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Nigeria’s Rice Exportation To Start In 2017- CBN

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The Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) on Tuesday said it’s set  to begin exportation of rice by 2017, based on its Anchor Borrowers Programme  for the promotion of Agriculture

According to the CBN, the Anchor Borrowers Programme of  the CBN and the Presidential Committee on Rice Production, launched in July had jointly set the target.

The Acting Director of Corporate Communications of the apex bank, Mr Isaac Okorafor, said this in Yenagoa at a sensitisation workshop for farmers.

The theme of the workshop is entitled: “Promoting Stability and Economic Development’’.

According to him, farmers in Kebbi, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Sokoto and Cross River states, among others, have already keyed into the programme, resulting in massive rice cultivation.

He said the country would achieve self-sustenance in rice production if the momentum was sustained, adding that the country should commence exportation of locally produced rice by 2017.

Okorafor said Kebbi State had already harvested one million tonnes of rice, adding that Ebonyi’s harvest had outstripped the earmarked production for the year.

“The development is encouraging and by the end of 2017, we will not only meet our national demand which is between six and seven million tonnes but have a surplus to export.

“We must rid ourselves of eating foreign rice that has been stored for over nine years in Thailand, Vietnam and India. Nigerian rice is fresh and healthier.

“We should eat Nigerian rice provided for by the CBN Anchor Programme;  50 Kg of local rice is now N8, 000 in Ebonyi. Already, the Abia Government has ordered rice from Ebonyi for Christmas,’’ he said.

He further said: “What we have done with this programme so far is to create jobs through farming, especially for the unemployed youths.

“Nigerian youths must wake up, dust themselves up and join this worthy campaign.

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Nigeria’s rice exportation to start in 2017 — CBN

Dangote Refinery To Start Operation In 2018

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Dangote Group said its 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery currently under construction in Lagos would come on stream by the end of 2018.

The group’s Executive Director, Stakeholders’ Relations/Corporate Communications,  Alhaji Ahmed Mansur , announced this during a media parley in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said this would ultimately end fuel importation.

He said the refinery’s daily production capacity would be 150 per cent of the current total demand of petroleum products in the country, saying that the excess would be exported to other countries.

Mansur said a 1.3 million metric tonnes per annum petrochemical plant was also under construction at the refinery site in Lekki area of Lagos .

In addition , he said that a fertiliser company with capacity to produce 2.8 million metric tonnes of assorted fertilisers was also being added to help the country to achieve food security.

Mansur disclosed that the company had also diversified into gas business as it had started constructing a gas pipeline from the South East to Lagos.

He said that the gas plant, when completed, would have the capacity to produce three million standard cubic metres of gas per annum.

The executive director said the project would help the country to record appreciable improvement in power and manufacturing sectors.

According to him, the company’s huge investment in the oil and gas sector will impact positively in the economy, especially in the areas of employment and preservation of foreign exchange .

Credit: NAN

NCC To Start Regulatory Roundtable On Operators Of Telecom

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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says will start a regulatory roundtable with stakeholders in the telecoms sector on how to move the sector forward.

Mr Nnamadi Nwokike, the Director, Corporate Planning and Strategy of NCC said this on Wednesday in Abuja at the ongoing Innovation Africa Digital Summit 2016 organised by Galaxy Backbone and Extensia UK.

Nwokike said that the roundtable would bring all regulators that have inter-dependent roles with NCC together to discuss how Nigerian regulatory growth would be created.

“Our objective is that overtime we should be able to create a group, Nigerian regulatory group.
“So that we can meet more regularly and meet in different committees to discuss the issue of spectrum regulations and other areas affecting the telecoms sector.

“We have to be conscious of the fact that no firm is too big to be regulated. We will meet our operators on this table and before any law or regulations, we will have extensive conversation on how things will be done.

Nwokike said that energy “is a problem and those controlling energy will be part of the roundtable discussion, it is an issue that cuts across the sector.’’

“NCC will start the conversation and it is our hope that we think in a way that we will all be interested in investment that can move our country forward.’’
Mr Mohammed Gimba, the Head of Public Sector, Main One said that for the country to make progress in the ICT sector, there must be drive and access to internet.
Gimba said that there must be a clear vision and strategies must be put in place to achieve progress in the sector.

Credit: NAN

Why You Need To Start Exercising In Your 20s

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Too busy with work to hit the gym? Planning to get started running for a New Year’s resolution? According to a new scientific study, you might not want to wait until it’s convenient to start exercising, because getting fit in your 20s might be linked to better health for the rest of your life.

Researchers studied 4,872 adults from ages 18 to 30 in 1985 and 1986, giving them a strenuous treadmill exercise test. Around half of the group repeated the test seven years later. The treadmill test involved two-minute bursts of activity, each one getting harder and harder; people could handle it for an average of 10 minutes.

The researchers then followed up with the participants over the years, and at least half were tracked for more than 27 years. They found that performance on the treadmill test was a good prediction of heart health later in life. Every extra minute that a participant could handle the treadmill test was linked to a 12 percent lower risk of heart disease and a 15 percent lower risk of dying throughout the time of the study.

And that’s not just because physically fit people weighed less; the results were true regardless of factors like weight, cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure. Performance wasn’t linked to differences in clogged arteries, but people who did better on the tests tended to show less strain on their heart muscles.

The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, shows how important exercising is, even if you don’t want to lose weight. “Being fit and maintaining fitness over time are very important to your heart and overall health for everyone — especially starting in early adulthood — and not only for people who are trying to lose or to maintain weight,” researcher Dr. Venkatesh Murthy told Reuters. So quit the excuses and maybe ask for running shoes this holiday season.

Credit: Cosmopolitan

EU Migrant Relocation Plan To Start Wednesday In Greece

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Greece will begin the process of sending refugees, mostly Syrians and Iraqis, to other EU member states under the bloc’s refugee relocation plan on Wednesday, Athens said.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet a first group of 30 refugees at Athens airport early Wednesday morning before they voluntarily board a plane for Luxembourg, the government said in a statement Tuesday.

The European commissioner for immigration, Dimitris Avramopoulos of Greece, as well as European Parliament president Martin Schulz and Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn will attend the launch of the programme, an EU statement said.

Under the EU plan, nearly 160,000 migrants, including 66,000 for whom Greece was the first port of call, are to be shared out among EU countries after being processed at so-called “hotspots” in Italy and Greece.

Credit: AFP

Russia Has Better Things To Do Than Start WW3- Bryan MacDonald

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Vladimir Putin said this weekend that “Russia would attack NATO only in a mad person’s dream.” Unfortunately, there are a lot of mad people working in western politics and media.

If the G7 were based on GDP, adjusted for purchasing power, it would be comprised of the USA, China, India, Japan, Russia, Germany and Brazil. Such a lineup would have remarkable clout. Members would boast 53% of the globe’s entire GDP and the planet’s 3 genuine military superpowers would be represented.

The problem for Washington is that this putative G7 might actually be a forum for a real debate about the world order.

Instead of a real G7, we have a farce. An American dominated talking shop where the US President allows ‘friendly’ foreign leaders to tickle his belly for a couple of days. There is no dissent. Washington’s dominance goes unquestioned and everyone has a jolly time. Especially since they kicked out Russia last year – Vladimir Putin was the only guest who challenged the consensus.

However, the problem is that this ‘convenient’ G7 is way past its sell-by-date. The days when its members could claim to rule the world economically are as distant as the era of Grunge and Britpop. Today, the G7 can claim a mere 32% of the global GDP pie. Instead of heavyweights like China and India, we have middling nations such as Canada and Italy, the latter an economic basket case. Canada’s GDP is barely more than that of crisis-ridden Spain and below that of Mexico and Indonesia.

Yet, the Prime Minister of this relative non-entity, Stephen Harper, was strutting around Bavaria all weekend with the confidence of a man who believed his opinion mattered a great deal. Of course, Harper won’t pressure Obama. Rather, he prefers to – metaphorically – kiss the ring and croon from the same hymn sheet as his southern master.

NATO and the G7 – 2 sides of 1 coin?

There was lots of talk of “Russian aggression” at the G7. This was hardly a surprise given that 6 of the 7 are also members of NATO, another body at which they can tug Washington’s forelock with gay abandon. Obama was at it, David Cameron parroted his guru’s feelings and Harper was effectively calling for regime change in Russia. It apparently never occurred to the trio that resolving their issues with Russia might be easier if Putin had been in Bavaria? The knee-jerk reaction to remove Russia from the club was hardly conducive to dialogue.

Read More: rt.com