FAO Partners USAID on Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050 Project

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is planning to grow its revenue to N4.5 trillion as it plans to end the importation of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, by December 2024. The chief executive of the company, Mr Mele Kyari, while speaking on Thursday, said the nation would not need to rely on fuel from outside the country because its refineries would have been fully operational. Nigeria is currently revamping its four refineries to make the product available to residents of the country as it officially stopped the payment of subsidy on petrol

By Adedapo Adesanya  Nigeria’s economy, measured through its gross domestic product (GDP), witnessed a 2.54 per cent growth in the third quarter (Q3) of the year 2023. In a report published on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the 2.54 per cent year-on-year growth in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 is higher than the 2.25 per cent recorded in the third quarter of 2022 and higher than the second quarter 2023 growth of 2.51 per cent. The bureau further said that the performance of the GDP in the third quarter of 2023 was driven mainly by

By Bliss Okperan, Adedapo Adesanya  The cost of cooking a pot of jollof rice, one of the most consumed foods daily in Nigeria, has surged by 37.4 per cent, according to research carried out by Business Post. Using market data and the most recent food price watch by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), major food items in making the delicacy, including rice, groundnut oil, tomatoes, and onions, among others have recorded a massive increase within the past year, making it hard for the average Nigerian to survive. According to NBS, 1 kilogram of Rice cost N757.06 in 2023 as

By Adedapo Adesanya  President Bola Tinubu has written to the House of Representatives seeking the approval for an $8.6 billion and €100 million external borrowing plan for critical infrastructure in areas such as power, roads, water, railway, and health. The President also forwarded the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Supplementary Budget to the lower chamber for consideration. Meanwhile, the President will present the 2024 budget to the National Assembly on Wednesday. This was after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion. The approval followed the review of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) earlier passed by the

By Adedapo Adesanya The average prices of goods and services in Nigeria continued their monthly increase as inflation rose to 21.47 per cent in November from 21.09 per cent recorded in October. This is according to the latest inflation report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), indicating the 10th consecutively monthly increase since the start of the year. In line with the report, Nigeria’s inflation rate has now risen to its highest level since September 2005, when the rate stood at 24.32 per cent. According to the statistics office, the increase in the year-on-year inflation rate can be attributed

By Adedapo Adesanya The Lagos State House of Assembly has asked the immediate past Governor of the state, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, to appear before it this Wednesday to answer allegations of unauthorised discounting of promissory note and purchase of 820 buses. In a notice, the state parliament said Mr Ambode should present himself for grilling on Wednesday, October 30, 2019, by 1pm. Mr Ambode was first summoned two weeks ago alongside persons that served under his administration. These persons included the former commissioners for Finance, Economic Planning, Justice and Attorney General, and Permanent Secretary. The House had set up an

By Adedapo Adesanya The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged Mr Folashodun Shonubi, the acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to remove the request for customers’ social media handles for know your customer (KYC) by banks. SERAP also urged him to “withdraw the Circular number FPR/DIR/PUB/CIR/007/076 of 20 June 2023 mandating banks and other financial institutions to implement and comply with the mandatory unlawful provisions on customers’ social media handles in the CBN Regulations.” According to Section 6(a)(iv) of the CBN Regulations, banks and other financial institutions “shall identify their customer and obtain information on

**As Access Bank, CAP, Others Lift Exchange by 0.02% By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited had a lucky escape from the bears on Wednesday when it closed 0.02 per cent higher on the back of buying interest in shares with good fundamentals. It was observed that investors cherry-picked equities with possible price appreciation in the next few weeks as the market gets ready for the release of first-quarter earnings from next week. Though the market breadth was at equilibrium with 16 price gainers and 16 price losers, shares from banking, energy and industrial goods sectors lifted the bourse

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An initiative put in place by a non-profit organisation called the Savvy Programme is already yielding meaningful results about six months after it was launched. In its first impact report published recently, the founders of the scheme said the Savvy Fellowship programme has impacted many lives. Business Post reports that the Savvy initiative was created to train at least 10,000 passionate individuals to build successful impact-driven businesses. Giving an insight into the programme since its inception, it was disclosed that from August 4, 2020, to February 4, 2021, Savvy received 39,958 applications from individuals interested in the

Although COVID-19 cases dropped significantly in Nigeria within the past year, cases are beginning to rise again. Just recently, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) recently reported 347 cases of COVID-19 and Lagos alone accounts for 265 (76%). This begs the question of how ready Lagos and the entire country are to quickly curb the spread of the virus or any other epidemic that may arise. The initial outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown showed how unprepared and unequipped the Nigerian health sector was. Although the NCDC responded remarkably well, much more could have been better

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Nigeria’s Acting President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, has denied speculations that he is under huge pressure to resign from office. There had been rumour that the Acting President is being put under immense pressure by a ‘cabal’ to quit office owing to the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari in the country. The President is currently abroad for vacation, which was supposed to expire yesterday, but he wrote to the National Assembly informing the legislative arm of government that he was extending it, though he did not specify for how long more. Addressing newsmen on Monday shortly after a

By John C. Maxwell “Let there be an end to the arrogance of the big powers who miss no opportunity to put the rights of the people in question.” Thomas Sankara Well done, Brexit! Congratulations and thank you! UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) leader, Nigel Farage hailed it as a “victory for real people” and called it Britain’s “Independence Day”. Britain, now after your victory, ensure that you never give up your Independence again! How I wish our dear island-home Malta could find the courage to follow your brave example! Definitely, your victory was a defeat for the EU (European