Headline

FG Laments $1.3bn Spent Annually On Dairy Importation

Published

4 years ago

December 10, 2021

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Muhammad Abubakar, has maintained that the Federal Government’s National Livestock Transformation Plan, NLTP, is set to close dairy importation gap.

Abubakar stated this at a virtual meeting 36 State Commissioners of Agriculture and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, along with other stakeholders on the State Level Project Socialization on Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES).

The Minister, represented by the Director, Animal Husbandry Services Department in the Ministry, Winnie Lai-Solarin, stated that the L-PRES programme is targeted to address low investment in the livestock sub-sector over the years.

He said: “A project to support the actualization of the NLTP is targeted at addressing the age-long low investment profile in the sub-sector to improve livestock productivity, resilience, and commercialization of selected value chains, as well as strengthen the country’s capacity to respond to crisis or emergency.

“The L-PRES project would facilitate the achievement of food security, reduce incessant conflict between farmers and herdsmen and cushion the effect of a COVID-19 Pandemic on the livestock industry in alignment with Government’s strategies and policies including, the promotion of climate smart livestock production and productivity, expansion of rural economy for employment and income generation, promotion of exports and reduction in the importation of livestock and livestock products, and Involvement empowerment of women, youth, and vulnerable people.

“The successful implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan will close importation gaps and address other challenges to livestock development in Nigeria.”

However, the Minister lamented $1.3 billion spent annually on dairy importation into the country.

“It is glaring with the current priorities in the World’s food supply systems, that the next issues of focus will be animal protein supply chains and its nexus with global welfare and security.

“Nations’ ability to provide good quality and affordable animal proteins has not only been linked with their pecuniary status, it has been confirmed to have direct relationship with human capital development and intellectual quotient.

“Although Nigeria Livestock subsector provides about 36.5% of the total protein intake of Nigerians, it also contributes about 8-10% of the Agricultural GDP and 5% of the National Gross Domestic Product and has been a key contributor to poverty reduction, especially in rural areas.”

“We are yet to take full advantage of the regional markets under our influence and have in recent times spent huge amounts of forex on importation of products that can be produced effortlessly in the country.

“Importation of dairy products where we spend about US$1.3 Billion annually according to the CBN (2019) is a prominent example of the above narrative”, he said.

Earlier in a goodwill message, the Country Director, World Bank, Dr Shubham Chadhri, said that the programme is designed to realize the full potential in the livestock sector in Nigeria, and urged state governments to key into it, while commending the Buhari-led administration for initiating the NLTP and its implementation.

Chadhri further stated that if the NLTP is properly implemented and sustained across the nation it would go a long way to reduce poverty, unemployment, and boost growth of the nation’s GDP.

He also assured World Bank’s commitment to partner with the Federal and State Governments for the realization of the L-PRES project in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, in a presentation on update of the L-PRES Project Preparation, Director, Animal Husbandry Services Department, Dr Winnie Lai- Solarin, made it known to State Commissioners and participants that the Federal Government and the World Bank are ready to have the project takeoff in 2022.

She also appealed to the State Governments to facilitate the project implementation by increasing their budgetary allocation for livestock development, giving adequate state counterpart financing and providing office spaces, vehicles, and other basic facilities to demonstrate their commitment and readiness to implement the project in their states.

According to her, 28 States and the FCT have expressed interest in the project, appealing to others to take advantage and identify with the project.

(VANGUARD)

Headline

UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

Published

60 minutes ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.

In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.

Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.

Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.

“You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.

“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.

Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.

Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.

“These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.

“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.

“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”

The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.

She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.

Headline

Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Published

4 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP

Headline

Trump Signs Order For TikTok’s Sale, Valued At $14bn

Published

6 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order declaring that his plan is to sell TikTok’s US operations to American and global investors.

As reported by Reuters on Friday, the order requires companies bidding for TikTok to meet the national-security requirements of the 2024 law that otherwise would ban the app unless its Chinese owners divest.

Speaking to reporters at an Oval Office briefing on Thursday, Vice President James Vance said the newly created US entity would be “valued around $14 billion.

“We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but they will make a determination about what they want to invest and what they think is the proper value,” he said.

The White House on Thursday pushed back the law’s enforcement date to January 20 to allow time for the transaction, investor commitments, and negotiations with Chinese authorities.

The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s US assets.

However, details remain to be worked out, including how the U.S. company would handle TikTok’s most valuable asset: its recommendation algorithm.

“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance said.

According to Reuters, Trump’s order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company’s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated approval of the plans. “I spoke with President Xi,” Trump said. “We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it.”

Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. TikTok did not immediately comment on Trump’s action.

Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, with helping him win reelection last year. Trump has 15 million followers on his personal TikTok account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month.

“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said.

He said that Michael Dell, the founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of Fox News owner Fox Corp, and newspaper publisher News Corp, and “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” would be part of the deal.