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By Godfrey BIVBERE THE nation’s export between January and May this year was dominated by charcoal and agricultural produce, a trade report by Maersk Nigeria Limited has shown. The report showed that Nigeria’s charcoal export rose by 76 percent as of May 2013, when compared to the same period in 2012, and further attributed the rise in volume to the longer winter season experienced in Europe. The trade report which quoted the company’s Managing Director and Head of Central and West Africa Cluster, Mr. Jan Thorhauge, noted that finished product import rose by 39 percent during the same period due to major manufacturing firms streamlining their production activities by making Nigeria their main production hub for the region. Thorhauge said that containerised import market to Nigeria was estimated to have ended at approximately 159,000 FFE (40-foot equivalent units), as compared with the same period in 2012, which produced an estimated volume of 155,000 FFE, representing a relatively marg...

By Emmanuel Aziken, Henry Umoru, Ben Agande and Dapo Akinrefon President Goodluck Jonathan,yesterday, described the 14-year-rule of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as a blessing to the country. In a speech to the Special National Convention of the ruling party,  Jonathan noted the strides in various sectors of the polity including communication, power, education and transportation as progressive developments that only those in the critical segment of the opposition have refused to acknowledge. The President, in a speech covering 3,735 words, said the task before the party was “difficult, thankless but ultimately rewarding.” His speech to rouse the party faithful nonetheless did not stop six governors present at the occasion to walk out to form for the first time, a parallel faction of the ruling party. Before him, senior party officials, including the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, the Chairman of the PDP Governors ...