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DAILY TRUST
Thursday, August4. 2011
Rice farmers make case for Agriculture Commission 8y "bubaul "ommoh
PRESIDENT of Rice Farmers Associatio n of Nigeria AlhaJI Ab ubaka r Wadi said th e Commi~sion o n Ag ricultu~ would ens u ~ effective service delivery. Wadi told Daily Trust in an interview In Abuja yeste rday that the primaf')' rocus or the commissio n \,'Uuld be to independently coordinate agricultural policies and t hei r proper Implementation. He blamed inconsistency in the
sector on lack o r sincerity as most appointen sec it as opportunit y to improve I heir lot at the expense or the Nigerian rarmers. He noted thatlhe prt-SCnt Agri. culture Ministry was too large a nd unwiddy, adding Ihat its impact was nOI properly rdt in th e sector. ·What we need is the Commission o n Agriculture. it will be a plaa: to cr ystallb;e ideas. take decisions. it will be the apcx or fa rm ers programme. The com·
modity associations, commod ities de" dopment and market ing companies will be und er the commission; they will be able to inlernaU ), d e:lermin e the qual it)' o r the agricultural product5, do the marke tin g. The: commission will have au to no my to arry out it5 activities.Alhaji.Abubakar Wodi said the commissio n wiU opcnte inde'pendently o utside the Ministry or Agricullure.. He said with the Commission
o n Agricultu re, it wjJI not only be the m inisters th at will singlehandedl y do e~rythi ng with all the sent iments, add ing that the commission will ha"e expcrl$ to handle differe nt aspects o f polky. He exp ressed optimism that c urrent ministers in the ministry will ddiver, describing them as square pegs in square holes. A1haji Wodi said dforts we~ 00 to tntln rarmers on the new planlinglechniqucs to help th em increase rice output.
PIC: GOVERNMENT HOUSE, MINNA.
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OVERNOR MU'illU B.1banglda Allyu of Niger Stllte !tTHddle) With Chief Judge ofNlget State, Justice Jlbtln NdaJlwo [3rd left~, Jus t cl! Halima Ibrahim Abdulmallk (4th left) and other top Government off,clalsdUtlng Ihe 5w~ating In of the two new HIgh Court J dg:.s IH MII1na yesle·!~.1Y
Commission confiscates N2m pirated works ' Bj' Fr.JnQs 0'lKc & Abdulkatftl Y. Af>dulilhi
n-l a bid to checkmate acth'lties of plrates In the counlry. the Nige rian Copyright Commlssiol1 (NCC) yestcrday connscaled pirnted audio and video CD plales wo rth N2 millio n belonging to d iffe rent market· ers at Garki District, Abuja. Corporate Inspector, Mrs. Chinrere Onu. said the opera · tion W3S carried out in order to
rid th e terrilory of pirat~ activities 5 0 as to afford t he original auth o rs o f various works the opportunity to sell th em easily. The Anti-Piracy Enfo rcement officials carled away doz ens or CD plates arranged in carlons a nd 6 sacks, all seized fr o m Chuhul CD Wo rld a nd Omega C D Homes at Garki. while d rorts to b reak int o FESCO Entertainme nt at Wuse II to pick up pirated \Yorks met a brick wall as the shop was
und e r lock and key with the owner said to be o n the run. M rs. Chinyere howen r said that the 5earch fo r pintleS in the te rrito r y and othe r places will continu e until th e trend is reduced . informing that th e commission had bee n educatIng the public o n t he dan gers posed by p irated products. "The nt id is al l over the countr y to san itize the envi ro nment. O ur officers had ea rli er go ne out ror market sur veillance in
Jonathan mourns Ume-Ezeoke By Mahammrd S. S~mr
was also the running mate to the
PRESlDENTGoodluck lonathan has described th e dc:ath orSccond R~ publi c Speaker of the House or Reprl!lle ntallvC5 and rormer Nati onal Chairman of th e All Nigeril Peoples Party (ANPP), Chier Edwin Ume-Euoke as a national loss. The Presidents tribute was contained in a stalement yesterday by his Special Ad "lser on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abat!. Ume· E1:eo ke di ed in India on Monday at the age o f 76. He
ANPPs presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the 2007 elections. The sl:ltement said the President received with sadness and a deep reeling of natio nal loss, news of the death o n Monday and ex tended his condolenccs to members o (the Ume-Ezcoke famitl' and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He said as Nigerians mourn the passing or Ume· Ezcoke. - th e President urgcs members or his ramity, relatives, (riends and
poJitica l associates to take solace in the knowledge that he lived a very rumUed lire and made "ery Significant cont ributions to the political de"c1opment orNileria. ·Presldent Jonathan be le"es Illat late C'h ie( Ume·Euoke's place in Nigt' ri an history has been secu red by his exemplary commitment to natio nal peace, unity and politiGlI stability which served the nation very well on several occasions over the long span or h is political career, the most recent being his patriotic roleaj Chairman of tile ANpP."
the outlets within the city. ·We went to buy some copics from them a nd ane r d iscovering t hat they arc p irated works, we st rategized on how to arrest them. We alsn b e\i~v~ that our recent raid! have reall y reduced the trade in th e territory; she added. She rurther explained t hat the seixed items ..... ould be th oro ughly enmined and n ecessary action taken by the com · mission.
Council to prosecute non-certified librarians 8yBotoEdet THE Librarians Registration Council or Nige ria (LRCN) has said it would prosecute nOIllibrarians who attempt to practice Iibra ri anship in Nigeria wit hou t proper certifiation within the mandatt' onts act. Registrar or LRCN Victoria Okojie said the: council had started the pracen of re,';ewing its act as the punishment for offender5 was too lenient because It specified NSOO as fille ir convicted in a magistrate court and N I, 000 on convictio n in a h igh court. Victori a who said the proposed new act would not speciry fi nes for flexibility except sentencing, pOinted out that the damage done by no n-profesSionals practicing libr.uianship was permanent as people could have their pcn::eptions damaged based on .....rong information they a~ fed . She said the council would induct a total of 1, 11 7 Inducttts as certified lib nrians In Nigeria today to ensure that on Iy qualified individuals are permitted topractice I ! librarians In the country. " It is envisaged that bl' the next sll: orso months,all other librari an~in the system \\'Uuld ha vebcen registered. Thereafter, registralion wou ld be done at the point of grad uation:' Victoria said. The regis trar said r.art o f its th ree year strategic I' an was to set minimum stand ards for establishment or libraries. work with regu latory bodies in the te rtial'}' education subsecto r to d evelop guldelincs for accreditation and training of teacher-librarians especially in the use of internet resoun::cs. She said in the future LRCN would introduce prorcssional certification and annual ~newal orikenses.
. Part of its three; year strategic plan ,wasIo set minimum stan~ards for estab lishment of libraries!
Adewumi named acting coordinator for Fadama III By Tina A. Hassan
THE Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural J)e\'elopment has approved the appoi ntmen t of I\·lr. Tayo Adewumi as Acting National Project Coordinator {or th t' Third National Fadama Development Project (Fadama IU), withcff~t rro m July7, 2011. Adewumi replaces Dr. Bukar Tijani who ~as been elevated to tht' post or Mini51cr orState, Fed· eral Ministry or Agriculture and Rural Devc!opnlent b y President GoodJuck Jonalh ~n . Prior to his appointment.
Adewuml was the National Project Accoun tan t Fadama III. His working career started in 199 1 with 20 rean experience of World Bank Projects and Com · munity Drl\'en Development Projects \~hich is c:xp~ted to contribute to the Fadama Projecl A 51atement rrom the Fad ama office in Ahuja signed b}' the National Communication Officer, Bashi r Dayyabu noted th at Adewumi has attended variOilS cou nn locally and internati onally on Financial Management, Procu~ment an d Project ~fanagcmenl.