National Light Newspaper

Nigerian equities lose N6b

NIGERIAN equities market lost N6 billion to close with negative market capitalisation, yesterday.

Recording a minor downturn of 1.31 per cent, trading in commodities ended at N34,716trillion in value, shedding N6 billion compared to the previous day's closing value of N34,722 trillion.

All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 0.01 per cent to close at 63,757.23 points, from its previous closing of 63,766.72 points on Tuesday.

Honey Flour led gainers' chart with 10 per cent increase in its share price with Geregu leading losers' chart with 10 per cent decrease in share value.

Transactions in Japaul Gold recorded highest volume of shares the close of trading, though over all trading activity was slightly lower, with number of completed deals dropping to 7,403 from 8,970 in the previous session.

Japaul, FCMB and Sterling NG that recorded highest trading volumes among all equities traded 77.98 million, 36.62 million, and 31.24 million units of shares, respectively.

Total value of shares traded stood at N10.08 billion, a sharp decline from the N42.81 billion recorded on Tuesday after the market experienced sharp decline in trading volume of 45.5 per cent, falling to 473.49 million shares from 868.80 million shares the day before.

This meant a difference of 395.31 million shares traded in the market

Anthrax: FG issues new alert
.. Ekiti bans ponmo meat, others

FOLLOWING confirmation of Nigeria's first case infection in a farm in Suleja, Niger State, on Monday, federal government has renewed warning on animal rearers and veterinary units to expedite preventive action against the looming epidemic of anthrax infection.
The warning was contained in an alert issued by Director-General of Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Prof. Babatunde Salako, in Lagos, yesterday.

Speaking during an interview, Salako explained that government is putting adequate machineries in place to track the disease, through vaccination for animals and their handlers, adding that livestock production firms should key into the program in order to curb further spread.

“Veterinary doctors should be more proactive in the treatment of cases and inspection of animals for public consumption. Vaccination for animals and people targeting those at risk will greatly reduce the spread of the disease, morbidity and mortality resulting from it. The government should support those in animal husbandry to access vaccine for their stock and help farmers who in the course of the epidemic may lose their stock to prevent catastrophic economic loss,” he said.

Salako also urged Nigeria Centre Disease Control (NCDC) and Ministry of Agriculture to cooperate in coordination of public health response.
Although diagnosis is simple, we reconfirm the readiness and capacity of laboratories around the country to receive and process samples for diagnosis. NCDC should come out with clear instructions on how to handle infected animals and people, more awareness among the public about the symptoms and signs should be intensified through the media,” he said.

Meanwhile, consumption of ponmo, smoked meat and bush meat have been banned in Ekiti State.
Explaining the ban as government's response to confirmation of anthrax index case in the country, a statement issued yesterday by Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr. Oyebanji Filani and Special Adviser to Governor Adeleke on Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwade urged residents to comply with the ban to stave off the disease from Ekiti State.

It will be recalled that experts describe anthrax as a zonotic disease in herbivores caused by a bacterium called bacillus anthracis which affects animals such as cattle, sheep and goats.
According to them, anthrax disease can also infect humans who come in direct contact with infected animals or consume contaminated animal products