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BENIN CITY – The Management of Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc., near Benin, has called on Edo Government to contain activities of illegal loggers at the Okomu National Park, which cause deforestation and threaten the existence of the animals.
The company’s Communications Officer, Mr Fidelis Olise, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Benin that the management made the call after the company helped to rescue an elephant that fell into a muddy ditch on Saturday night.
He said that Okomu Oil’s Managing Director, Dr Graham Hefer, who led the rescue team, made the call, after ” it took two hours of strenuous digging of a muddy hole, to save the stressed elephant.”
Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc. wants a review of CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) to accommodate more farmers and to shore up the nation’s foreign earnings from agriculture.
How much higher are Nigerian Treasury Bill rates going to rise this year? We think that there are several months of rising rates ahead of us, and that we should not be surprised to see 1-year Treasury Bill rates of 10.0%, or more, by mid-year. If we are right, then it will mean good news for Naira-based savers and investors in money market funds in a few months from now.
FX
Last week the exchange rate in the Investors and Exporters Window (I&E Window) weakened by 3.35% to N410.50/US$1. In the parallel, or street market, the Naira appreciated by 1.46% to close last week at N480.00/US$1. The IMF released its Article IV review on Nigeria, reiterating its position on the need for devaluation of the Naira: but the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is reluctant, citing the danger posed to inflation. However, an unscheduled crawling-peg devaluation may be on the cards this year, in our view, as successive small-step devaluations – like the one we saw last week – could event
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The host communities of Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc in Ovia South-West Local Government Area of Edo State, over the weekend held a peaceful protest against what they tagged marginalisation and ill-treatment and water pollution by the oil palm company.
The protesters, who were drawn from the host communities such as Gbelebu, Safargbo, Okomu, Oweike and Maikolo, carried placards bearing various inscriptions such as “Govt tell Okomu Oil Company to open our road”, “Okomu Oil Company give us our fishing traps that are with you”; “Stop polluting our stream with your agrochemical, it is our only source of drinking water”; “We are not terrorists, Stop harassing us with military, Okomu Oil,” accused the company of using military personnel to block the only road that links them to Udo.