Zulum inaugurates 23-man Borno’s Hajj committee

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno has inaugurated a 23-member Amirul Hajj Committee for the 2024 Hajj exercise.

The committee has Sen. Kaka Shehu-Lawan as Chairman while Mohammed Dawule-Mainok would serve as Secretary.

Zulum stated this during the inauguration of the committee on Saturday in Maiduguri, and tasked the committee to ensure a hitch free exercise.

He said the state government had increased the pilgrims’ accommodation fee to enable them to get decent accommodation in the Holy land.

“The money for accommodation is 3,000 Saudi Riyal per pilgrim but we added 450 Riyal for each pilgrim to make it 3,450.

“Pilgrims need to know their room numbers before reaching there and those who want to stay together should be allowed to do so,” he said.

Zulum urged the committee not to allow any pilgrim to reschedule his/her flight, adding that anyone who missed the flight would have to wait for the last flight if there is space.

The governor charged the committee to ensure adequate mobilisation, pointing out that pilgrims need to know their flight two weeks ahead of time.

The governor, who also spoke on the need to reorganise the state Pilgrims Welfare Board, announced plans to upgrade it to a commission to enhance its operstions.

Responding, Shehu-Lawan thanked the governor for the confidence reposed on them, assuring that they would implement the terms of reference given them to the latter.

He said the committee would hit the ground running in discharging the trust bestowed on them.

The Chairman also urged for the support and cooperation of the pilgrims to facilitate a hitch free exercise.

Zulum inaugurates 23-man Borno’s Hajj committee

Indomie clears air on price reduction in spite inflation

Olawale Olayinka

The recent drop in the cost of indomie noodles is due to noticeable improvement in the country’s economy in recent times and not linked to reduced patronage, the producer of Indomie Instant Noodles, Dufil Prima Foods Ltd., has said.

Mr Temitope Ashiwaju, the company’s Group Corporate Communications and Event Manager, made the clarification in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.

Ashiwaju said that the clarification became imperative to correct the wrong narrative about the reason for price adjustment for the product recently.

He said that the company was also affected by the economic realities, hence the reason for increase in prices of indomie noodles in the past.

“For a listening company such as ours, we felt at some point in time, against our operational cost to adjust when things started to improve.

“We had a price reduction, which is not one of those characters that is usually found with some other companies.

“Nigerians are quick to adjust prices when it is going up and favour them, but when prices go down, they are slow to do that. This is not our character at Indomie,” he said

According to him, many firms do not have such habits of changing prices in record time when it goes down.

He added: “We are not here to rip people’s out. Of course, if you starve people and make the products out of reach, it will also affect us.

“Our goal is to make the products affordable for Nigerians and at the best quality you can find around. Reduction in prices came when the operational cost started to go down.

“We don’t have a choice than to adjust to realities of times and other indices as they improve because serving people are at the centre of our core value.

“The moment we realised that things started to stabilise, we all hope and pray the economy gets better, as a responsible company, we felt it was time to do a further price reduction.”

According to him, some other companies would rather just either reduce qualities and start cutting corners when operational cost was up.

He said that instead of doing that Indomie opted for price jump to be in tune with what the reality is and that was what necessitated price increment in the first place.

He reiterated: “It was not about patronage at all. People must eat and this is uppermost in our heart as responsible company. It has nothing to do with low patronage at all

“We have been in the country for over two decades and have have factories and installations all scattered around the country.

“Over the years, we are all aware of the exchange rate dollars to the Naira and most of these are components of determining prices. Machines and mechanical operators are things that are not produced locally.

“All businesses are set up to make profits, however, for us, in trying to make best quality products at affordable prices for Nigeria.

“We have kept that perspective in the last 20 years which made us to have a brand that is known to people and competing with almost all food brands to rice.

“Apart from maybe rice, the only thing people talk about is indomie and noodles,” he said.

NAN recalls that the price of Indomie noodles skyrocketed within a short period and the demand reportedly reduced following price increase.

In a market survey conducted by NAN recently shows that a carton of Indomie standard pack which is the smallest size, was being sold for between N10,500 and N11,500.

However, a carton of that same size is presently sold for between N7,400 and N8,000.

Also, a carton of the Super Pack was sold for between N17,800 and N18,700, and a cartoon of Hungry Man size was sold for between N16,800 and N17,500.

Presently, a carton of the Super Pack is sold for between N12,000 and N13,000, while a carton of the Hungry Man size is sold for between N11,500 and N12,500.

Indomie clears air on price reduction in spite inflation

FG Cracks Down on Illegal Lithium Mining: Seizes Minerals, Closes Buying Centre

In a bold move to curb illegal mining activities, the Federal Government Mining Marshals have sealed an illegal Lithium Buying Centre in Uke Community, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. The operation, which resulted in the arrest of four Chinese nationals, also led to the seizure of minerals worth millions of naira.

According to the Commander of the Mining Marshals, ACC Attah John Onoja,
the minerals were seized pursuant to Section 146 (b) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2007, after the owners failed to honour an invitation for questioning. The Commander revealed that an application would be lodged in court for the forfeiture of the seized lithium minerals to the Federal Government.

Once the forfeiture is approved, the minerals will be handed over to the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development to be dealt with in accordance with Section 17(e) and (d) of the Minerals and Mining Act.

This development is a significant step in the Federal Government’s efforts to tackle illegal mining and ensure that the country’s mineral resources are exploited in a legal and sustainable manner.

FG Cracks Down on Illegal Lithium Mining: Seizes Minerals, Closes Buying Centre