Nelson Ugwuagbo

The Federal Government has empowered farmers in Edo with 18,000 bags of fertilisers to enhance their production for the 2024 farming seasons, as part of its efforts to boost food production.

The State chairman of the All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria, Mr Bako Dogwo, disclosed this on Tuesday in Benin during a meeting with members of the association.

Dogwo said that the 18,000 bags, equivalent to 30 trucks, were out of the 1,652 million bags meant for farmers across the country.

The Federal Government, the AFAN chairman said, had paid over 80 per cent of its counterpart fund, while the farmers would pay at least 10 per cent of the cost of the fertiliser.

“The Federal Government is bringing so many inputs to Edo State. They are bringing fertilisers and it has paid 80 per cent of the cost of the fertilizer.

“It is supposed to be counterpart funding, but our state government, I can’t say why it has not paid its share of the fund.

“But it is now left for us, farmers, to pay at least 10 per cent to get the fertiliser if it comes to the state. For example, if the cost of fertiliser is N20,000 we are going to buy it with N10,000.

“Also, the Central Bank of Nigeria has just approved another fertiliser that will also come to the state, along with chemicals, inputs such as cassava stems, maize and rice for planting,” he said.

Dogwo said the fertiliser was only meant for the actual farmers and not “portfolio farmers”.

“The Federal Government is very serious for every farmer to benefit from its programmes. We are talking about the real farmers and not portfolio farmers.

“Members of AFAN are all genuine farmers and that was why we refused anyone to say that they are profiling farmers in the state. You cannot profile farmers. It is we that know who is a farmer and where such person farms,” he added.

Dogwo, who said the association was made up of more than 40,000 registered farmers, however, encouraged those that were yet to join the association to do so, noting that a time would come when it would cost much to be registered as a member.

He also urged members to encourage women to join any of the association’s affiliates, adding that it would provide them the opportunity to be taught all farming techniques and benefit from inputs and other intervention programmes.

Five corps members who were abducted along Ifon/Owo road in Ose local council area of Ondo state have regained their freedom, after allegedly paying ransom demanded by the kidnappers.

The Corp members were Oluwaseun Adewole, Feranmo Oluwadara, Patience Andrew, Taiwo Oribamise and Lekan Ajayi.

Recall that Corp members were abducted last weekend along the Ifon-Owo highway in Ose local council area, Ondo state.

During the attack, the driver of the vehicle as well as a female passenger were killed when gunmen opened fire on their commercial vehicle.

Confirming their release in a statement on Monday, the spokesperson for the police in the state, Fumilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, said, “The victims were abandoned by their assailants after the police mounted pressure on the kidnappers.”

The victims, however, said the sum of N5 million was paid to the kidnappers as ransom, while drinks and cigarettes were also bought for them to secure their release.

Narrating their ordeal to newsmen in Akure, the state capital, one of the corps members, a female, Patient Andrew, said that they were tortured and only fed with dirty water and garri.

Speaking on the ransom paid, the 25-year-old abductee said “At first they asked for N30 million per person but as the negotiations were ongoing they brought it down to N3 million per person.

”But after much negotiation, they now asked us to bring N1 million each.

“We slept inside the bush throughout the day, we heard the bark of a dog and the sound of a cow in the bush and we passed through farmland when we were coming out.

As we walked through the thick forest, we didn’t meet anybody. Our brothers came with what they asked for which is 3 Hollandia yoghurt, 2 loaves of bread, one carton of Peak milk, one pack of malt 5 bottles of Fearless energy drink, one pack of YES cigarettes and 10 packs of rice and chicken and N1 million each.

“We were treated in Owo area command clinic and later wrote our statements.

The secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr Mohammed Shuaibu disclosed on Monday that the Nigerian Government may be paying Fuel Subsidy of N700 billion monthly.

His statement came as a reaction to data from Major Engergies Marketers of Nigeria which revealed the landing cost of Petrol in Nigeria to be N1,117 per litre.

Speaking to the MEMAN’s data, Shuaibu contended that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Nigerian government may not be telling the truth about the country’s fuel subsidy expenditure.

Petrol price is determined by the forces of demand and supply in the international market. When there is a global price increase, we should experience it in Nigeria.

“Therefore the N1,117/litre is not just based on our foreign exchange rate, but also the global PMS cost. The sole importer of this product is NNPC and the company is not telling us the truth.

“But data sourced by our counterparts, the major marketers, showed clearly that the landing cost of petrol is above N1,100/liter. This means that the monthly subsidy has crossed N700bn.

Mr Shuaibu also warned Nigerians to brace themselves for a sudden hike in the price of fuel.

“That also means we should be prepared so that any time the price of petrol jumps, we should not be surprised because they have already told us,” Shuaibu stated.

Further analysis showed that although petrol goes for between N617 per liter and N750 per liter depending on the location, dealers said the ex-depot price of the commodity by NNPC is N585/liter.

This brings the difference between the landing cost of N1,117 and an ex-depot price of N585 to N532.

According to the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, petroleum consumption figures of 44.3 million liters in October 2023, multiplied by the estimated N532 subsidy paid on each liter of petrol, give N23.57 billion as the daily subsidy spending.

The figure of the estimated fuel subsidy thereby amounts to over N700 billion in 30 days.

Recall that President Tinubu had on his inauguration announced the immediate removal of fuel Subsidy.

Also, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri on several occasions had insisted that fuel subsidies remain removed in Nigeria.

However, this position might be a lie and an attempt by the Federal government to deceive Nigerians as revealed by Mr Mohammed.

IPMAN is not the only one raising concerns about the possibility of Nigeria still paying Fuel Subsidy.

Recall that the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, had claimed that the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal government is paying more on fuel subsidies than before.

Similarly, the President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo had also hinted at the government is applying a quasi-fuel subsidy on petrol.

The University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) has won the sum of ₦500 million after emerging as the winners of the fourth edition of the National Tertiary Admissions Performance-Merit Award for the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 academic sessions.

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq, made the announcement during the 2024 Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions organised by the Board.”

The award was instituted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board and presented to the Vice Chancellor of UNILORIN, Prof. Wahab Olasupo Egbewole (SAN) by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin.

The Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq, made the announcement during the 2024 Policy Meeting on Admissions into Tertiary Institutions organised by the Board.”

Jibrin was assisted by dignitaries including the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Tanko Sununu; the Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT, Senator Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, and a host of others.

US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle acknowledged on Monday that the agency failed in its mission to prevent the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump.

“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders,” Cheatle said during testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

“On July 13, we failed,” she said. “As director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse.” But she rejected a wave of bipartisan calls for her resignation.

Cheatle said the attack on Trump, who was slightly wounded in his right ear while speaking at a campaign rally, was “the most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades.”

“There clearly was a mistake and we will make every effort to make sure that this never happens again,” she said.

The 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire on Trump with an AR-style assault rifle just minutes after the former Republican president and current White House candidate began speaking at the campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Crooks, who was perched on the roof of a nearby building with a clear sightline of the stage, was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper 26 seconds after firing the first of eight shots.

Investigators have concluded that Crooks, who lived in a town about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Butler, acted alone and have not been able to identify any strong ideological or political leanings.

Two rally attendees were seriously wounded in the shooting and a 50-year-old firefighter, Corey Comperatore, of Freeport, Pennsylvania, was shot dead.

Aliko Dangote, the chairman and President of Dangote group has asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to buy out his Dangote Refinery after allegations of him been a Monopolist.

This is coming after the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, made claims that the Dangote refinery had requested the regulator to stop giving import licences to other marketers to be the only fuel supplier in Nigeria. In a video interview with State House correspondents, Ahmed stated that. “We cannot rely heavily on one refinery to feed the nation, because Dangote is requesting that we should suspend or stop importation of all petroleum products, especially AGO and direct all marketers to the refinery, that is not good for the nation in terms of energy security. And that is not good for the market, because of monopoly.”

Dangote in his defence said that, if his Refinery is bought out by the NNPCL, then allegations of him been a Monopolist would no longer be valid.

“Let them (NNPCL) buy me out and run the refinery the best way they can. They have labelled me a monopolist. That’s an incorrect and unfair allegation, but it’s OK. If they buy me out, at least, their so-called monopolist would be out of the way”.

“We have been facing fuel crisis since the 70s. This refinery can help in resolving the problem but it does appear some people are uncomfortable that I am in the picture. So I am ready to let go, let the NNPC buy me out, run the refinery”, Dangote said.

Dangote also revealed to Reporters that the challenges his refinery is currently facing have validated the warnings of his friends and associates, who advised him to exercise caution when investing billions of dollars in the Nigerian economy.

“As you probably know, I am 67 years old, in less than three years, I will be 70. I need very little to live the rest of my life. I can’t take the refinery or any other property or asset to my grave. Everything I do is in the interest of my country.

“This refinery can help in resolving the problem but it does appear some people are uncomfortable that I am in the picture. So I am ready to let go, let the NNPC buy me out, run the refinery. At least the country will have high-quality products and create jobs,” he said.

Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, has updated its rules to officially allow adult and graphic content on the platform.

Adult content and nudity has been present on Twitter for years and — unlike Facebook or Instagram — was never explicitly banned even before Musk’s takeover in late 2022.

The new guidelines, first reported by Tech Crunch on Monday, explicitly permit users to share adult content “as long as it is consensually produced and distributed adult nudity or sexual behavior.”

X updated the guidelines over the weekend, stating that “sexual expression, visual or written, can be a legitimate form of artistic expression.”

Under the new policy, posting adult content is formally within the rules as long as it is labeled and not prominently displayed, such as in profile pictures or account banners.

Accounts that regularly post adult content will be required to automatically mark their image and video posts as sensitive content.

Adult content will also be prohibited for users identified as children or adult users who choose not to view it.

The policy extends to AI-generated content, animations, cartoons, hentai and anime.

X’s safety team tweeted the new guidelines would “bring more clarity to our rules and transparency into enforcement of these areas.”

Since acquiring Twitter in 2022 with the stated intention of promoting free speech, Musk has faced criticism for slashing content moderation teams.

Under his ownership, the platform has also experienced technical issues and reinstated accounts of right-wing conspiracy theorists and former US President Donald Trump.

Musk also aims to expand X’s revenue base beyond advertising and transform it into a “super app” similar to China’s WeChat, which integrates messaging, voice and video calling, social media, mobile payments and online booking services.