NIGERIA PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Because of the great diversity of people and culture, Nigeria has distinguished herself over the centuries in the field of arts. Nigerian versatility in art is so great that it is generally felt that all African nations should view Nigeria as the principal trustee of the most durable fruits of black artistic genius. It is not precisely known when the first works of Nigerian art reached the outside world, but in 1897, following a British punitive expedition to Benin, over 2,000 Benin bronzes and ivories were shipped to England and later dispersed all over Europe and America.

NIGERIA NON OIL EXPORT HITS US$2.970BN

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, has disclosed that, Nigeria realised $2.970 billion from non-oil export, in 2013 a 15.9 per cent increase over $2.561 in 2012.
                                                     

Disclosing this at the business meeting tagged” A New Dawn For Nigerian Export” organised by the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, NBCC, the Executive Director/CEO, NEPC, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, said Nigeria’s export is dominated by oil, but that, there has been steady growth in Non-oil export to $2.970 billion in 2013, a 15.9 per cent increase over $2.561 in 2012.

NIGERIA AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY BY STATE

OPPORTUNITIES IN AGRICULTURE: 

The agricultural potential of Nigeria is barely being tapped and this explains the inability of the country to meet the ever increasing demand for agricultural produce. Although the agricultural sector remains a dominant employer of labour, serious investment is needed across the board to enhance production and increase the contribution of the sector to GDP. Investment is required in the following priority activities:

Agriculture Can employ over 60% of Nigerians

Mr. Onyeani Uka Nwosu is the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Abia State-based Green Town Farms, a farming business based on professional research. In this chat with Financial Vanguard, Nwosu says farmers can only break even when they mechanise the processes. He urges government at all levels to do more for the sector, noting that if only a small percentage of money spent on the oil and gas sector is spent in agriculture, Nigerian economy will burst. Excerpts:

Seed Industry Development, Technical Support and Commercial Services Department.

    (i)     Development and Promotion of a viable seed industry with greater private sector participation.
    (ii)     Identification, development and provision of technical support to small, medium and large-scale seed enterprises.
    (iii)     Organize seed promotional programmes to encourage the use of high quality seeds by farmers.
    (iv)    Development of Community based seed programmes
    (v)    Promotion of seed marketing and distribution.
    (vi)    Identification and promotion of commercial sable activities

National Agricultural Seeds Council The Role of Foundation Seed Production And Management Services Department

    •    Facilitation and monitoring the production and distribution of breeder, foundation and certified seeds
    •    Liaison with National and International Agricultural Research Centre for breeder seed production
    •    Production and Management of foundation seed using out growers
    •    Liaise with public and private sector research and development agencies on biotechnological seed

SEED CERTIFICATION AND QUALITY CONTROL,CROP VARIETY REGISTRATION AND RELEASE DEPARTMENT OF NIGERIA

    •     Collaboration with National and International Agricultural Research Institutes/Centre on Variety Testing

          in the context of Nationally Coordinated Research Projects  facilities.

THE NIGERIA AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AND THE NEW POLICY

The previous agricultural policy document was finalized in 1988 and was supposed to remain operative until the year 2000. Hence, in year 2001, a new policy document was launched. The new policy document bears most of the features of the old one, but with more focused direction and better articulation.

Objectives of New Agricultural Policy

THE INTERNATIONAL SESAME SEED INDUSTRY; A NIGERIA OVERVIEW OF EXPORT.

         Introduction Sesame seeds (or sesamum or benniseed)

are the seeds of the tropical annual Sesamum indicum The species has a long history of cultivation, mostly for its yield of oil. The original area of

domestication of sesame seed is obscure but it seems likely to have first been brought into cultivation in Asia or India. The plant is usually 60 to 120cm tall and the fruit is a dehiscent

Red palm oil industry in Nigeria, investment opportunities and limitations: factors to consider.

From 1950s  till 1965, Nigeria remained the largest producer of crude palm oil  in the world. It had a market share of 43.0%, supplying 645,000 Metric tonnes of palm oil, annually, across the globe. The civil war which began in 1967 and lasted till 1970 negatively changed all of that. The war predominantly took place in eastern Nigeria which was the seat of oil palm plantations.