FG Confirms Massive Dumping of Crude Palm Oil on Nigeria

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Akinwumi Adesina

By Crusoe Osagie

The Federal Government has confirmed the illegal flooding of Nigeria’s market with large volumes of crude palm oil (CPO) import from neighbouring West African nations, under the guise of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme (ETLS).

The ETLS is a regional trade facilitation agreement endorsed by nations under ECOWAS and it is designed to boost trade among them by allowing reciprocal, duty free importation of goods and services within the West African countries. However, the goods and services entitled to move duty-free within the region must be indigenous to the exporting nation and must fully originate from there.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, noted at the weekend that available statistics strongly suggests that in the closest West African nations to Nigeria, most of the palm oil they import from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and others actually end up in the Nigerian market duty-free; thereby displacing locally produced palm oil from the market and suffocating the Nigerian oil palm plantations.

According to Adesina, the aggregate locally produced and imported palm oil in these neighbouring West African nations by far surpasses what they require both for their domestic and industrial consumption, therefore making the massive Nigerian market the dumping ground for these cheap CPO, which also comes into Nigeria duty-free under ETLS; making it by far cheaper than the CPO produced within Nigeria.

“We should be producing and exporting into those countries. We should not be using those countries as transit areas. Regional trade does not mean that we should import. Neighbouring West African countries import crude palm oil far higher than their needs. For Benin Republic 2003 to 2013, their production was stagnant, but their export increased by 1,018 per cent. Their import increased by 1,084 per cent of crude palm oil.

“Ghana’s production was also stagnant for the period. Their export rose by 62 per cent. Cote d’Ivoire production declined by 20 per cent during the period, but their export rose by 74 per cent. From all the evidence that I have seen, it appears they are re-exporting into Nigeria, which is killing the oil palm industry in Nigeria. We need to discuss on how regional trade will benefit us and not the one that will deplete our own resources,” Adesina said.

The minister stressed that present times are different and that in every part of the world where agriculture is growing, it is because their governments are supporting them.

“Last year, we started the distribution of sprouted oil palm nuts. We gave 1.4 million sprouted nuts free. The farmers have to recapitalise their plantations. It is the job of government to do that. These are high-yielding Tenera seedlings. As I look at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, I always get excited because two of the best performing stocks are from the oil palm industry and we intend to ensure that it stays so”

Explaining that it was possible for Nigeria to become self-sufficient in palm oil production and consumption, Adesina explained that a similar experience occurred with rice. He stated: “when the issue of waivers came up for rice, Mr. President was under enormous pressure to grant waivers for importations. He didn’t give the waivers. Today, Nigeria is on its way to self sufficiency in rice production. We have to do the same with the palm oil industry.

“It is shameful that we are importing crude palm oil. We should be exporting. The fact that we are having a discussion on whether we should lower the tariff, so that we could be importing, makes absolutely no sense. Some make a case for those who need palm oil for processing. We are already paying a higher price because we have rising unemployment in our rural areas; we are spending hard-earned foreign exchange on importing. We are paying a higher price with the livelihoods of rural areas producing palm oil being severely threatened. We are paying a higher price because the naira is weakened anytime we are importing,” he said.

“I am against reduction of tariff from 35 per cent, because every country must do what is in its interest. We cannot revive our rural areas if we are opening up our markets for everyone to dump every junk. The issue of ETLS is of great concern. ETLS in the region is to expand trade, but every country must do what is in its interest,” Adesina added.

ThisDay

GENERAL MUHAMMAD BUHARI (GMB) AND BIGOTRY.

 GMB means different thing to different ppl. To some he is "hope". To others doom. In 1983 Chadian troops invaded and occupy Nig villages. As GOC 3 Armoured Division he org a counter attack and pushed d Chadians 60 km into their hinterland. Pres Shagari was irked GMB acted unilateraly. He was to be sanctioned. D mil acted 1st. On 31 Dec 83 GMB became d HOS. He embarked on a crusade against corruption. All but 2 govs escaped corruption charges. Others receive fm 25-250 years in jail. He appointed 19 govs. 11 were christians, 7 muslims and 1 pagan. In his 20mths reign: 1.Enhanced d value of Naira fm 3.25 to $1 to N1=$1 2.Inflation down fm 23% to 4%. 3. Seized hoarded foodstuff and sold to public at controlled prices. 4.Introduced counter trader traded which lifted pressure on demand for foreign exchange.. 5.Rejected IMF-World Bank advice to devalue d Naira. 6. Created War Against Indiscipline (WAI) Brigade to enforce discipline orderliness on d public. Commuters rushing to board buses, urinating and littering d public attracted imm sanction. 7. He proved he could step on toes by detaining Oni of Ife and Emir of Kano for travelling abroad witout govt consent. We r advocating for a GMB return cos as sure as thunder after lightening he will recover stolen funds, seize property and assets of corrupt politicians. That is what PDP is scared of. Their fears are our sources of hope and drive. In d absence of any stain in his record, PDP embarked on an aggressive drive to villify him. He is no ethnicist. His daughter is married to an Anambran. He is no religious bigot, his key staff are all christians. He has thrown a challenge. Any1 whom he has mistreated on account of religion o ethnic back ground should come out in d public and say so. In the interim he swore that he has never stolen public funds. He dared Dr GEJ TO SAY THE SAME.

Pretending All is Well - by: Ayisha Osori

"It is disheartening to hear from the lips of so many who work closely with government or around government, that ‘there is no hope. What is the scorecard for the soul of the country?"

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it”- Aristotle

It makes perfect sense that the President and his team would score themselves high in their review of the last 2 years. It is symptomatic of the type of people we have become in Nigeria. We are people who all complain about corruption, squalor, poor maintenance culture, general lack of integrity, disunity etc. yet none of us admit to being guilty of or contributing to these things. It is always ‘they’ or ‘some people’ but never us. We have learned to excuse the inexcusable and explain away the unexplainable; there has never been a thought or idea too low for us to attach ourselves to especially if money, ethnicity, religion and loyalty can be somehow be woven into it.

Try as one might, it is impossible as of the time this article was being written to find an electronic copy of the President’s mid term score card. It would have been ideal to read it as part of the material reviewed but it is also instructive that this article can be written without it. Considering that there was time enough to have the scorecard prepared, printed and bound, then there was time to have it uploaded unto several websites. Alternatively, the considerable talent managing the media and image of the Presidency could have circulated the scorecard amongst online and print media. Such a document, a campaign tool of sorts, should be freely accessible on the Internet for all Nigerians. Yet, neither the Presidency’s website nor any of the relevant ministries e.g., Information, have an electronic copy available for millions of Nigerians at home and abroad who don’t have access to the print report.

The scorecard was reportedly about things that can be measured: rates, funds, meters and megawatts but in a country where hiding information is the norm and obfuscation has become an art form, what is one supposed to believe if what you hear differs so much from your existence? It is all well to focus on some tangibles (and ignore others), but what about the soft things that cannot be easily measured? Are they any less important in rating the overall performance of a government? What is the scorecard for the soul of the country?

We cannot pretend all is well. There might be things, which for balance sake we admit seem shaped like progress such as inflation rates dropping to single digits but that is cold comfort when Ramadhan and the prospect of increased food prices looms. It is hard to keep hearing that our foreign direct investment is increasing and yes, maybe these are things which, by their nature, we can only appreciate in the future, but if people are still looking for jobs three, four years after graduating from school is it wrong to ask ‘what about now?’ What is it that we can see, feel and touch that is better today?

Materially, many seem to be worse of than they were two years ago. While the price of land, accommodation, goods and services steadily increases, salaries and benefits stay the same and access to funds, even in the non-profit sector is shrinking. Professional and amateur begging has increased and so has crime with a lot more stories of car jackings and home robberies. Kidnapping has taken the place of research and development and the yields are reportedly even more fantastic.

Spiritually, as the noise directed upward increases with the proliferation of churches and mosques on every street, Nigerians are getting meaner and meaner to each other. Acting godless in the name of religion and being spiteful and un-neighbourly every chance we get, the louder we chant and pray it seems the further we are away from the Almighty’s mercy. Men of God who have become rock stars and men in office who abuse power with supreme impunity, with the weak and oppressed finding absolutely no succor - not in the houses that men have allegedly built for God nor in the temples of governance maintained by our taxes and collective wealth.

Mentally, our best are exhausted and being bled of all hope. It is disheartening to hear from the lips of so many who work closely with government or around government, that ‘there is no hope’. Those who took roles in the public and development sectors in order to contribute to building a nation we can all be proud of, are quietly resigning, finding jobs in the private sector or abroad and leaving. This is how we have so many excelling all over the world where merit and integrity are valued and how the country continues to sink beneath the suffocating weight of mediocrity and unbridled greed. The young see clearly that the game is rigged and many are pushed to take the decision to join in.

Collectively, our union has never, not since the end of the Civil War, seemed so fragile and frayed. Calls for secession are as common as pure water sachets on a parade ground and nothing, not even transportation policy can be discussed without religion and ethnicity somehow finding a platform to participate.

What has this got to do with government? Everything. Fear, anger and scarcity is the best way to keep people divided and distracted while those who plunder can work in peace. Those who crave access to office at all costs routinely play on the insecurities of Nigerians slowly but surely creating a wedge that many think is now too wide to bridge. A government that is genuinely interested in long term sustainable development would act and sound a lot different from the governments we have today.

It is great to be positive and to see good in every situation but it is also necessary – like a person fighting an addiction – to admit to a problem in order to solve it. All is not well and a mechanical scorecard with no words to salve the many wounds on our collective soul is simply not good enough. No one needs a marking scheme to know that.
Leadership

John Boehner Was Allowed To Remain House Speaker Because God Spoke To Republicans, They Claim

The U.S. government was spared from going over the fiscal cliff earlier this year because God spoke to a group of Republicans and told them not to turn against House Speaker John Boehner -- at least, that's what they've told the Washington Post.

In a detailed piece about in-fighting among House Republicans, this gem stood out:

Barely 36 hours after the caustic New Year’s Day vote, Boehner faced a coup attempt from a clutch of renegade conservatives. The cabal quickly fell apart when several Republicans, after a night of prayer, said God told them to spare the speaker. Still, Boehner came within a few votes of failing to secure his speakership on the initial vote, an outcome that would have forced a second ballot for the first time in nearly a century.

The speaker apparently knew at the time that he would need divine intervention. Shortly after House Republicans rejected his "Plan B" fiscal cliff bill in December, Boehner expressed his dismay about ever reaching a deal with Obama that would satisfy his party's demands for spending cuts.

"How we get there, God only knows," he said.

HuffingtonPost

Soup Kitchen Meals Too Fattening, Not Nutritious, Says New Study

Homelessness, Soup Kitchen Meals Too Fattening, Soup Kitchens, St. Anthony's, UCSF Soup Kitchen Study, Food Deserts, San Francisco Homelessness, University Of California San Francisco, San Francisco News

Soup kitchens are often an essential resource for deeply impoverished individuals across the United States. But a new analysis shows that the free meals provided in many of these establishments are high in fat and low in other essential vitamins--an especially problematic situation for those who receive little other sustenance.

The analysis, released last month by researchers at the University of California San Francisco's Center for Vulnerable Populations at San Francisco General Hospital, examined the nutritional content meals handed out at sites across San Francisco and found that, by and large, the meals had an unhealthy amount of fat while providing low levels of fiber, calcium and vitamins A and E.

"We really want to be interested in providing not just any calories but the right kind of calories," said Dr. Courtney Lyles, a research specialist at USCF and lead author of the study. "The breakdown is really between donated food versus fresh fruit and vegetables. The meals tended to do well in areas like protein, but lacked in micro-nutrients, which primarily come from fresh fruits and vegetables."

The study looked at 22 meals--varied between breakfast, lunch and dinner--handed out at six different sites across San Francisco on non-consecutive days.

While there isn't a great deal of literature on the subject, Lyles noted that it wouldn't be surprising to find similar results in other cities because incorporating a significant proportion of fresh fruits and vegetables is a common challenge facing many soup kitchens around the country.

The health content of the meals provided by soup kitchens can often be an afterthought to simply making sure that everyone has enough to eat. However, since the population served by soup kitchens tends to lack access to health care, chronic diet-related diseases like diabetes and hypertension can often go untreated in a medical setting--leaving more of the burden of managing these conditions directly on food intake.

"This is something we struggle with all the time," said Karl Robillard, a spokesman at St. Anthony's, one of the largest homeless services organizations in San Francisco. "The need for fresh fruits and vegetables is paramount."

Robillard noted that one of the ways his organization works to get healthier meals is to coordinate directly with farmers for donations. "If a peach falls on the ground, it can no longer be sold to grocery stores, but that doesn't mean it's not edible," he explained, noting that his organization's cost averages out to about fifty cents per meal. "Those are the sorts of things we regularly get donated from both large- and small-scale farms in California."

Robillard recounted how, when pro golf's U.S. Open came to San Francisco a few years ago, the food vendor donated all of the event's leftovers to St. Anthony's, which allowed the organization to give out a whole host of healthy, tasty food items.

A report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors notes that, as a result of the recession, there's been a 24 percent increase nationally in the demand for emergency food services.

Many urban areas where homeless people tend to congregate, such as San Francisco's Tenderloin District, have been labeled "food deserts," because there are few places where residents can purchase fresh, healthy food.

In response, the city has pushed to allow a neighborhood farmers market to operate multiple days per week and, thanks to recent government efforts, many farmers markets have begun accepting food stamps.

HuffingtonPost

SKIN BLEACHING: Nigerian Women Have The World’s Highest Percentage – WHO

The World Health Organisation, WHO, has said 77 percent of women in Nigeria use skin-lightening products, the world’s highest percentage. The figure compares with 59 percent in Togo, and 27 percent in Senegal.


The WHO report said the reasons for this are varied but most people said they use skin-lighteners because they want “white skin”.

WHO also said skin bleaching comes with hazardous health consequences. The dangers associated with the use of toxic compounds for skin bleaching include, blood cancers such as leukemia and cancers of the liver and kidneys, as well as severe skin conditions. It said hardcore bleachers use illegal ointments containing toxins like mercury, a metal that blocks production of melanin, which gives the skin its colour, but can also be toxic.

The report said in many parts of Africa, lighter-skinned women are considered more beautiful and believed to be more successful and likely to find marriage. It also said it is not only women who are obsessed with bleaching their skins. Some men too are involved in the practice.

Mookie Blaylock Charged With Vehicular Homicide After Head-On Car Crash

Mookie Blaylock #10 of the Atlanta Hawks dribbles against the Sacramento Kings on March 31, 1994.

JONESBORO, Ga. -- Former NBA All-Star Daron "Mookie" Blaylock has been charged with vehicular homicide arising from a head-on crash in suburban Atlanta, authorities announced Monday.

Blaylock, 46, is also charged with driving on a suspended license and failure to maintain his lane in the Friday crash, Jonesboro Police Chief Franklin Allen said.

Blaylock was driving an SUV that crossed the center line of Tara Boulevard – about 20 miles south of downtown Atlanta – and struck a van, police said. A van passenger, 43-year-old Monica Murphy, died hours later. Her husband, who was also in the van, was treated and released at a hospital.

Blaylock was also wanted in Spalding County on charges of failure to appear in court, DUI and drug possession, Allen said.

Atlanta Medical Center spokeswoman Nicole Gustin said Blaylock was in fair condition Monday. He initially was on life support at the hospital, but his condition was upgraded.

Allen said police are working to determine the cause of the crash and that alcohol doesn't appear to be a factor. Authorities were working to gather documents on Blaylock's medical history Monday. Blaylock told investigators he blacked out just before the wreck but wasn't able to say much more, Allen said. It's unclear if he has an attorney.

Blaylock was a first-round draft pick by the New Jersey Nets out of Oklahoma in 1989.

He played as a guard for the Atlanta Hawks between 1992 and 1999 and played in the 1994 NBA All-Star game. He had his best season in 1996-97, averaging 17.4 points and 5.9 assists. Blaylock also played for the Golden State Warriors.