Dangote MD begs FG to stop tomato paste import

Alhaji Abdulkarim Kaita, Managing Director of Dangote Tomato Processing Plant in Kadawa, Kano State, has called on the Federal government to stop the importation of tomato paste.

He made the call while speaking to newsmen shortly after inspecting the newly established N3 billion greenhouses at Kadawa village in Kura Local Government Area on Friday.

“We are appealing to the Federal Government to put a total ban on the importation of tomato like what it did to rice,” Kaita said.

Kaita said the measure would boost local production of the commodity and ensure that Nigeria is self-sufficient in tomato production. According to him, the ban will lead to the establishment of more tomato processing plants as well as create jobs for many people in the country.

He said the company was putting a lot of effort to ensure Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in tomato production. Kaita said this informed the establishment of the biggest greenhouse in Africa which can produce 350 million seedlings annually.

The Managing Director said the seedlings could produce 12,000 hectares of tomato per season.

“There are 12 tomato producing states in the country with 171,000 hectares which if fully cultivated, in the next one year Nigeria will be able to start exporting tomato. The greenhouse which is the largest in Africa is established to provide tomato growers with high yield tomato seedlings in the country” he explained.

“We are working with the Central Bank of Nigeria under the Anchor Borrower Programme to provide tomato farmers with high yield seeds which will enable them to produce a minimum of 40 tons per hectare,” he added.

FIFA reacts to death of Isaac Promise

FIFA have reacted to the death of former Nigeria U-20 and U-23 captain, Isaac Promise.

DAILY POST had reported that the ex-Genclerbirligi and Trabzonspor striker passed away at the age of 31 on Thursday.

Austin Bold FC chairman, Bobby Epstein, announced the passing on Thursday.

“The greatest loss a team can suffer is not on the scoreboard, it’s the death of a fellow teammate,” wrote Epstein.

“It’s with shock and grief that we acknowledge the sudden death of Promise Isaac.

“On behalf of the BOLD organisation, we wish his wife, children and family strength and peace as they struggle to cope with his death.”

Reacting, the world football governing body in a tweet on its official Twitter page on Friday expressed sadness over the death.

“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Isaac Promise.

“The former Nigeria striker, who helped the @NGSuperEagles claim silver at the 2008 @Olympics, has died at the age of just 31,” FIFA tweeted alongside a picture of the deceased.

20 LASTMA officers face sack over extortion

Twenty officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, LASTMA, are currently battling to retain their job as investigation has begun in their cases over allegation of extortion and bribery.

They will be sacked if found guilty of the allegation. Investigation has already been concluded on three of the officers and their sanctions will come anytime from now.

Deputy General Manager, LASTMA, Isaac Adetimiro has disclosed that the management of the agency has intensified efforts at monitoring and sanctioning errant officers owing to numerous complaints.

Speaking on several complaints received from the public, Adetimiro stated that the Agency has completed preliminary investigations on three out of 20 LASTMA officers accused of extortion and high handedness.

He explained further that the officers were awaiting further sanctions through the setting up of a disciplinary committee known as Personnel Management Board (PMB) to adjudicate their cases in line with the Public Service Rules, saying the cases of the remaining 17 officers accused of other misdemeanour were still under investigation.

While assuring Lagosians that no guilty officer would go unpunished by the agency, the DGM declared that majority of LASTMA officers were diligent and upright in the discharge of their duties while the bad eggs tarnishing the image of the agency would be identified and punished.

“We will continue to look out for officers involved in any misdemeanour by increasing our monitoring and surveillance on officers at their duty posts to ensure they are civil to the populace as well as eschew corruption in the discharge of their duties”, Adetimiro stated.

The DGM also used the opportunity to implore all road users in the State to change their attitudes and obey traffic regulations at all times in order to avoid incessant traffic gridlock being experienced on across the metropolis.

Adetimiro, however, solicited for the support of all motorists and urged them to call any of the following numbers 08129928503, 08129928469, 08129928490 and 08129928550 for complaints and enquiries.

CBN deducts N500b from Zenith, GTB, Citibank, UBA, 8 others

The Central Bank of Nigeria has deducted N500 billion from the accounts of 12 banks for failing to meet the target to provide credit to their customers.

Among the banks affected are Zenith Bank, UBA, GTB, Standard Chartered Bank and Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup and Zenith Bank Plc got the stiffest penalties, according to the circular sent to the banks by CBN.

The amounts have already been debited, Ahmad Abdullahi, the head of banking supervision, told reporters in Abuja on Thursday. The efforts are aimed at supporting the real economy by extending loans mainly to farmers, small- and medium-sized businesses and consumers, he said.

The sanctions come three months after the CBN gave lenders until Sept. 30 to use 60% of their deposits for loans, or hand half of the shortfall over to it without earning any interest.

The measures are among a raft of rules aimed at forcing banks to extend more credit to help spur economic growth in Nigeria.

Of the six biggest domestic banks, only Access Bank Plc met the minimum threshold by the end of June.

In a circular to banks on 30 September, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced it has further increased loan to deposit ratio from 60 per cent to 65 per cent and warned that it shall enforce the rule.

The circular noted the appreciable growth in the level of the industry gross credit, which increased by N829.40 billion or 5.33% from N15,567.66 billion at end-May 2019, to N16,397.06 billion as at September 26, 2019 following its pronouncements on the above initiative.

“In order to sustain the momentum and in line with the provisions of our earlier letter, the minimum Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) target for all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) is hereby reviewed upwards from 60% to 65%.

” Consequently, all DMBs are required to attain a minimum LDR of 65% by December 31, 2019 and this ratio shall be subject to quarterly review. To encourage SMEs, Retail, Mortgage and Consumer Lending, these sectors shall be assigned a weight of 150% in computing the LDR for this purpose.

“Failure to meet the above minimum LDR by the specified date shall result in a levy of additional Cash Reserve Requirement equal to 50% of the lending shortfall implied by the target LDR.

“DMBs are required to continue to strengthen their risk management practices particularly with regards to their lending operations.

“The CBN shall continue to review developments in the market with a view to facilitating greater investment in the real sector of the Nigerian economy whilst promoting a safe, sound and resilient financial system:, the circular said.

“This is a negative signal to the market because it compels banks to risk assets in an economy where you rarely find viable businesses given the macroeconomic conditions,” said Christian Orajekwe, head of securities trading at Cordros Securities in Lagos.

“This could lead to some credit creation and new jobs in the short term, but in the long term there will be concerns about the performance of those loans. It may not be sustainable.”

“The steps should not be seen as a fine because the funds moving from the cash-reserve requirements will fluctuate depending on how far a lender falls short of the loan-to-deposit thresholds, and refunded once the target is hit, Zenith Bank Chief Executive Officer Ebenezer Onyeagwu said at the CBN briefing on Thursday.

“We estimate a potential income loss of 90 billion naira for these 12 banks,” FirstRand Ltd.’s RMB Nigeria Stockbrokers said in a note. The ratios will be reviewed quarterly and comes after the regulator on Monday upped the ante, giving banks until the end of the year to get their loan-to-deposit ratios up to 65%.

Banks will continue to work on meeting the ratio after doing everything they could to increase lending, Akinsowon Dawodu, the CEO of Citigroup’s Nigerian unit, said.

Ogun NSCDC trains 120 personnel on field communication

Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC) Ogun State Command, under the State Commandant, Hammed Abodunrin, has added another feather by training more than 120 of her personnel across the State on “Field Communication and Tactics”.

NSCDC in collaboration with the Nigerian Army had the training at the State College of Security Management, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta in Ogun State.

Officers from various divisions were in attendance for the training-cum-workshop.

The Commandant Hammed in his address, while speaking on the impact the workshop would have on the personnel, noted that “it is very exigent for officers to train, retrain and improve their skills if they really want to be professional and remain relevant in the scheme of things especially in relation to security”.

The workshop had in attendance Professor (Mrs) Helen Bodunde, the Dean, Faculty of Communication and General Studies, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNNAB), and five Nigerian Army personnel led by Major O.A. Bringide.

Two feared killed as commercial motorcycle operators, police clash in Akwa Ibom

Commercial motorcycle operators in Eket local government area of Akwa Ibom State, early hours of Tuesday, 1 October, launched a reprisal attack on the police in the area for allegedly killing two of their members.

The irate youths set a police patrol van ablaze, even as they placed a mock coffin in front of the police divisional office in Eket.

Recall that the police had earlier last week banned commercial cyclists from operating before 6a.m and beyond 6p.m daily due to criminalities allegedly perpetrated in the area through the use of motorcycles.

It was learnt that the motorcyclists never accepted the order as they continued operating beyond the stipulated period.

An eyewitness Emman Okposin, narrating the incident to newsmen, said, “last Sunday night, one of our members was shot dead by the police and the corpse has been deposited in the mortuary at Immanuel General Hospital, Eket.

“But the incident that caused us to revolt occurred yesterday (Monday) was when a policeman beat a motorcyclists and he collapsed on the spot before the victim was rushed to hospital.

“The victim named Udo from Idung Udoe died the previous night while receiving treatment at Immanuel General Hospital , Eket.”

He said the youths and all motorcycle operators took the corpse to Eket local government council and later to the area police station as the council chairman Frank Archibong was not available to address them.

Okposin said the police prevented them from entering their station and they returned the corpse to the mortuary.

He said all the cyclists and the youths regrouped and moved to police checkpoints along James Town road.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Odiko McDon said the restriction order was from the state government as a strategy to check cultism and all forms of criminality in the area.

McDon who denied knowledge of the death of any cyclists, however, vowed that the police would stop at nothing in ensuring that the order, which helped to checkmate criminality in Ikot Ekpene was implemented to the letter in Eket.

His words, “The restriction order by the state government is not just in Eket, but also in Ikot Ekpene and other troubled areas and the police are merely carrying out the order. We are saddled with the responsibility of implementing the law. We are not using force, so I am not aware of any death, and we would stop at nothing in ensuring that we implement the order. It worked in Ikot Ekpene and today, people are able to sleep with two eyes closed.

“They raised down our Volvo that had a mechanical fault and we have arrested 19 persons in connection with that. We are certain that lots of criminal activities would be curtailed in the area if bikemen are restricted within these hours”.

Nigeria at 59: Wike reveals why country is suffering from bad leadership

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has revealed why Nigeria is suffering from bad leadership.

Wike explained that the faulty electoral system in Nigeria has resulted in poor political leadership in the country.

The governor spoke at the 59th Independence Anniversary parade in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

He stated that it was shameful that Nigeria cannot deliver a free and fair election, adding that bad governance coupled with endemic corruption and mismanagement had ruined the country’s economy.

According to Wike: “We pride ourselves as a democratic nation, yet for 20years, our electoral process has remained widely fraudulent and incapable of delivering free and fair elections.

“Yet, we are shamefully carrying on as if all is well, resisting every attempt at providing a credible electoral system, and not minding the monumental damage this has caused and continues to cause to the character and quality of our politics, leadership recruitment and nation-building.

“But today, it’s more like 59 years of wasted dreams, mismanaged opportunities and hope deferred for our country and our people as disunity, mutual mistrust, intolerance, hatred and violence continue to corrode the fragile walls that feebly bind the nation.”