Experts from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, the National Agricultural Seed Council, NASC and National Root Crops Research Institute, NRCRI, have said that efforts to develop cassava seed system would help Nigeria for its transformation and meet the growing demand for seeds of about N10 billion from cassava growers. The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in 2029 midwifed a program to develop cassava seed growers on 100,000 hectares across the country, which created huge demand for improved and disease-free planting materials that surpassed supply. “Last year, the demand for certified cassava stems from cassava growers was estimated at N10…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
I Am LAYCON, a reality series which premiered Feb. 10 on showmax has broken the Nigerian record for the most viewed show on its first day on Showmax. This was disclosed in a statement that was made available to Journalists in Lagos by Showmax’s Public Relations Officer in Nigeria, Onna Okafor. It said the reality series, which is the first Showmax original shot, produced in Nigeria, has the highest first-day views for any show ever on the streaming service in Nigeria, including other popular reality shows like Big Brother Naija and Mercy & Ike. According to the statememt, a week…
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday moved 307.79 million shares valued at N2.91 billion exchanged in 4,393 deals. This was in contrast with 426.27 million shares worth N4.75 billion traded in 4,972 deals on Thursday, a decrease of 27.79 per cent. An analysis of the activity chart indicates that FBN Holdings was the toast of 85.58 million shares valued at N624.73 million. United Capital followed with an account of 52.32 million shares worth N341.82 million, while United Bank for Africa sold 23.35 million shares valued at N192.95 million. Zenith Bank accounted for 17.58 million shares worth N431.96 million; Guaranty…
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday, dismissed a suit seeking the declaration of the Igbo social cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, as illegal organisation. Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling, also rejected the call for the arrest, probe and prosecution of the President General of the association, Prof George Obiozor and other leaders of the group over alleged contempt. Justice Ekwo held that the applicant; The Registered Trustees of Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly, led by Barrister Onuorah Basil Onyeachonam, failed to show that Obiozor and others committed any offence known to law to warrant their arrest, investigation and prosecution. He said after…
Abdulrasheed Maina, former Chairman, defunct Pension Reformed Task Team (PRTT), on Friday, told the Federal High Court, Abuja, that his leg would have been amputated if he did not travel to Niger Republic for medicare. Maina, in his affidavit to support the bail application filed before Justice Okon Abang, said a surgical operation was performed on his kneel to save his leg from amputation. He urged the court to grant his prayer for bail so that he could attend to his current deteriorating health challenge. Maina had, on January 20, approached Justice Abang for another bail after his arrest for…
A total of 570 police officers have succumbed to COVID-19 in South Africa while over 27,000 were infected, said Police Minister Bheki Cele on Friday. Cele made the remarks in Pretoria while releasing the crime statistics for the third quarter of the 2020/2021 financial year. He stated that COVID-19 continues to affect the healthcare system, economy and livelihood, adding that it “is also impacting on policing, infecting over 27,000 members and claiming the lives of 570 of them.’’ “It is painful to see members of the police force dying of COVID-19. “At the same time we remain encouraged that over…
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday, granted an application by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to destroy forfeited narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances, weighing 15.660kg and worth N150 million. Delivering a ruling, Justice Inyang Ekwo, gave the order for forfeiture and leave to destroy the drugs sought by the NDLEA in an ex-parte application argued by a senior lawyer to the agency, Mike Kassa. In the application marked: FJC/ABJ/CS/1142021, the NDLEA prayed for “an order for forfeiture and leave to destroy, by burning in a public place, all narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances tendered in cases already…
Germany could see a new spike in coronavirus infections in the coming weeks, warned Lothar Wieler, president of the country’s disease control agency, Robert Koch Institute (RKI), at a press conference on Friday. “We may once again be at a turning point. The downward trend of the last few weeks is apparently no longer continuing,’’ Wieler said. The RKI registered 9,113 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour period on Friday, which was still slightly below the previous week’s level. To date, about 2.37 million COVID-19 infections have been officially registered in Germany since the outbreak of the pandemic. Also in…
The Federal government, on Friday, said it had signed a 25 megawatt Independent Power Project (IPP) agreement, to enhance electricity supply to industries in the Kano Free Trade Zone (KFTZ). Mr Richard Adeniyi-Adebayo, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, who stated this during a facility tour of the KFTZ, in Kano, explained that the agreement was signed with a reputable firm and that the project was expected to be completed within 11 months. He said the government also initiated viable programmes to fast track infrastructure development and provision of other facilities to encourage investment in the KFTZ. “We are…
Gombe state ogvernment has imposed a 24-hour curfew with immediate effect on Billiri local government area of the state, following the eruption of violence in the area. Prof. Abubakar Njodi, Secretary to the State Government made this known at a news conference in Gombe on Friday. Njodi said that imposing the curfew became necessary to contain the violence which erupted in the area; as this could threaten lives and property. “What we want to establish is peace so that we can reach out to the people and conclude issues with regard to the appointment of the new Mai Tangle,” he…