Northern Traditional Rulers Promised To Assist Buhari

Clement Ejiofor,

Traditional northern monarchs, who have visited President Muhammadu Buhari on June 23, promise their support to the government’s battle against insecurity, economy crisis.

The Northern traditional rulers arriving for a meeting with President Muhhamadu Buhari

The Gbong Gwong Jos, Jacob Gyang-Buba, told newsmen that it was a politeness visit to Buhari by the Northern leaders and not a meeting.
His words: “Traditional rulers from the North deemed it fit to come to congratulate Mr President, pray with him and of cause, assure of our total support and resolve to work with the government, to enable it surmount the various problems that are facing Nigeria.”

Gyang-Buba added that the traditional rulers all determine the fact that there are so many challenges, but that they need braveness to work them out.
According to him the traditional rulers were hoping that Nigeria’s leader would use his sense of sincerity toward his assignment and that Nigerians would make forfeit to enable Buhari’s government success.
“We want to count on his record of sincerity and to work with him, cooperate with him, and we are calling on all Nigerians to appreciate that we all need to make sacrifices for us to move forward.
“That is the assurance we came to give Mr President.
“We intend to go back to our various communities to mobilise them to cooperate, particularly to do with security and of cause, whatever can be done about the economy,’’ the monarch said.
On his own turn, ex-comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service said that the president assured traditional rulers to cooperate in his development agenda.
“Mr president gave assurance as he has always done.’’

He stated that Buhari “is not a person to be afraid of giving assurances, and with good intent at that’. That is why we all need to rally round and work together, so that we can overcome by the Grace of God.”
During electoral campaign Muhammadu Buhari said that the insecurity, bad economy and corruption are the most pertinent of the grievous challenges that Nigeria grapples with and must be tackled before the country can chalk out any path to development.

Buhari One-Term Pledge Tears APC Apar

Akpan Jeremiah,

The  decision by President Muhammadu Buhari to serve only one term is said to be  responsible for the brewing crisis within the the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as major bigwigs  are fighting hard to retain control of the party’s machinery ahead of 2019 general elections.

According to Daily Times, this has made politicians to start forming informal alliance gearing to 2019 general elections. The report stated that this in-fighting within the ruling party might  distract the president  on his mission to bring the needed change to the Nigeria’s people.
It  was gathered that the decision of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to thwart efforts of   candidates presented by the APC for the position of Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, has serious link to the 2019 Presidential contest.

According to a Source within the ruling party said , ” the decision of President Buhari not to run in 2019 is already tearing the party into shreds as potential aspirants for the office are already mobilizing across parties and geo- political zones to forge a realignment for the contest.”
“The visit by Akpabio and Agbaje to the Abuja residence of Atiku, according to information pieced together in Abuja, is the beginning of the much-expected realignment and coming together of former PDP political heavy weights across the nation before the commencement of the onslaught on the factionalized APC.”

The reports said that the  visit of  Senate President, Bukola Saraki, shortly after being sworn in confirmed that Atiku was one of those that backed Saraki’s emergence. It was also gathered that Atiku is still aspiring for the presidency; noting  that decision of Buhari to run for one term has further inspired him to start making moves to realise his dream among the political divides.

It  was further stressed that the main reason why Bola Ahmed Tinubu was against Saraki’s emergence was his alleged opposition to the choice of Professor Yemi Osibanjo as then running mate for Buhari. Saraki’s was reportedly gunning for former Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi. But it took  the intervention of former president Obasanjo before the opposition to Osibanjo was lay to rest.
The report revealed  that Tinubu is already working on the background to ensure that Atiku does not become the Chairman of APC Board of Trustee  in order to checkmate Atiku’s growing influence within the party. While, Atiku is using his vast contacts within and outside the party to clinch the  leadership position.

APC Crisis: Party Chieftains Gang Up Against Tinubu

Jerrywright Ukwu

Former Governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu may lose the popular appellation “National Leader of the All Progressives Congress” attached to his name. 
This is because some APC big wigs are planning a convention, that will amend the party’s  constitution which will allocate the position to President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to The Union, Tinubu may be forced to drop the title if there must be peace within the party. Although the position he will occupy afterwards has not been determined.

The leadership of the party is set to alter the structure of the party and its principal officers’ positions in order to make them function within the ambits of the party’s constitution.

Part of the restructuring, according to a source is the National Leader of the Party, which Tinubu currently occupies.
No such position reportedly exists in the party’s constitution and as such, the position has somewhat become anachronistic with the new image of the party as the ruling party working to have a national outlook.

Those pushing for the change say President Buhari should become National leader of the party, Governors and Local government Chairpersons would function as such at the states and local government levels.
The move by the party chieftains is reportedly because of  Tinubu’s overbearing attitude and their plans are meant to tame him.
The source said, “the political wizardry with which he consummated the merger, first between the President’s Congress for Progressive Chance (CPC) and his Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN), before the rump of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) led by Governor Rochas Okorocha and All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), led by Chief Ogbonnaya Onu and later the new-PDP, earned the respect of the party rank and file. But as the party grew, he became too fast-paced in his dealings for many to catch up, some getting dazed in the wake of his tactics.

“After the emergence of the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun, Buhari as party presidential candidate at the November 2014 party Convention and the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, all through his support, his deep involvement in the scheming for the leadership of the NASS, rankled the party leaders, particularly from the north. Enough is enough”, said the source who opined that “our party needs a bigger face beyond Tinubu and his magisterial style.”

Meanwhile, Tinubu has raised an alarm over a plot by some people to turn him against Buhari.

Tinubu's Company Kicks Out Workers

Jerrywright Ukwu

The consulting firm owned by the former governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, seem to be enmeshed in a major controversy.
The company, Alpha-Beta Consulting Limited is already facing the prospect of being picketed by the Association of Senior Staff of Bank and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) after the management sacked 300 workers in one fell swoop.

The company’s total staff strength is about 375.  Daily Trust gathered that the staff were sacked because they wanted to form a union in order to send a message to the management of the company.
The ASSBIFI’s officials visited the premises of the company as early as 7.am yesterday, June 23, in a  protest, while displaying placards and criticising the action of the company’s management.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards were, “Alpha Beta is a lawless organization,” “Injustice to humanity must stop.” 
Tinubu is currently facing a major political battle in his party, All Progressives Congress as his preferred candidates in the National Assembly elections endorsed by the party were defeated recently.

Meanwhile, Tinubu has ordered the newly elected officials to apologise to him via newspapers in order to pacify him.

And Where Is Femi Fani-Kayode?

Capt. Daniel Omale

Suddenly, the noise stopped. Femi Fani-Kayode (alias FFK) went quiet as the overblown propaganda machine of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) did very little to convince the electorate.
FFK, the publicity director of Jonathan Goodluck’s campaign did his job beyond the call of duty. He personalised his assault on Muhammadu Buhari in the name of discrediting the only formidable opponent of the PDP.
It’s interesting that after so much negative and derogatory remarks against Buhari, FFK is almost like a fish out of water. The PDP is virtually done with him, just like the All Progressive Congress’ (APC) rejection of his membership. It’s obvious the former aviation minister is no longer in bed with either of the two front running parties.
Why should Fani-Kayode, a man in his prime, be deserted so early? The answer is simple: FFK is unreal with life. He wants to belong without commitment. He would protect any party whose umbrella can buy him temporary freedom. Freedom from the law, in his fight to exonerate himself from the money laundering charges. Although, in my own opinion, these charges are frivolous, but this is Nigeria, a country where jungle justice prevails.
FFK’s loud and abusive noise in the media, for obvious reasons, did not translate to election victory for his erstwhile party. A victory would have given him permanent shield from prosecution and, it did not happen. Therefore, he will continue with the case until justice or injustice is concluded.
What I find strange about Fani-Kayode’s unwarranted arsenal against President Buhari in the election campaign is his naivety about the dynamics of life. Change was inevitable, most Nigerians saw it and reflected it in the election results but for some reason, and this is always peculiar to politicians, the mouthpiece of the PDP and the other heavy weights did not believe for a second that the tide had changed; Nigerians were yearning for a new direction.
From the Osun state gubernatorial election, presidential, and the scramble for Lagos governorship contests, FFK’s rhetoric did not work for his party. The megaphone pouring his venom became blocked and inaudible when Jonathan lost the election. He tried to reactivate his loud voice in the Lagos state gubernatorial contest, but this time, there was no echo to reverberate. Agbaje, his last hope to reappear on the podium of minor relevance, finally lost. A few weeks ago, Chief Fani-Kayode turned his verbal attack on his own party; he credited the mild, humiliating defeat of Goodluck to his relentless effort. Goodluck Jonathan would have lost, at least, 10 million votes to Buhari had it not been for FFK’s effort, he lamented.
So, what next for the megaphone of the PDP as the possibility of expulsion from the party hangs on his window?
My advice to the former minister is to join a political party for ideological conviction, not for social convenience. Camping and decamping from one political party to another in the name of social and economic benefits show the instability in a politician’s behaviour. It does not indicate a firm and reliable individual who is capable of handling affairs of this country in any position of service to the people.
When he was in the APC, his verbal attacks on the PDP members, especially Goodluck Jonathan, the immediate past President, were crude and denigrating. After migrating to the PDP, Fani-Kayode, like rain drops, relentlessly assassinated characters of top members of the APC. Muhammadu Buhari and Bola Tinubu became his personal targets. Unfortunately, the exercise was in pure futility; very few took notice, and voted for change.
Politics and political parties should be based on ideology, not for economic convenience and reward. An ideology is a set of beliefs that affects our outlook on the world. Our ideology is our most closely held set of values and feelings, and it acts as the filter through which we see everything and everybody. In fact, these beliefs are often so close to us that we do not realise that they are there. We simply think that our beliefs are natural and obviously true. Religion is one type of ideology, and religious belief affects a person’s views.
What does it mean to be a Liberal or Conservative? What does it mean to be a Socialist or a Communist? These terms, or labels, refer to a belief in the way government should run within a society—also known as a political ideology. Political ideologies are belief systems that provide people with a perspective on the proper role of elected officials, which types of public policies should be prioritised, and how the various elements of society should be arranged. Whether or not they realise it, most people possess a definitive political ideology. In the United States, most citizens consider themselves liberal, moderate, or conservative. In other countries, you may find a majority of people who identify as Socialists, Marxists, or even Anarchists. Most ideologies are identified by their position on a political spectrum—a way of comparing or visualising different political ideologies. The political spectrum is usually described along a left-middle-right line. It is important to recognise that many ideologies defy categorisation, mainly because they encompass views on different parts of the spectrum. Muhammadu Buhari is revered by Nigerians today because of his firm ideological stand. He refused to change his beliefs; he refused to be cajoled into the PDP’s unstable and corrupt image.
One aspect of FFK’s personalised, abusive politics is how low and disrespectful he is viewed by the Nigerian public. Everyone sees the former aviation minister as an uncoordinated, crude and desperate-for-power individual. The defamatory level he took Buhari and Tinubu to, just to achieve victory for Jonathan, further exposed his weakness, lousiness, and unrefined character in politics. He is less of an asset and more of a nuisance to any political party wishing to associate with him. I am not surprised that although the PDP lost most of the elections, especially at the Presidential level, the party will not, at this crucial time, accept Fani-Kayode’s big baggage.
In my view, the PDP’s loss in the elections would have been minimized if the party had employed the services of a more decent and respectful orator to appeal to the electorate.

The Truth About Buhari's 20 Months Regime - Ope Banwo.

Dr. Ope Banwo watched the infamous AIT-aired documentary The Real Buhari and points out to a number of facts that the 55-minute-long feature may have gotten wrong in depicting the former military ruler of Nigeria who is today contesting for a presidential seat.
Much like the highlypublicized scandal regarding Buhari’s school certificates, the aforementioned broadcast has become a subject of scrutiny and harsh criticism for portraying Gen. Buhari (rtd.) in a mostly negative light.
Dr. Ope Banwo is a Nigerian attorney and a PhD holder in Law, a pastor, author of several books, and a business consultant. In his opinion article, entitled The BIG FAT LIES Of AIT In “The Real Buhari” Documentary EXPOSED! and published on the hardtalknaija.com website, Dr. Banwo admits that AIT is a privately-owned TV station and is, therefore, entitled “to advertise or air anything it wants”. However, he is quick to point out that “it should be a criminal act for a nationally-licensed TV station” to broadcast “falsehood against a contestant in the Nigerian elections” and “pull the wool over the eyes of unsuspecting Nigerians who trust his station to report the news to them daily.”
Dr. Banwo decided to watch the 55-minute documentary himself to do his own fact-checking. Below is the list of nine points that AIT got wrong on Muhammadu Buhari, as stated by Dr. Banwo.
The documentary claimed the Maitatsine riots started during Buhari regime: A simple online fact-check will reveal that the Maitatsine riots started in 1980, and the riots in which over 3,000 people died actually occurred from 1975 -1982, many years before Buhari came to power. In fact, Maitatsine was killed in one of the riots in 1980, though some of his adherents continued to inflict damage up to 1984.
Truth be told, unlike the lackluster campaign we have witnessed under Jonathan against the Boko Haram sect, the Maitatsine sect was actually crushed during the Buhari regime, and its leaders scattered to Cameroon, when Buhari sent an overwhelming military force to confront them in 1984. Again, this happened in my school activism days so I know what I am talking about. Also, the objective history books and websites still online support this history. Yet, AIT shamelessly tried to claim that religious riots started under Buhari.
The documentary claimed Buhari expelled Ghanians from Nigeria: Simply Google or ask any Ghanaian who was old enough at the time. It was President Shehu Shagari of NPN who first expelled over 1,000,000 Ghanaians in 1983 in the infamous ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ inicdent, as some sort of retaliation for what the Ghanaians did to Nigeria in 1969. This was before Buhari came to power. You can check the facts yourself from this 1983 story by New York Times.
The documentary claimed Gloria Okoh, the drug carrier, disappeared from justice under Buhari: We all know the Gloria Okon fake “death” and disappearance saga happened under Ibrahim Babanginda after he overthrew Buhari. In fact, the late Dele Giwa was rumored to have been bombed to eternity after Buhari had been overthrown, for being too nosy about what really happened. I remember very well how Gani Fawehinmi fought a gallant battle to bring the perpetrators to justice. Again, the person most people accused at the time was Ibrahim Babangida, who overthrew Buhari, and not Buhari himself.
The documentary claimed Fela identified Buhari in the $2.8billion oil money scandal in his song: Fela’s song about the missing money is still available everywhere. I have a copy of it and have listened to it again just in case I didn’t listen well before. Truth is, Fela never mentioned Buhari’s name. He only mentioned OBJ and Abola. Of course, the AIT people disingenuously edited that part of the tape out when they played Fela’s music in their documentary. This is definite proof they deliberately lied, otherwise why not let the song play to the point where names were mentioned?
Continue reading from the link
http://www.naij.com/377951-opinion-the-real-buhari-got-the-facts-wrong.html
The documentary claimed that Buhari had a nabd in the death of Fela’s mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti: Again, a simple fact check by my 6-year-old daughter would reveal that Fela’s mother died after Olusegun Obasanjo invaded the Kalakuta Republic of Fela in 1978. It was OBJ that ordered the house of his former Abeokuta Grammar schoolmate to be burnt down over his criticism of OBJ government. I remember that one very well because our house was a walking distance from Fela’s shrine then and we all rushed to witness the “unknown soldier” saga play out in living colors ,and I saw Fela’s mother actually being thrown out of the window from upstairs by soldiers loyal to OBJ. Fela even released a song about it well before Buhari even came power more than 6 years later in 1984.
The documentary claimed Buhari imprisoned innocent politicians: History shows that all politicians sentenced to prison by the 1984 Military Tribunal were found to either having enriched themselves with public funds, or diverted public funds. None of them were convicted. Even President Jonathan whom they were trying to help did not really say the politicians were innocent. He only said there should have been a difference between stealing and fraud! He said, someone someday stole “only N5m” and was given 15 years jail, or someone stole money that was not enough to buy a Volkswagen and was sentenced to life. A government thief is a thief, whether N1 or N100M. They were all tried, not by Buhari but by a properly constituted tribunal. In any case, how any sane person who was an adult in 1983, could argue that people like Umaru Dikko, Akinloye, Ambrose Alli and even Ekwueme were innocent is beyond me.
The documentary claimed that Buhari has been losing since 1999: Buhari’s first shot was in 2003. In 1999, it was Chief Olu Falae of ANPP/AD that contested against Obj. In any case, why does it matter if he contested so many times and lost? Many great leaders have lost countless elections before finally getting a chance. Even the Great Obafemi Awolowo and the Great Nnamdi Azikiwe also contested many times, too, without winning, but I don’t see AIT criticizing that!
The documentary criticized Buhari for his stewardship of PTF: Yet, the truth remains that he was vigorously investigated by the vengeful OBJ and nothing was found on him. Even OBJ recently confessed that the Fraud Investigation report did not find anything against Buhari. Still, that did not stop the lying journalists at AIT from claiming he was corrupt as the PTF leader though they could not show any proof.
The documentary claimed that Buhari owned and benefited from Afri-Projects Consortium scandals: While I definitely agree that the Afri-Project Consortium did a poor job with the enormous responsibilities it was given as consultants by the PTF, there is no shred of evidence to suggest that Buhari is one of its owners or that he personally benefited from their operations. It is a testament to the deception behind this hogwash documentary that the narrator kept saying “APC” in its presentation of Afri-Projects Consortium to somehow connect the company with APC on a mental level. What a shame.
The truth behind this big fat lie is that Afri-Projects Consortium Ltd is a registered company in Nigeria, and the AIT should have published their Form CO2 and CO7 to show us the real owners. Buhari has constantly challenged everyone to show proof of any ill-gotten wealth in his hands and nobody, including the AIT crew, has been able to do that. The man still lives in a modest house and remains the only former head of state without mansions in Abuja or elsewhere, and yet these idiots would want us to believe he stole billions of dollars.
“The fact that President Jonathan and his paid supporters are desperate to win at all costs is all too obvious, even to the blind,” Dr. Banwo writes. “It is really annoying that every time you ask Jonathan’s supporters to give you a lucid reason why Jonathan should be returned for another

Sunil Vaswani Takes over Delta Steel in Multibillion Naira Deal

       

Sunil Vaswani

• Stallion Group to achieve 1.5m tonnes in local rice production
Crusoe Osagie

Premium Steel & Mines, a company owned by Mr. Sunil Vaswani and other institutional investors, has successfully acquired Delta Steel Company Limited (also known as Aladja Steel) from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in a multibillion naira deal.

AMCON and Premium Steel, THISDAY learnt from sources conversant with the transaction, closed the sale in March this year, paving the way for the new owners to take over the steel plant and all of its non-core assets such as its workers’ quarters, schools and hospitals.

The deal, according to a source, was struck after Premium Steel offered to pay a sum higher than what was paid by Global Steel Holdings Limited (GSHL), promoted by Mr. Pramod Mittal, to the federal government through the Bureau of Public of Enterprises (BPE) almost a decade ago.

BPE had sold Delta Steel in 2006 under controversial circumstances to Pramod Mittal, the younger brother of Lakshmi Mittal, an Indian multibillionaire and Chairman/CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel manufacturer.

However, the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua reversed the privatisation of Delta Steel when it was discovered that GSHL breached the terms of the sale by failing to inject equity into the company.

Instead, it borrowed heavily from Zenith Bank Plc and other Nigerian banks, but failed to repay the banks, thus forcing them to sell their non-performing loans (NPLs) to AMCON between 2011 and 2012.

It was on this basis that AMCON, with the approval of the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel, undertook to sell the steel complex.
An initial attempt by AMCON to sell the plant in 2013 was botched when a Nigerian consortium failed to meet the payment terms.

AMCON then reopened the process to sell Delta Steel last year under which a Chinese consortium fronted by Nigerians and Premium Steel emerged bidders for the steel plant.

During negotiations with AMCON and its advisers for the sale, Premium Steel was said to have offered more than the Chinese consortium to emerge as the preferred bidder.

Although the source declined to disclose what Premium Steel paid for the Delta plant, he said AMCON sold it at a loss since the NPLs it took over from the banks, including interest charges, were valued at N35 billion on AMCON’s books at the time of the transaction.

However, AMCON felt that it would be better to transfer the plant to new owners with the expertise and financial capacity to inject capital, revitalise Delta Steel and create thousands of jobs.

Efforts to reach Vaswani, who holds dual Indian and Nigerian citizenship, and along with his family owns Stallion Group, an African conglomerate specialising in automobile manufacturing and sales, agriculture and agro-processing, real estate, financial services, steel manufacturing, logistics and shipping, to comment on the transaction were unsuccessful.

The Managing Director/CEO of AMCON, Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi, was also unavailable for comment.

Delta Steel, a fully integrated steel complex, was set up by the federal government in the 1980s under its industrialisation policy. However, like the Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State, Delta Steel has been lying moribund for decades.

In a statement issued by the company yesterday, Premium Steel said it had established an elaborate plan for revival and is set to resuscitate the plant with new investments of N70 billion in the first phase and N300 billion in further phases.

“The investor’s plan includes a substantial socio-economic value chain in the Delta region, through revival of the current plant to 1 million metric tonnes capacity and thereafter expanding capacities and establishing industries for other value added products.

“The product range at the complex is aimed at optimal utilisation of the country’s mining and gas resources and produce import substitution products, whilst providing gainful employment to the community,” the company said.

It added that a critical area of its plan is also to foster the welfare of the communities with assistance in the areas of education and healthcare.

“Premium has taken over only the assets with a commitment for the restoration of the operations, but the liabilities still remain the responsibility of AMCON and the plant’s receivers,” it said.

In February, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development had appeared before the Senate Committee on Power, Mines and Steel and explained that AMCON had given Delta Steel the opportunity to pay back the loans, but the company was unable to do so and the grace period had long lapsed.

The minister had informed the committee that there were no previous claims that Delta Steel was a privately owned company, but it took loans from the local banks, and by Nigerian law, AMCON was put in place to make sure that banks do not fail.

Despite its acquisition, Premium Steel acknowledged that its challenges as new investors in Delta Steel are “enormous and need perseverance, patience and financial strength for resolution”.

The Delta Steel plant, it said, is in a very bad state of decay with overgrown weeds, burnt down facilities and vandalised equipment and other damaged infrastructure.

“Significant work and investments are required to restore the completely burnt down sub-station, blown off roofing, cannibalised furnaces, rusted scrap management machines, damaged cables and DRI plant.

“Past employees and the communities have suffered immensely for lack of gainful employment and non-settlement of their rightful dues. Their obligations need to be resolved by AMCON after due verification.

“Needless to add, the successful resuscitation of Delta Steel would act as a great catalyst for the restoration of peace and prosperity in the region, while making productive use of gas resources and iron ore reserves available in abundance,” it said.

When fully operational, Premium Steel revealed that the plant is expected to employ in excess of 1,500 employees, expanding to 5,000 over the next phases of expansion and diversification.

“Several suppliers and ancillary industries in the region are also expected to flourish upon the restoration of operations,” it added.
Premium Steel is a large-scale industry operator with international trading operations in several countries, mining operations and steel plants in Turkey.

It has other plans to invest in mining and large-scale industrial projects in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa in the next five years.
In addition to the acquisition of Delta Steel, Stallion Group announced yesterday that it had intensified efforts to expand its operations in Nigeria’s fully integrated rice value chain.
In a statement, it said the group’s efforts to increase local rice production commenced as early as 2007 when the associated challenges were more complex.
“Leveraging on the policy impetus provided by the federal government through its Agricultural Transformation Agenda, Stallion Group has already established a major increase in local production to 430,000 metric tonnes per annum.
"The group is targeting production of 1.50 million metric tonnes of rice production in Nigeria through setting up more milling capacities and structured farming activities,” Stallion said in the statement.

Investments by Stallion in the rice supply chain are expected to exceed N30 billion in the coming months, the company said.
The group is producing premium varieties of rice from local paddy being marketed by the company under the names “Royal Stallion Shinkafa” and “Super Champion” which are now amongst the most popular made in Nigeria brands of rice.

Stallion Group Chairman, Vaswani, said: “Sensing the need for local self-sufficiency and alignment with local government’s ambitions for food security, Stallion pioneered investments into backward integration, creating a fully integrated value chain.

“Stallion is working tirelessly to improve farm yields and bring in sustainable and scalable growth to farmers.”
The group said its vision is to preserve and enrich rice production in Nigeria by ensuring genetic integrity of the seed, encouraging farmers to adopt scientific agricultural practices and leveraging world-class rice processing technologies; and emerge as the industry benchmark for product quality and customer service.

According to Stallion, it has established several collection centres spread across rice producing states of Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Niger, Jigawa, Sokoto and Kano, which not only assist farmers in understanding modern rice farming techniques but also focuses on forming associations with various farmers’ cooperatives and progressive farmers to lead the Nigerian rice revolution.

ThisDay