Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Adeniyi Adebayo has expressed the determination of the Federal Government to address the challenges facing the cotton industry with a view to creating jobs for youths in the country.

The Minister who made this known while addressing a delegation of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria, NACOTA who paid him a visit in Abuja.

He noted the cotton industry has the capacity to transform Nigeria’s rural economy and revive the textile and garment industries by creating over 2 million jobs, improve internal revenue across three tiers of government, reduce $4.0 billion import bill incurred annually on textile and apparel, earn foreign exchange and make Nigeria a global player in textile and apparel.

According to him, “In the 1970’s and early 1980’s, Nigeria was home to Africa’s largest textile industry, with over 180 textile mills which employed close to over 450,000 people and contributed over 25% of the workforce in the manufacturing sector. Today, most of those factories have all stopped operations, textile factories are operating at below 20% capacity with a workforce of less than 20,000 people”

“They are cultivating over 180,000 hectares of cotton that will feed our ginneries. Production is also ongoing across many states with more to come onboard in the next planting seasons.”  Mr Adebayo said.

President of NACOTAN, Mr Anibe Achimugu called on the Federal Government to revamp the cotton industry to provide jobs for the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths.

He stressed that if the sector is revived it would not only help to take youths off the streets and help to address youth restiveness, banditry, drug abuse and emigration issues.

Mr Achimugu noted that the industry is the second largest employer of labour in the country and deserved the attention of the Federal Government to enable the industry contribute its quota to the economic development of the country.

He called on the Minister to prevail on the Bank of Industry and Leasing Company of Nigeria for special intervention for the cotton industry.

He also sought the support of the Minister for the payment of Nigeria’s assessment to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) for the periods of 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, which he put at $58,500.

At least 10 soldiers have been killed and some others injured by bandits proscribed as terrorists who attacked a military base in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The incident happened at about 6:30pm on Monday, security sources told Channels Television. However, the military authorities have yet to confirm the attack.

Birnin-Gwari is one of the hotspots of banditry in Kaduna, where many people were killed, thousands were kidnapped, and socioeconomic activities were disrupted in the past five years.

A security source in the area told correspondents that the soldiers were attacked at an Army Forward Operational Base located around the Polwire area close to Mikati Farm along the Kaduna- Birnin Gwari Road.

Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, has reacted to reports of alleged defection of some of his supporters in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

The Minister also said he has no intention of dumping the ruling party, insisting that he has laboured so much for the party, as a founding member, to leave now.

Mohammed, in a statement made available to reporters in Abuja on Tuesday, said despite his supporters being genuinely aggrieved at the way and manner they are being allegedly treated by the Kwara State Governor, his leaving the party is not the solution.

Mohammed, who did not deny that the supporters have actually left the ruling party, said they were unhappy that their immeasurable contributions to the massive victory of the party in the state in 2019 are taken for granted by the state government.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) says it has offered two federal government of Nigeria (FGN) savings bonds for subscription at N1,000 per unit.

In a circular on its website on Monday, DMO said the issuance, which opened on April 4, would run till April 8.

A bond is a fixed income instrument (loan) made by an investor to a borrower — usually corporate or government.

The first offer is a 2-year, 7.33 percent per annum, April 2024 FGN savings bond, while the second is a 3-year, 8.33 percent per annum, April 2025 FGN savings bond.

It added that the settlement date is April 13, adding that the coupon payment date would be July 13, October 13, January 13 and April 13.

The offer comes at N1,000 per unit subject to a minimum subscription of N5,000 and in multiples of N1,000 thereafter, subject to a maximum subscription of N50 million.

According to DMO, interest on the bonds is payable quarterly, while bullet repayment would be on the maturity date.

The DMO said that the bonds qualify as securities in which trustees can invest under the Trustee Investment Act.

Nigerian Senate on Tuesday extended the implementation year of the 2021 Appropriation Act from March 31 to May 31, 2022.

The extension was approved following the consideration of a bill to amend the 2021 Appropriation Act, which the Legislators expeditiously introduced and passed the bill.

The bill was read on Tuesday for the first, second and third time after the suspension of Rule 78(1).

Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, led debate on the bill and recalled that Appropriation Acts in the past were passed mid-year, with their implementation usually extended to the following year.

Nigerian Senate on Tuesday, passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the National Commission for Colleges of Education Act of 1989.

Also passed was a bill to establish the Federal Polytechnic Orozo, in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory Abuja.

The bills were passed following the consideration of two separate reports by the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETfund.

Senator Nora Ladi Daddut, in a presentation on behalf of the Committee Chairman, Ahmad Babba Kaita, said the National Commission for Colleges of Education bill, among others, seeks to empower the commission to attract high, qualified personnel from the Federal Colleges of Education.