Aso Villa Reads for 17/02/2020
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, says the Federal Government has approved a facility of about N7bn to support the creative industry. The amount was disbursed by the Federal Government through the Bank of Industry. Ahmed said this at the Greeners Business-to-Business Annual National Economic Dialogue 2020 held in Abuja on Saturday. The dialogue has as its theme ‘Positioning Nigeria’s creative industry as growth engine of Africa Continental Trade Agreement.’ Ahmed was represented by her Special Adviser on Information and Communication Technology, Dr Armstrong Takang.She said the fund was approved for a creative group of 35 firms in content production, content distribution, production equipment and digital transmission equipment, among others. Ahmed said in order to continue to build capacities among Nigerian youths, the N-Power Creative programme was created to develop the capacity of 5,000 young creative talents. She said the strategy was to put the creative industry on the global radar as exporters of world-class services and content. Punch reports.
The Central Bank of Nigeria said it would offer single-digit loan to rice farmers in the Niger Delta area and provide index insurance for participating farmers. As reported by Punch, this was contained in a statement signed by the Head, Press and Public Relations at the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Patricia Deworitshe. It was issued after a second collaborative meeting between the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswil Akpabio, and representatives of the CBN in Abuja. The meeting focused on how to develop the Niger Delta area, using farming as a tool on Friday. According to Deworitshe, the representative of the CBN Governor at the meeting, Mr Anthony Ifechukwu, said that the CBN in 2018 identified cassava, rice, oil palm and cocoa farming as those with comparative advantage in the region, adding that the apex bank was also making effort to intervene in livestock and fishery production in the region. The statement said, “Ifechukwu also assured participating farmers of a guaranteed market price for their produce, explaining that the bank would give a single-digit interest loan for five years. “He advised eligible farmers willing to participate in the scheme to procure quality seedlings from reputable companies and plant their crops in clusters, adding that CBN will do index insurance for participating farmers.”
The Federal Government has said the Ibadan-Kano rail line will be ready by 2023. The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said this in an interview with journalists in Abuja. The minister expressed optimism that the project would be ready before the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), leaves office in 2023. When asked what could be the reason for the delay in completing the Lagos-Ibadan rail project, he said it was not the fault of the contractors but the urban nature of Lagos. He said, “We have pipes. For instance, for the road to the seaport, we had to bring a company from Italy to identify the pipes and know those who owned them because the companies did not know their pipes. “The next thing is, if we try to dig out the pipes, the power supply will stop in Lagos and there will be no fuel literally for the entire country apart from those from Port Harcourt. So, we brought another company that was not part of the contract. We brought another company that came to find the solution to how to build on those pipes without causing damage because one of the problems with those pipes is that once it is not properly done, the whole of Lagos will be gone. We have to put enough engineering to protect those pipe and oil that they carry so that we don’t have an explosion.” According to Punch, the minister also said the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, had directed a Russian firm to partner with Nigeria to construct the Lagos-Calabar rail line.
There is fresh optimism in government circles that Nigeria’s moribund Ajaokuta Steel Company may soon be revived with the latest interest shown in the complex by the Russian government and AfreximBank. Olamilekan Adegbite, minister of mines and steel development, confirmed that the Russian government and AfreximBank have made investment commitments of $1.4 billion geared towards revitalizing the steel company whose construction commenced about 42 years ago. “Afrexim is putting in $1 billion for the project and the Russians are putting in $460 million on the line. We now have about $1.4 billion for the project,” Adegbite said in an exclusive interview with Business Day in Abuja.
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said on Monday its fighter aircraft had destroyed an Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) training camp on the Lake Chad fringes, killing several terrorists. The Director of NAF Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja. He said: “In another successful air raid by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) in its ongoing air interdiction campaign dubbed: ‘Operation Rattle Snake 3,’ Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole has destroyed an Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) training camp at Kirta Wulgo on the fringes of the Lake Chad in the Northern part of Borno State. “This was achieved in air strikes conducted on Sunday, 16 February 2020, on the heels of credible intelligence reports as well as series of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions which established that some structures within the settlement were being used by the terrorists to house and train their fighters. “Accordingly, the ATF dispatched an enhanced force package of attack aircraft to engage the identified locations within the settlement. “The fighter jets took turns attacking the target area in successive passes taking out the training facilities. “The NAF, operating in concert with surface forces, will sustain its air campaign to shape the battlespace in the Northeast for the effective conduct of further ground and air operations.” Vanguard reported.
