind the scene

Following two years of operation of the N100bn intervention fund, the Textiles, Cotton and Garment subsector appears to be regaining breath, LAYI ADELOYE reports

Stakeholders in the Nigerian Cotton, Textile and Garment subsector have assessed th performance of the N100bn intervention fund given to the industry two years ago, submitting that it has revived operations.

They, however, called on the Federal Government to make available to the sector an intervention fund of about N1n, in view of the current economic reality that has made the initial N100bn seed fund inadequate.

Similarly, they called for a longer tenor rate on the repayment of the loans in order to aid the growth and development of the sector.

The operators also commended the Bank of Industry for its painstaking approach to the fund’s management, mobilisation and disbursement, which, according to them, resulted in the revival of the once comatose subsector.

Meanwhile, the bank has said that about 60 per cent of the N100bn initial intervention fund offered by the government had been disbursed to the sector in the last two years.

All these came out at a validation workshop organised by the Bank of Industry, in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

In 2010, the Federal Government introduced a N100bn Cotton Textile and Garment Revival Scheme, managed by the Bank of Industry to reverse this ugly trend of progressive industry collapse and ensure a rapid resuscitation and upgrading of the entire CTG value-chain.

Two years down the line, the subsector’ stakeholders appraised the funds’ performance, saying substantial portion of the fund had been successfully disbursed to beneficiaries, with the impact emerging “very encouraging.”

Recent figures from the Manufacturer’s Association of Nigeria revealed that the capacity utilisation in this subsector has increased tremendously, from 29.14 per cent in 2010 to 49.70 per cent in 2011. In addition, a number of hitherto moribund textile mills have been reopened, with about 8,070 jobs saved, just as over 5,000 new jobs have been created.

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, recalled the developments in the subsector, stressing that the subsector had gone through ups and downs since 1960 but had just started getting some reprieve through the intervention funds.

He said, “Nigeria’s Cotton, Textile and Garment Industry was a leading sector in the economy from the 1960s through to the 1970s, and in the early 1980s, when the industry had about 175 textile mills and employed over 600,000 workers making it the second largest employer of labour, after the government.

“Unfortunately, however, by 2008, the Textile factories still in operation had reduced to 24 textile mills and 10 ginneries employing less than 25,000 people, and with exports less than $50m.

According to him, among the factors that led to the decline in the sector include but not limited to massive influx of textiles and apparels from Asia particularly after the Multi Fibre Agreement expired in 2005; inadequate and epileptic energy supply and heavy reliance on self-generation of power, leading to high and uncompetitive production costs; global economic challenges; massive smuggling of cheaper textiles of lower quality; changing consumer tastes and habits; and huge debt burden on producers in the value chain amongst others.

He said the subsector held strong potential due to its natural cotton endowments, large market size and legacy sector knowledge.

He explained, “Nigeria’s population of over 167 million people represents a natural market for basic textiles and apparel related goods. Potential to export to regional and select developed markets (such as the United States, under the African Growth and Opportunities Agreement tariff regime) are also very attractive.

“The existing textile infrastructure and skill base provides the industry with a pool of knowledgeable workforce particularly in Northern Nigeria. The above make this sector too important for government to ignore.

Aganga said the evaluation of the socio-economic impact of the Fund to the beneficiaries and the national economy at large could, therefore, not have come at a better time.

“Although, it is evident that the CTG Revival Fund Scheme has provided the industry players with a unique source of incentive-based long-term fund for the financing and refinancing of capital investments and revolving working capital, based on my interactions with some of you and my findings during my visits to your factories, I am not unaware of other challenges being faced by you.”

The Chief Executive Officer of BoI, Ms Evelyn Oputu, said there was the need for a line of credit to be opened for the resuscitation of companies in the textile industry, in view of the fact that it remained a key sector generating a high number of jobs in the country.

She noted that the bank and other agencies were doing a mid-term evaluation of the Cotton, Textile and Garment Scheme in a bid to examine the progress made and other areas of concern.

According to her, BoI has disbursed nearly 60 per cent of the N100bn allotted to the textile sector to revive it, but hopes to increase funding to the sector, if empowered.

The Country Representative, UNIDO, Patrick Kormawa, advocated the need for an improved investment climate, effective policies for the real sector and enhanced capacity building for operators in order to aid the growth of the sector.

He identified the lack of adequate machinery and manpower as challenges the growth of the real sector. He, therefore, called for a renewed effort to revitalise the subsector.

[b]The General Secretary, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers, Isa Aremu, commended the government for the intervention effort in the textile sector, noting that though it came late, it was better as many firms had been revived.

He said, “When the textile industry was still vibrant, a single firm could generate about 10,000 jobs. However, due to the intervention fund, we have been able to revive some firms. There is a need for an accelerated growth in the sector and this can be achieved through increased funding to the sector.

“Presently, 58 companies are managing N10bn, while AMCON has spent about N5.6tn on rescued banks. This gesture can also be replicated in the real sector if the desired growth and employment generation will be achieved.”

He, therefore, urged BoI to increase the tenor rate for loans sought by firms in the real sector in order to aid attractiveness of the loans to the companies and foster development.

“A drop in interest rates for the real sector will foster its growth. I believe we can work towards a zero per cent interest rate if we set our mind towards it”, he added.

On efforts to encourage the subsector’s development, he said, “We are working through the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, to reduce the dumping of sub-standard goods into the country.

“Some of these goods include textiles and apparels. We are also exploring diplomatic channels through our Trade Ambassador at the World Trade Organisation. To ensure increase in power supply, we are working with the Ministry of Power to ensure 10 industrial cities in the country have, at least, 18 hours of uninterrupted power supply by first quarter of next year (2013).

He added, “Our aspiration for the textile and apparel industry is to increase its domestic market share from its present position of 12 per cent to 25 per cent by 2020. We also expect this sector to create over 60,000 direct jobs within this period.

“To achieve this, the strategic thrust requires reviving the entire value chain. This includes strengthening the base by boosting cotton production for use in the domestic sector and potential exports, supporting existing players to expand their current operations and attracting strong brands to set up local manufacturing operation in the country. This explains why we have included the sector in the Industrial Revolution Plan which is being[/b]

Rossikk: Thanks for explaining this Taharqa.

Sealeddeal: This is a great news and i wait for a time when all this macroscopic improvement will be felt by the poor people in Nigeria.i believe that with the great people that GEJ have in his cabinet,soon,Nigerians in grassroot will appreciate the work being done to transform nigeria into one of the greatest Nations in the world. Thumps up President Goodluck Jonathan for this yet another wonderful stride.

Sealeddeal: This is a great news and i wait for a time when all this macroscopic improvement will be felt by the poor people in Nigeria.i believe that with the great people that GEJ have in his cabinet,soon,Nigerians in grassroot will appreciate the work being done to transform nigeria into one of the greatest Nations in the world. Thumps up President Goodluck Jonathan for this yet another wonderful stride.