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FG Turning Incubation Centres Into Entrepreneurial Safe Havens — Official

Published

4 years ago

February 27, 2022

Our Correspondent, Bauchi

Mr Ibrahim Danusa, Centre Manager, Technology Incubation Centre (TIC), North-East Zone, Bauchi, says the Federal Government was turning incubation centres in the country into entrepreneurial safe havens.

Danusa, who stated this in an interview in Bauchi, on Sunday, said this was because the Federal Government had made available everything that would make their productions perfect and with ease at the centres.

According to him, one of the mandates of incubation centres was to identify entrepreneurs who were into production or fabrication with value addition and bring them in for further grooming and mentorship.

“By the time we bring them in, then there are a lot of benefits the Dederal Government had put in place for such an incoming entrepreneur.

“For example, there is a place we call an incubator unit here, supposing the person we bring in was outside doing his or her business, he must have been paying some people where he was doing the business but by the time we bring him here, it’s going to be free.

“He would be free from tax collectors for that particular period he would be staying with us.

“When we bring him in, allocate him a unit, then his production process will be monitored by our staff everyday. What he is doing, where he is sourcing the raw materials and what his production process looks like, would all be monitored.

“This is what led the federal government to set up a mechanical workshop with a lot of machinery and equipment provided to ease the entrepreneurs’ activities, particularly, those that are into fabrication,” said Danusa.

He said this was because the Federal Government realised that many of these talented entrepreneurs had financial constraints and would not have been able to afford most of those machines on their own.

“The Federal Government decided to build this mechanical workshop here to install all those machines almost free of charge.

“It is almost free of charge in the sense that if any of our entrepreneurs wants to use it for a particular work where he would have been charged to pay N1,000 outside, we will charge him to pay N100 only here,” he said.

The Centre Manager explained that the Federal Government had set up an instrumental workshop at the centre for any of the entrepreneurs who wanted to test whatever he was producing.

He added that the federal government, out of its magnanimity, also provided packaging machines for the entrepreneurs to be used at a very subsidized rate, instead of going to Kano, Lagos and other states for packaging of their products.

“The Federal Government also makes sure that within the cluster of incubation, water was made available 24 hours, irrespective of whatever they are using the water for.

“This is because there are some entrepreneurs that need water in whatever they are producing and it was not ideal for them to go outside and bring polluted water for their productions.

“If their water is polluted then of course, their end products would also be polluted,” said Danusa.”

INFO DAILY reports that some of the areas of specialisation of the entrepreneurs at the incubation centre were; production of organic fertilizers, production of acha and of different kinds of spices.

Others included; extraction of groundnut oil in large quantities, production of cosmetics as well as air and room fresheners, fabrication of agricultural machinery and equipment, rice processing and packaging, among others.

Headline

UK Rejects Nigeria’s Request To Transfer Ekweremadu

Published

1 day ago

November 24, 2025

Editor

The United Kingdom has rejected a request from the Nigerian government to transfer former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu to Nigeria to complete his prison sentence.

Ekweremadu is serving time in a UK facility after he was found guilty in 2023 of plotting to harvest the kidney of a young man.

He received a jail term of nine years and eight months following the conviction, which stemmed from a high-profile organ-trafficking case that drew international attention.

With the latest decision, Ekweremadu will remain in the UK to serve out the remainder of his sentence.

Headline

Trump Blasts Ukraine For ‘Zero Gratitude’ Amid Talks To Halt War

Published

2 days ago

November 23, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump on Sunday accused Ukraine again of lacking “gratitude” for Washington’s support against Russia’s invasion, as top US and Ukrainian representatives met in Geneva for talks on a proposal to halt the war.

“UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, also blasting European countries for not doing enough to stop the war, but offering no direct condemnation of Moscow.

His comments came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was meeting with top Ukrainian officials in a wintery Geneva Sunday to discuss the US president’s controversial 28-point plan for ending the nearly four-year conflict.

The Ukrainian delegation, headed by Andriy Yermak, also met with high-level officials from Britain, France and Germany in the Swiss city, as European countries scramble to have a seat at the table in the discussions.

Trump had given Ukraine until November 27 to approve the plan, but Kyiv wants changes to a draft that accepts a range of Russia’s hardline demands, including requiring the invaded country to cede territory, cut its army and pledge never to join NATO.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday said he was “sceptical” a deal could be reached by that deadline.

The US president told reporters Saturday the proposal was not his final offer and he hoped to stop the fighting “one way or the other”, raising hopes that it would be possible to strengthen Kyiv’s position.

– ‘Ukrainian perspectives’ included –

A US official, who asked not to be named, told AFP that a number of meetings were held throughout the day Sunday, with the US and Ukrainian delegation holding “detailed discussions about the peace agreement”.

“It was productive and even conclusive in some areas,” the official said, adding that a second round of talks underway at the US mission in Geneva aimed at “ironing out the details of the agreement”.

By late Sunday afternoon, Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said the latest version of the US draft plan, which AFP has not seen, “already reflects most of Ukraine’s key priorities”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said on social media that the “American proposals may include a number of elements based on Ukrainian perspectives and critical for Ukrainian national interests”, hailing that “diplomacy has been reinvigorated”.

– Recognise European ‘centrality’ –

The US plan was drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies, who were striving Sunday to make their voices heard and boost Kyiv’s position.

“Ukraine must have the freedom and sovereign right to choose its own destiny. They have chosen a European destiny,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement, stressing that the “centrality” of the European Union’s role must be “fully reflected” in any peace plan.
Ukraine’s European allies gathered at the G20 summit in South Africa stressed that the US plan requires “additional work”.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb told AFP that he and Italian leader Giorgia Meloni had called Trump early Sunday to discuss his Ukraine proposal.

“Of course, we discussed the situation, the 28-point plan, and some of the developments here in Johannesburg related to the peace plan,” he said, declining to reveal the content of the discussions.

French President Emmanuel Macron told a news conference at the G20 that the plan contained points that had to be more broadly discussed as they concerned European allies, such as Ukraine’s NATO ties and Russian frozen assets held in the EU.

He said the 30 countries in the “coalition of the willing” supporting Kyiv will hold a video call on Tuesday following the Geneva talks.
European Union countries were also planning to meet to discuss the Ukraine situation on the sidelines of a meeting with African leaders in Angola on Monday.

– ‘Wish list’ –

Questions were meanwhile being raised over how much input Moscow may have had in drafting the original proposal, which was welcomed by the Kremlin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the blueprint could “lay the foundation” for a final peace settlement, but threatened more land seizures if Ukraine walked away from negotiations.
Ahead of Sunday’s talks, Washington insisted the Trump proposal was official US policy, denying claims by a group of US senators that Rubio told them the document was a Russian “wish list”.

Rubio himself insisted on social media late Saturday that “the peace proposal was authored by the US”.

“It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”
That did not calm all concerns.

“Together with the leaders of Europe, Canada and Japan, we have declared our readiness to work on the 28-point plan despite some reservations,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X Sunday.

“However, before we start our work, it would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan and where was it created.”

Headline

Pope Leo XIV Demands Immediate Release Of 315 Abducted Niger Students, Teachers

Published

2 days ago

November 23, 2025

Editor

Pope Leo XIV has appealed for the immediate release of 315 people abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwarra Local Government Area of Niger State.

Speaking on Sunday, the Pontiff expressed deep distress over the mass kidnapping, which included students, teachers, priests, and other members of the Catholic community.

“I received with profound sorrow the news of the abduction of priests, faithful, and schoolchildren. I make a heartfelt plea for the swift and unconditional release of all those being held,” Pope Leo XIV said.

The attack occurred in the early hours of Friday when armed men reportedly invaded the private Catholic school in a well-coordinated operation.

According to local sources, the assailants arrived in large numbers, riding on more than 60 motorcycles and supported by a van, before forcing their way into the premises.

During the assault, the school’s gatekeeper was shot and left critically injured.

A resident of Agwarra confirmed the incident, noting that the exact number of abducted students has yet to be verified.

IPOB kicks against Nnamdi Kanu’s transfer to Sokoto prison
“It happened between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.. The number of students taken is still unclear,” the source said.

Another community source added that several teachers were also seized during the raid, raising further concerns about the scale of the attack and the safety of the victims.