A destroyed refinery By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited( NNPCL) says it has destroyed 134 illegal refineries in the last few weeks. Also, the company said 63 illegal pipeline connections were uncovered during the the weeks . The corporation, In a visual report, stated that at about 2 am on Sunday, a joint team of security agents discovered a large wooden boat illicitly loading stolen crude oil from Barge AGS01 within the OML 18 operating area, noted intelligence report a large wooden wooden boat was caught receiving crude oil from the barge. According to the state-owned oil firm, while the barge was towed away with a tugboat in custody, five speedboats used in towing the large wooden boat to the illegal loading site were also detained and the particulars of the tugboats and barge used for the operation were reportedly seized for further investigation. It further said that two large boats, which involve
Favour Ajibade
Nigeria would be providing opportunities for businesses to compete and further increase their earnings, immediately subsidy is removed, the Nigerian Ambassador to Brazil, Ahmad Makarfi, has said.
He said this at the Brazil-Nigeria Business Forum organised by the Brazilian Consulate in Lagos in commemoration of the Bicentennial Independence of Brazil.
The government, he said, would be able to free some funds for investment in other sectors, once its stops paying subsidy on fuel imported into the country.
He, however, urged the business community to leverage the potential of Brazil in fields such as agriculture, aviation, transportation, and others, including services.
According to him, if the renewed business relations is embraced, it will enable Nigerians to contribute to the substitution of imports in specific areas where the country has the capacity to produce locally, and can bring attractive initiative.
“I enjoin all of us to engage our friends that will be coming from Brazil and others to help us in some of these efforts that we believe are good for the country.
“Nigeria imports two million metric tonnes of wheat every year. We do not produce, not that we do not have the capacity. We do not produce more than 100,000 metric tonnes of wheat. The shortfall is meant through import,” the ambassador said.
He noted specifically that favourable market exist for wheat products, urging the business community not to rely on the government to do this for them.
“Do not ever think that the government will run some of these things (businesses) to provide for the people. It is for us to take some of this knowledge like we have been doing and adapt them in agriculture, aviation, value addition-progress and in every other aspect.
“Just have off-takers among the commercial private sector to upscale the production and mass adoption across board,” Makarfi added.
Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with InsideBusiness, the President, National Cotton Association of Nigeria, Anibe Achimugu, said the major take away from the business forum was the fact that Brazili was reaching out to Nigeria’s private sector.
Brazil has the capacity technologically and otherwise to help businesses to grow in various sectors.
“From what I have seen so far, I think they (Brazil) have that capacity to support large scale production and also processing with value addition,” he said.
Comments
Post a Comment