Economy

Jigawa To Export Goats Soon

Published

10 years ago

28/08/2016

By Dipo Olowookere

The Jigawa State government has said it is targeting 18,000 women in the state for its goat multiplication farming programme.

The state government said it hopes this scheme would be a good source of foreign exchange earnings for its economy and as well take out of poverty in the state.

The goat multiplication farming initiative was introduced by Governor Muhammed Badaru Abubakar to wipe out poverty among women in the state.

He said such is practised in many African, Asian and South American countries.

According to the state government, it is targeting about 18,000 women in the 287 wards from the 27 local government areas of Jigawa.

The scheme, it said, was captured in the 2016 budget to rid the state of extreme poverty using agriculture.

Governor Abubakar explained in an interview with Vanguard that livestock development is an area his administration targeted to diversify Jigawa’s economy, improve women participation in economic activities and rid the state of extreme poverty especially amongst women.

He admitted that, “Our state has one of the highest levels of poverty especially amongst women and this is something we must stop,” saying that “The easiest and most effective way [to eradicate poverty] is through the goat multiplication programme which we borrowed from Botswana and South Africa, where millions of women were removed out of poverty.”

Mr Abubakar disclosed that millions of Naira was invested to buy thousands of goats so that, through a revolving scheme, every woman in the state that requires economic independence will be assisted to fulfil her dreams.

“We chose goats because of their high profit in terms of reselling value and capacity and reproductive frequency as well,” he said.

According to him, his administration viewed women as a core group that could be used to tackle poverty.

As part of this scheme, one million livestock in the state were vaccinated, the Governor’s Special Assistant on Community Services, Alhaji Hamza Muhammed Hadejia, said.

He explained that the idea behind the scheme was to provide millions of women and youth the opportunity to rid them out of poverty.

He said a monitoring mechanism had been put in place to supervise the scheme and ensure sustainability and repayment so that others can benefit. Under the programme, a marketing plan has been put in place to support the marketing of the goats.

“We have set up a committee that is working with the over 18,000 beneficiaries so that the output of the multiplication project will be marketed and sold at optimum profit,” Mr Hadejia said.

Already, the Governor’s aide stated, the Saudi Arabian government mass animal purchase scheme is being explored by the committee so that, in the next few years, the beneficiaries will be able to export their goats and also sell locally.

“It is estimated that by end of the year, these 18,000 distributed goats will multiply to over 100,000 and will form a large resources for both the beneficiaries as well as revenue for the state government,” he added.

“In short, millions of people, including the beneficiaries and their families, in few years to come, will be taken out of poverty”.

While the programme attracts wide acceptance amongst women in the state, the opposition described it as a joke and a pointer that the administration has taken Jigawa backward after the former government built an airport that “launched the state into the elite comity of states in the country”.

To this, Governor Abubakar said, “Given the option of a plane ride to Abuja and back from the `wonder airport’ at N50,000 and three goats for N15,000, our rural women opted for the latter.”

Meanwhile, some of the beneficiaries of the programme have lauded it, saying it is a welcomed development.

Aishatu Jibrin, a 22-year-old mother of four and a beneficiary of the scheme, who lives in Kudai, a suburb of Dutse, the state capital, said, “I have been knitting since when I was 12 and I have continued even after marriage but the impact on my livelihood and that that of my family has not changed due to exploitation by middlemen.

“I was so happy when my name appeared among pioneer beneficiaries of the scheme and the day I collected my three goats, two she goats and one male, it was the beginning of a dream which I hope will transform my life and that of my family in the next one year.”

Already, Aishatu’s three goats have multiplied and she’s hopeful that, by end of the end year, her backyard will be full of goats.

“My hope is to sell [the goats] by the end of year so that I can buy many sewing machines and open a fashion business in my village,” she said.

Another resident of the state, Indo Dahiru, a 32-year-old mother of four, who lives in Limawa, narrated that, “When I was given the three goats last year, I was apprehensive that they may die because I had never engaged in goat or animal husbandry before. But as I got used to it, I saw them begin to multiply. I became more attracted and began to pay more attention to them.”

“I was never a contributor to the upkeep of the family because I was not involved in any trade or business.

“However, as I became engaged in this project, I can now say, without the fear of being contradicted, that my life and that of my family has changed.

“My hope is to be able to generate enough from the business and afford to pay for hajj.”

Additional information from http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/jigawa-soon-export-goat/

Economy

Profit-taking in Heavyweight Stocks Pulls Back Nigerian Exchange by 0.50%

Published

3 hours ago

17/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was further pulled back by 0.50 per cent on Tuesday as a result of profit-taking in some heavyweight stocks.

Like the preceding session, the key sectors of Customs Street were depressed yesterday, with the banking index down by 2.82 per cent. The consumer goods declined by 0.52 per cent, the insurance space lost 0.10 per cent, and the energy counter shrank by 0.03 per cent, while the industrial goods segment was flat.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) eased by 1,437.54 points to 241,984.80 points from 243,422.34 points, and the market capitalisation contracted by N922 billion to N155.204 trillion from N156.126 trillion.

The worst-performing stock was International Energy Insurance, which gave up 10.00 per cent to close at N5.76. Vitafoam dipped by 10.00 per cent to N189.00, Austin Laz crashed by 9.93 per cent to N3.90, SUNU Assurances depleted by 9.82 per cent to N3.58, and Sovereign Trust Insurance lost 8.37 per cent to finish at N2.30.

On the flip side, Conoil gained 9.79 per cent to trade at N213.00, Prestige Assurance also expanded by 9.79 per cent to N1.57, Neimeth jumped 9.74 per cent to N8.45, eTranzact chalked up 9.40 per cent to close at N16.30, and Cornerstone Insurance improved by 9.09 per cent to N5.40.

The bourse witnessed heavy sell-offs in some equities, with Sterling Holdings recording the sale of 100.9 million units worth N782.8 million to lead the activity log. UAC Nigeria transacted 49.4 million units valued at N9.1 billion, Access Holdings sold 28.8 million units for N699.3 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 29.4 million units worth N3.0 billion, and GTCO traded 20.2 million units valued at N2.7 billion.

At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 535.5 million shares worth N36.8 billion in 55,123 deals compared with 569.1 million shares valued at N31.4 billion traded in 77,652 deals on Monday. This implied that the trading value went up by 17.20 per cent, while the trading volume and the number of deals went down by 5.90 per cent and 29.01 per cent, respectively.

Economy

MRS Oil, FrieslandCampina, CSCS Plunge NASD Index by 0.48%

Published

3 hours ago

17/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange was further down by 0.48 per cent on Monday, June 16, as a result of the losses printed by three bellwethers, led by MRS Oil Plc, which fell by N15.80 to N142.20 per unit from N158.00 per unit.

Further, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dipped by N2.94 to close at N180.14 per share versus the previous day’s N183.08 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc crumbled by 38 Kobo to N80.24 per share from N80.62 per share.

Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform moderated by N12.55 billion to N2.605 trillion from N2.605 trillion, while the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) weakened by 20.98 points to 4,333.35 points from 4,354.33 points.

During the trading day, the value of transactions surged by 16.5 per cent to N45.6 million from the preceding session’s N39.2 million, and the number of deals soared by 34.8 per cent to 31 deals from 23 deals, while the volume of securities declined by 30.6 per cent to 688,290 units from 992,164 units.

At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion. The second spot was occupied by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, with 2.3 billion sold for N6.5 billion, and the third position was taken by CSCS Plc, with 66.9 million units exchanged for N4.6 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.

Economy

Naira Weakens to N1,357/$1 at Official Market, N1,385/$1 at Black Market

Published

4 hours ago

17/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira suffered a 0.55 per cent or 91 Kobo loss against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, June 16, closing at N1,357.18 /$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,356.27/$1.

It also weakened against the Pound Sterling at the official market during the session by N11.53 to trade at N1,820.39/£1 versus Monday’s rate of N1,808.86/£1, but appreciated against the Euro by N2.06 to quote at N1,573.79/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,575.85/€1.

In the black market, the Nigerian currency crashed against the Dollar yesterday by N5 to sell for N1,385/$1, in contrast to the N1,380/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank FX desk, it traded flat at N1,373/$1.

Nigeria’s gross external reserves surged to $50.505 billion, the highest international Dollar balance since January 2009, affirming expectations that the local currency will remain along a stable band. The FX reserves position was buoyed by inflows from oil sales.

In its Article IV consultation report on Nigeria, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the Naira remains significantly undervalued despite recent gains from FX reforms. It noted that its Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) assessment showed the local currency was still trading below levels supported by the country’s economic fundamentals, saying the Naira should have traded around N1,142.04/$1 using the end-of-2025 exchange rate benchmark, or N1,130.88/$1 when calculated using the average exchange rate for the year.

As for the cryptocurrency market, prices showed renewed risk appetite as total 24-hour trading volume jumped 51 per cent to $207 billion, open interest rose 2.4 per cent to $113.41 billion, and liquidations surged 64 per cent to $561 million, with shorts accounting for the bulk of the forced exits, according to Coindesk data.

Cardano (ADA) slid 2.7 per cent to $0.1731, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped 1.6 per cent to $605.80, Ripple (XRP) declined by 1.5 per cent to $1.22, Bitcoin (BTC) fell 0.8 per cent to $65,739.70, Dogecoin (DOGE) also tumbled by 0.6 per cent to $0.0873, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.6 per cent to $0.3166.

However, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 0.5 per cent to $1,795.40, and Solana (SOL) rose by 0.2 per cent to $73.81, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.