Economy
FG Urges Nigerians to Embrace Agric as Business
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Nigerians have been advised to take agriculture as profitable business that has the potential of revamping the country’s economy.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, gave this advice when he held a meeting with a delegation from the Plateau State government led by the Governor, Mr Bako Lalong, in his office last week.
According to the Minister, agriculture remains the biggest and fastest way of enriching the rural populace and stabilizing the polity.
“We have no choice than to help grow agriculture in all states of the federation, create wealth and jobs and make people happier to bring life to the rural areas where there has been so much hardship and difficulty in accessing livelihoods,” Mr Ogbeh said.
On the incessant clash between farmers and herdsmen, the Minister explained that the introduction of cattle colonies in the country was borne out of the need to provide an enabling environment for agriculture to thrive in the country since the states own the land; adding that to governments ‘it is cheaper to do this for herdsmen and others who want to rear cattle than for individuals to go and invest many, because we know that many farmers have difficulties raising bank loans’.
Mr Ogbeh, while throwing light on the concept of colony, stated that, “Colonies and ranches are the same thing in many ways except that a colony is bigger that a ranch.
“A colony is a biological expression for any species of animals whether by nature or by human design that are found in a large community sharing the same terrain, such as bee colonies in certain areas.
“In Colony, 20, 30 ranchers can share the same colony, a ranch is usually owned by an individual or company with few numbers of cows, in a cattle colony you could find 100, 200, 300 cows owned by different individuals.”
He added that, “The reason for designing colony was that we want to prepare on a large scale a place where many owners of cattle can co-exist there, they feed well because we can make their feeds from agro waste, get good water to drink as cows drink a lot of water, we can give them green fodder; we grow it on a large scale harvest and feed the cow; give them veterinary services and protect the cows against rustlers”.
The Minister commended the Plateau State government for its interests in developing agriculture and promised to extend further supports to the 16 state governments that had expressed interest in developing ranches like Kogi, Nasarawa, Osun, Kebbi, Plateau states, among others.
Mr Ogbeh said once the colony begins, the Federal Government would embark on a large scale artificial insemination to improve the breed of cattle so that the yield of milk can increase, he observed that while a cow in Nigeria delivers about a litre of milk per day, in East Africa, a cow gives 15 litres of milk and in Europe they do averagely 50 litres of milk per day, saying that Nigeria is still a long way from achieving the target which other countries have achieved.
He sought for supports from states in area of extension officers who will be recruited within the locality so that they can be in contact with rural farmers, they will be taught on what to do as well as train the farmers on planting operations which will go side by side with the programme on cattle colonies.
The Minister said the whole aim of the policy was to end herdsmen/farmers’ conflict, saying the idea is neither a hostile nor wicked plan by the ministry to seize anybody’s land.
The Minister also announced that the Federal Government would soon hold a stakeholders’ forum with the herdsmen and other stakeholders on the implementation of the new policy and express his willingness to visit some of the agricultural sites in Plateau State.
Earlier in his address, Governor of Plateau State, Mr Bako Lalong, said he was in the Ministry to identify with the agricultural revolution of the Federal Government in area of livestock production as well as seek for more assistance for his State.
He said Plateau State was one of the states that keyed into the ranch policy when it was introduced by the Federal Government and expressed the readiness of the state to also embrace the cattle colony policy that is being introduced by the Federal Government.
“If you need to live in peace you need to find ways of sustaining peace. This policy has a lot of interest for us,” he stated.
He expressed appreciation to the Minister for the supports the state enjoyed so far from the Ministry and promised that Plateau state will continue to partner with the Federal Government in its agricultural policies to provide gainful employment for its teeming populations.
By Adedapo Adesanya
African business mogul, Mr Aliko Dangote, has offered some East African countries a combined 30 per cent equity stake in his proposed oil refinery in Kenya, potentially giving regional investors access to about $1.5 billion worth of the project.
Mr David Ndii, economic adviser to Kenyan President William Ruto, disclosed this on Thursday at a capital markets forum in Nairobi.
Mr Ndii said Kenya would take a 10 per cent stake in the proposed refinery, valued at about $500 million, while Ethiopia and Rwanda had also expressed interest in participating in the project.
“The total for the region is about $1.5 billion,” Mr Ndii said, adding that Mr Dangote was prepared to support the project if some participating countries were unable to commit as crude off-takers.
The proposed refinery is expected to be developed in Lamu, a coastal town in southeastern Kenya, after Dangote initially proposed building the facility in Tanga, Tanzania.
Business Post had reported that the decision to relocate the project to Kenya was based on commercial and technical considerations.
The planned refinery would mark an expansion of Dangote’s refining operations beyond Nigeria and provide East African countries with direct equity participation in a major energy infrastructure project, alongside potential access to refined petroleum products.
The project was initially announced for Tanzania, where Dangote had proposed building a refinery in Tanga similar to his 700,000-barrel-per-day facility in Lagos.
Mr Dangote announced the Tanzania plan during a panel session at the Africa Finance Corporation summit in Nairobi, where he appeared alongside President Ruto and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
The project was subsequently shifted from Tanga to Lamu, with Dangote citing commercial and technical considerations for the change. Also, the Tanzanian government said it wasn’t consulted before the decision was announced.
The anticipated refinery and associated infrastructure on Kenya’s coast could cost about $17 billion and take approximately five years to complete.
The proposed 30 per cent regional stake is expected to provide East African investors with significant participation in the development of the refinery while broadening Dangote’s refining footprint across the continent. It will also help shield against shocks like the disruptions in the Middle East.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Civic-tech organisation, BudgIT, has called on the federal government to urgently address persistent weaknesses in budget execution, public auditing and procurement disclosure ahead of the 2027 budget cycle.
BudgIT, in a reaction to the United States Department of State’s 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report, said the assessment exposed significant gaps in Nigeria’s management and disclosure of public finances and should serve as a catalyst for comprehensive reforms ahead of the 2027 budget cycle.
The American report, which assessed Nigeria’s fiscal transparency practices between January 1 and December 31, 2025, placed the country among 67 of the 140 governments and entities reviewed that failed to meet minimum fiscal transparency requirements. Of the 67 governments that failed to meet the requirements, only 14 were assessed to have made significant progress in addressing identified deficiencies. Nigeria was not among those countries.
BudgIT said although the Fiscal Transparency Report focused specifically on fiscal disclosure and should not be regarded as a comprehensive assessment of all public financial management reforms being undertaken in Nigeria, its findings raised serious concerns about the credibility and accessibility of government financial information.
According to the organisation, the assessment reinforced longstanding concerns surrounding the quality of budget implementation reports, the independence and effectiveness of Nigeria’s audit institutions and the availability of public procurement information.
BudgIT said these shortcomings went beyond technical issues because they directly affected citizens’ ability to understand how government raises, allocates and spends public resources.
One of the major concerns identified in the US assessment was the inability of Nigeria’s budget documents to provide a substantially complete picture of government revenues and expenditures.
The report also found that actual government revenues and expenditures did not reasonably correspond with the enacted budget, raising questions about the credibility of the budget as a framework for fiscal planning and accountability.
BudgIT argued that a budget should not merely be an annual statement of government intentions but should provide a credible framework through which government communicates its fiscal priorities and commits public resources.
The organisation expressed particular concern that, despite the federal government’s continued publication of budget documents, actual budget implementation reporting remains inadequate.
BudgIT noted that publishing approved budget figures was not enough, stressing that the government must provide timely, consolidated and comprehensive information on actual revenue collection and expenditure.
It also pointed to Nigeria’s adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) since 2016, arguing that the principles of transparency and accountability embedded in internationally accepted public-sector financial reporting should be reflected in the quality, timeliness and completeness of Nigeria’s fiscal reports.
The organisation also highlighted weaknesses in the country’s audit architecture. The US assessment found that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation does not meet international standards of independence and has not published substantive audit reports as required.
BudgIT said an effective supreme audit institution is essential to ensuring accountability because it independently assesses how public resources have been utilised and whether government spending complies with approved appropriations and applicable laws.
It warned that without adequate institutional independence and the timely publication of audit findings, the National Assembly, civil society organisations and citizens would be deprived of an important mechanism for scrutinising public expenditure.
BudgIT therefore called for the completion of long-overdue reforms to Nigeria’s audit framework, stressing that the continued reliance on an outdated legal framework for public auditing constrains the Auditor-General’s ability to operate with the independence, authority and institutional capacity required in a modern public financial management system.
The US report also found that accessible information on public procurement contracts was not sufficiently available to the public.
BudgIT said citizens should be able to follow the procurement process from the publication of procurement opportunities through bidding, contract award, execution and completion.
Commenting on the report, BudgIT’s Head of Research and Policy Advisory, Mrs Adejoke Akinbode, said the federal government should use Nigeria’s second consecutive failure to meet the US minimum fiscal transparency requirements as an opportunity to undertake a comprehensive review of the country’s fiscal disclosure architecture ahead of the 2027 budget cycle.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc again pulled down the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Thursday, August 20, by 1.11 per cent.
The securities depository company further lost N5.93 during the trading session to close at N82.20 per share versus the midweek closing price of N88.12 per share.
As a result, the NASD Security Index (NSI) slid by 48.25 points to 4,284.84 points from 4,333.09 points, and trimmed the bourse’s market capitalisation by N28.96 billion to N2.571 trillion from N2.60 trillion.
During the trading day, the price of Afriland Properties Plc went up by 50 Kobo to N20.50 per unit from N20.00 per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities transacted by investors slumped by 85.1 per cent to 112,218 units from 747,429 units, the value of securities fell by 95.2 per cent to 4.6 million from 9.4 million, and the number of deals decreased by 40.5 per cent to 25 deals from 42 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.9 million units worth N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units transacted for 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 sold for N415.7 million.
