Nigeria’s Food Importation Drops From N2.3trn To N1.8trn!

According to information revealed by the News agency of Nigeria, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said on Monday that Nigeria’s food importation had reduced from N2.3 trillion to N1.8 trillion annually, saving the country N906 billion.

Adesina said this in Makurdi when he paid a courtesy visit to Gov Gabriel Suswam of Benue State.

“Agriculture is vital for Nigerians; that is why the President has made it the centre of his economic transformation agenda.

“When President Goodluck Jonathan made the decision, the goal was to add our domestic food supply, 20 million metric tons of rice and create 3.5 million jobs in a period of four years.

“In two years, we have added 15 million metric tonness of food and food importation has reduced from N2.3 trillion to N906 billion.”

He said that the Federal Government had delivered 16,744 tonnes of fertiliser, more than 450 tonnes of hybrid seeds and 738,000 cassava stems to farmers in Benue State.

Adesina added that the Federal Government had also completed two 2,000-tonne capacity warehouses and was committed to developing Staple Crop Processing Zones (SCPZ) that would enable farmers to add value to their produce, with Benue State as a beneficiary.

He said that the SCPZs, when completed across the country, would add N1.4 trillion to nation’s GDP.

The minister said that four agricultural hiring equipment centres would be established in the state, to enable registered farmers to engage in mechanised farming.

He called for greater collaboration among the tiers of government and commended the governor’s support for Agricultural Transformational Agenda.

Responding, Suswam assured the minister of the support of his administration and that of the people of Benue.

He said he was pleased with the establishment of SCPZs stressing that with the development would put Benue on the map of development.

He told Adesina that his name would be written in gold in the history of development in the country.

Suswam said hitherto the coming of the minister, agriculture was only seen as a means to access food and not a business that would fetch a lot of money as it is today.

He appreciated the commitment of the minister to agricultural development in the country, saying: “the quality you brought to the sector is outstanding.”

Suswam suggested that more attention should be given to yam processing as the state was one of the highest producers of the commodity in the country, yet little was known about it.

The governor identified the major problem confronting farmers as land clearing as they lacked proper equipment which made them turn to smallholding.

He said with the agricultural equipment hiring centres, Benue alone would feed the whole of Africa.

The highlight of the the minister’s visit was the inspection of Micap Rice Mills accompanied by politicians and top government officials in the state.

India Olympics ban ‘lifted’ after new officials elected!

India’s suspended Olympic body elected world squash chief N Ramachandran as their president on Sunday, raising hopes of the country’s return to the Olympic fold after a 14-month absence.



The International Olympic Committee (IOC) froze India’s membership in December 2012 and suspended it from the Games movement when the IOA elected a number of scandal-tainted officials to key posts.

4 Siblings Sentenced To Life Imprisonment For Murder In Osun!

 Four siblings were sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing a man in his farm at Oke Ila in Osun State on April 13th 2004, over a land dispute.

Justice O.F Oloyede, according to a statement from the Ministry of Justice on Monday February 10th 2014, sentenced Olabisi Adeniji, Adelowo Adeniji, Oladapo Adeniji and Kolawole Adeniji to life imprisonment in the judgment delivered on Friday.

The convicts were arraigned on two counts of conspiracy and murder of Bamidele Ajiboye.

The offences are contrary to Section 324 of Criminal Code Cap   34 Laws of Osun State, Nigeria 2003 and Section 319(1) Criminal Code  Cap 34  Laws  of Osun State, Nigeria 2003.

The statement reads, “The case was instituted before Justice Isiaka Adeleke in 2007 and the four accused persons were sentenced to death by by hanging. But the convicts appealed the verdict at the Court of Appeal in Akure.

“Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun ordered a retrial of the appellants case before   Justice O.F Oloyede.

“Assistant Chief State Counsel, Mr. Tijani Adekilekun, led the prosecution team while the convicts were represented by Mr. M.O Agboola.”

Caught in the act: 2 youth corpers arrested for performing ‘homosexual acts’ on a student!

Two members of the National Youth Service Corps in Oyo were reportedly arrested for allegedly performing homosexual acts on a student.

O’tega Daniel, 27, and Sulaimon Abari, 26, were said to have forcefully indulged in sexual acts with a minor.

The duo have been arraigned before a Magistrate court sitting in the Iyaganku area of Ibadan, the state capital. 

It was gathered that Abari, a graduate of the Lagos State University, Ojo, and O’tega were performing the national service at St. Louis Secondary School 2, Molete, Ibadan. The duo were arraigned on a three-count charge of conspiracy, procuring as well as getting hold of their victim. 

The prosecutor, Insp Olufemi Eyiaromi, told the court that the two accused persons conspired to commit the offence. Eyiaromi alleged that both Daniel and Abari got hold of the male student, took him into a room, laid him on a bed and performed oral sex on him. 

The offence was said to have been committed sometime in November 2013 at Osungbade, Odo-Oba area of Ibadan. Eyiaromi said the offences contravened sections 217 and 516 (A) of the Criminal Code Cap.38, Vol.II, Laws of Oyo State, 2000. The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Chief Magistrate Kehinde Durosaro-Tijani granted each accused bail in the sum of N100,000 with one blood relation as surety. 

She also directed that the surety must present three years tax clearance certificate while each accused person must present his original certificate as part of the bail condition.

How to stop Jonathan from bankrupting Nigeria!

The mistake of former President Olusegun Obasanjo did not end with installing an incompetent successor. In addition to our misfortune, he got us a speculator who deals on both sides of the national question. President Jonathan holds a long position on Nigeria as the President and Commander-in-Chief and a short position as an Ijaw irredentist, protector of economic saboteurs and an enabler of terrorists.

Jonathan’s tenure is officially the most corrupt in the history of Nigeria. Under his watch, his minions steal on his behalf and for themselves with the greatest impunity ever known in the history of this nation. The quantum scale looting they engage in, is no longer about kickbacks, over inflation of contracts, budget padding and adding digits to withdrawals. Those are for the boys in the ministries. The scale of stealing now is designed to bankrupt and splinter Nigeria. It is the collusion by the Petroleum ministry, Finance and the Presidency to openly rob Nigeria by giving 24 percent of what the country earns while they pocket 76 percent. The NNPC do not remit oil receipts into the federation account; NNPC spends money with appropriation; Excess Crude Account is depleted without anything to show for it. Nothing is going to change until Nigerians show interest in holding public office holders accountable on the issues of public finance, transparency and responsibility.

We must find a way to create a short squeeze on them because the cost will be too high if we continue to let this President, his advisers and party apparatchiks take a bet against Nigeria. Do not be deceived that this is stealing for enrichment only, it is not. They are amassing obscene wealth in the belief that Nigeria is built on quicksand. They are hedging their bet in the event that Nigeria crumbles. If it does, they will profit; if it doesn’t there is nothing to lose because of their long position. Their bet seem reasonable since the cost of rebuilding their lives will be significantly less than the cash reservoir they have built. They believe Nigeria’s constituent parts are fungible having hedged their bets on its unity or disunity by holding both positions. What can we do so we won’t catch a falling knife? We can refuse to be led by these saboteurs. We can recall erring representatives, we can impeach this president. We can call his bluff in massive protest – organized mass action in civil disobedience.

We can say no to the mortgaging of our future and that of our children. The $20billion dollars that was not remitted to the federation account could have paid for lifelong healthcare for every man, woman, and child in this country. We have sunk further down the impunity dungeon with NNPC under the untouchable; Her Royal Deepness Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke. The NNPC under her stewardship is bigger than the state and constitute law unto itself. The NNPC has castrated us and we all look on helplessly and can do nothing because the triumvirate of Jonathan, Allison-Madueke and Okonjo-Iweala wills it so. The shocking truth is; the NNPC is NOT remitting all the monies it is legally and constitutionally required to remit to the federation account. Whenever NNPC wills, it transfers monies from crude sales to private entities like Atlantic Energy and Seven Energy. These are companies with well known links to the Petroleum minister. At other times, NNPC will claim the money was spent (again without appropriation) on kerosene and fuel subsidy, contrary to the 2009 presidential directive eliminating subsidy on Kerosene.

While other African countries of smaller means are recording humongous successes, Nigeria is facing the double jeopardy of depleted Excess Crude Account (ECA) and a dwindling foreign reserve. The ECA went from $8.65 billion in January 2013 to $2.5 billion in January 2014. To local and international analysts, Nigeria’s financial future evokes pity given the squandered riches and lost opportunities. Our current federal fiscal trajectory courts disaster that will significantly impact our nation’s ability to stay united. If anyone is in doubt, going through the 2014 budget proposal; What new strategic vision and direction does the budget bring? Does anyone care how this budget will affect the education of children? What implications does our expensive democracy hold for the country’s fiscal health? What will happen in a country without modern infrastructure, explosive youth bulge and untamed unemployment? These questions and a lot more bite every right thinking citizen daily.

The worst challenges of our world are facing us because the country has refused to do the right things and do things right. Our leaders have not learned any lesson and they refuse to see the consuming power of the impending conflagration. The country is bleeding dollars from government approved oil theft, militancy is on the rise, ethnic agitations, terrorism, unemployment, religious intolerance, communal clashes, drug trafficking, human trafficking, criminal gangs etc. despite our vast oil wealth and huge human capital, we have managed to emerged as a symbol of black Africa’s ungoverned space, waste, corruption and hopelessness. We have managed to evolve as a people who do not encourage hope and progress, health and good government. We have managed to be the breeding ground and a net exporter of terrorists who contribute to insecurity in the world. Jonathan and his party the PDP are complicating Nigerian interests. It is our constitutional duty to stop them.

We can begin by sending them a message that it can no longer be business as usual. Let us tell them in action and in words that Enough is Enough! Unalloyed and brazen thefts like we are seeing deadens our national conscience. It turns Nigeria’s relative prosperity into a charade. It threatens commitment to our unity as one nation and changes the dynamics among ethnic nationalities from a union of enhancing opportunities into a union of demanding obligations.

This rape of our land should offend us and move us to action. If we do not act, if we do not remove these amoral instincts of dispossession and primitive acquisition from our national psyche, we may remain a country but we will not be recognizably Nigerian.

By Bámidélé Adémólá-Olátéjú

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New Egyptian militant group claims responsibility for Giza bombing!

A newly formed militant group has claimed responsibility for a bomb attack targeting a police checkpoint in Cairo's twin city of Giza that wounded six people.

In a statement on Friday night, Ajnad Misr, Arabic for Egypt's Soldiers, said it had carried out the double bombing that hit a police vehicle on a bridge earlier in the day.

It said its "soldiers reached the heart of the criminal apparatus … to send a message to them that they are not safe from retribution."

Its fighters were monitoring the movements of the police and the headquarters from which "they launch their attacks every Friday killing and abusing innocent people", it said.

The group issued its first statement last week, claiming responsibility for several such bombings including one on 24 January that hit police just as they returned from clashes with Muslim Brotherhood supporters protesting against the removal of Mohamed Morsi as president.

Ajnad Misr vowed to continue its attacks on policemen, urging them to defect and repent. It said it would not keep quiet until "justice prevails and a state accepted by God is established".

It said police should "leave the service before being overpowered because the events are accelerating and the chance to defect might not last long".

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified, but it was posted on an al-Qaida-affiliated website frequently used for militant claims.

Militant attacks have increased in Egypt since Morsi's overthrow. Many of the deadliest have been claimed by the Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or Champions of Jerusalem.

National Conference: Yoruba To Seek Regional Autonomy!

As the South West geopolitical zone of the country readies for the National Conference, some of the things the zone will advocate for at the conference has been revealed.

Speaking yesterday, after a National Conference Preliminary meeting on Yoruba Position, held in Ishara Remo Ogun State, at the residence of Afenifere bigwig, Sir. Olaniwun Ajayi, prominent Yoruba leaders agreed on the need to reach out to more Yoruba people, for wider consultations for the region in order to articulate its position before the conference.

While reiterating its support for the proposed national conference, the group however resolved to make regional autonomy, true federalism and resource control its priority.

According to Dr. Olajide, the Yoruba are going to demand regional autonomy. “We are going to take a second look at the issue of resource control and revenue allocation and a lot of other issues. But we haven’t taken a definite decision yet. That will be finalised on the 17th.”

The group however lack the backing of some prominent politicians in the zone who apparently have ‘bigger dreams’ ahead of the 2015 elections.

The group disclosed it has done everything within its capacity to reach out to the leadership of the South West zone of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande, but they were shunned.

Addressing newsmen, spokesman for the group, Mr Yinka Odumakin said “This is assembly of people who are political, people who are non-political and from various cadres of life, nobody should see it as a political thing. It is about the Yoruba nation, we are here to take a position on the planned national conference.”

“We have reviewed the modality for the conference. We do not accept the idea that we would be having 75 per cent vote at the conference where we don’t have consensus. We want that where we don’t have consensus, two-thirds should suffice.”

He disclosed that leaders at the meeting deliberated on a position to be adopted for the conference, but said “we have not concluded yet.”

Speaking on the efforts made to bring Tinubu to the forum, Chief Ayo Adebanjo alleged that the former of Lagos state, Asiwaju Tinubu and other APC chieftains, shunned them.

“We have done everything to bring APC, go and ask General Alani Akinrinade. We have done everything to bring in Tinubu. Some people wanted to meet him two days ago, he gave them an appointment, twice, he didn’t keep.

“Before we came here that was the battle we first had, that we wanted to get everybody that this is not a political matter, but he wouldn’t respond. What are we discussing that he (Tinubu) shouldn’t be there, we are talking of federalism, is that for our selfish interest, we talk of resource control and these are the things we have been agitating ever before he became the governor of Lagos State in 1999. I was the chairman of the party that made him the governor. These are the agitation we have been doing 20 years ago and you now have the opportunity to achieve it,” Adebanjo said.

Also speaking, Dr Tunji Braitwaite explained that the planned conference is a great opportunity once more opened for Nigerians to address the anomalies in the present federal structure.

“It is not just for our generation but for the generations coming,” Braitwaite said.

While he urged Yoruba and other well meaning Nigerians not to allow this opportunity slip without fully utilising it, he reiterated the need for the conference to hold before any elections is held in the country.

The Southwest is expected to send 15 delegates to the conference.