Abia to disburse NIbn loan to fanners
T
he Abla Stale CommlsslOll~
for Ag-
rlcu1~
Chief
Ike On}"e.nw!8ku. has said that U.e l:overruneo! would dlsburst· the sum of Nlbn loan to I:tnners durlng this fannb::g season. Onyenwt'8JrJ spoke during a s'1osiUsation tour of Arochukwu and Ohafia locnl I~ent areas to educnte farmers on theexen:.fs( . He said:
·'We expect
that the benendarles of lheloanwUlenpoweroth· ersbywayuCemployment so that the m.dtlpller effeet in the stall··s economy WOUld be fell" The comml!sloner said the govemm'!nt would spread the lorn to every
addlni; that -"only genuine farmen will benem
Government succeeded in Abta..
from this largess",
Chief Chukwu Wachukwu. a Consultant of
-rhe condition of the loan ls such that farmers will
not find It cumber·
some to re-paJt "We sball set up crack monitoring committees that will access cJa1ms of prospectlve beneflctartes to ascertaln whether they are real or portfolio farm· ers. "The conunittee will al90 phYsically Inspect farmlands of prospective beneflclarlestomakesure that their datrns are au· thentlc." he said. Onyenweaku said that the ultimate aIm was to ensure that the A.gr1cultural Transformation
the scheme 10 Abia. appealed to farmers to make good use of the opportunit)' "because this is the first Ume this is happenlog Ln Abla" , Wacbukwu, who Is the President of
Nigeria Association of SmaU.scaJe Industrlal· lsts. said.: " When thls Is ulil1sed effectivel~ it will brin& an economic trans· formation to Abia within the next two yean." MeanwhUe. fanners have expn!SSed reserva· tlons over the success of the scheme. considering the decay of rural infra· structure across the state.
Chairman, All Fanners Association of Nigeria
rchbishop makes case for prison reforms whlle others haw vari·
(AFAN) in Arochukwu,
ous degrees d
said that good roads were a major condition nec;es.
CatboUc Arch.
sary for the success of
of Onitsha.
the scheme. "All we need ls moblllsatlOD and we shall change this ugly sltua· tlOD and reach the fanners in their interior 1ocatlons. We need good roads to transpon our produce to areas of scarcity." he said. Origa noted with reITets that "our palm plantations and mUls haw lOne moribund. "The cocoa fields are no more in existence whUe our rice farms and mills are non·functional and
Most Rev. Dr: Valerlan Okeke, bas urged Nigerians to see prisons as of reformaLlons and not places of tonW"'!! and lncarceratlon. He urged Nigerians to regard. bunates as fellow human.s and not animals or worst sinnets and aimI. naIs who haw no place in the~
Archbishop Okeke, who spoke yestenla.y whIle c:orn. m.lssJon1ni a Psychologk:al Guidance and CounsellIng Studio bullt and donated to Nigerian Prisons Service
' ' '=-_w-'-an!.=-==--:-A'' "::enda='--.:o(=--=th"e=--f'ed.=e:..raI-'-__c:.:b"'ef .c_,,o"m:.:e"J'_o_rig--=:a..:,_'..... _-=-_tte_n._"_ _ _ _ _ (NPS) by a member cI: the :===unl="'''----='= National
Youth
Servto!
~ (NYSC). Mrs.
Uchen-
na Onwuamaegbu Ugwu, said some cI: the bunates were being contro11ed by congenital diseases and that they needed sympathy
and oounseUIng. He said: "Some d them need """,Ical tber.lph)<
"""-
iland
----
all"""","
sw..
L-R: \/lee CNIrp"on. Inlemlilklnat Fecs.r.tIon of Women Lawyers (ADA) W\ Enugu U,., HIIJN~; ChaIrper .... Dr. :.Jz:ry 0fI.nd s.c:nt.y. M .. L.eUd8 cont_ on ttMi forIhcoINng ADA DlIIkIgUe s.rt. hekt In EtNgu, ,.....uy.
CHnwunba,". __
DFID lauds Obi's performance
.-Q
terday
C HARLES OKl:KE
---
avernor Peter Obi Anambra State has ~ commended for provldlnl ........t anvarn,.""", for the
...........
~.~.~-
people. The Unlred Klr1gdom aJdagenexthe Oeparunent for lntematkn:ll Develop.
ment(DFlD). fornlerCross River State Governor Don· ald DuU and hy officers
conunended
Obi
.tille assessing the state's achievement under the State P!!er Review Mecha. nlsm.
At the start cI: a wa!k. long Anambra State Tech-
_1_'
, .......
n-.!ew MIssIon In
l'CY
Awka. the state capital, Donald Duke, who heads the team, said they \\It n proud with the projects ex· ecutedbyGoYemorObL Desatbing Obi as an exemplary leader; Duke
expires, he would h<M! 1akI.
stron& £oundation fir
the full devdopment d AnaJn. bra State. Speaking on the Import d their mission to ADam.
bra. Duke sakl: "We are
_A.... '.
not ...... ou.1g 8O)Ule. we are sIwina expe ienees, M will take thinp he bas doneexceedlnsv.'eIlandrry to tntroduce them to other
states." Mrs. Ola RonneX who repmill.'nted OFlD, said
'*'"" _
Anamlra'=~
state
the favorable dIsposidans d GoYernor Obl She said thai DFtD is
inYolYed tn key reform JJ'Oo arammes in the .tudJdarx goyoermnoe and health sa> toe; amana: others. AnOFIDoffidali.nYolYed intheStatePartnenh!p£or
or genulne·
~";;:~!tW~~IU~s retaln while
~I
A.a:ouotabWty and ~ sibllityCommittee(SPARC) programme. Again, MI:.
~~~ ~ om state 10 benefit &om
theacheme. would be given
,..~~-;;~~ca~ru~n~'";..f;O(~~saId~~by~the~~-~~hIs~ten~~-;;theyl~started~;~"""""'""'~~~fde-~~~~~~~----1~!:~; e ....
IGBAWASE UKUMBA
t.AFIA
I
MO State Governor Rochas Okorocha has
been commended for his eumplary leadership style.
The coounendatlon was made yesterday by a IrouP known as Okorocha Supporters Associa· tion during the opening of Us ornce In Lana, the Nasarawa State capital.
man of the association, Alh,,1 Saba Samba, said the IrouP was particularly happy with Okoroeba because of his eIem· plary leadership style.. Sambo cited provl·
has to review in the state till date. new Commis for Lands. Sur· Urban Devel· Hon . Uche this
cation in Imo State and buUdlng of scbools in Plateau and Sokoto states as practical e.J:. amples of a vlslonary and purposeful leader· shJp quality of Gover·
that govern. would allocate Individuals that of developcontrib· to the of the state. however. sa id would any allocation falls to wlthln aspect· of time. ,'n" talk about
"""on
defonnJties
which need to be addressed Ibroogh guidance and oounsellIng"He. therefore, c0mmended Mrs. Ugwu and her husband, Basil. for executing the project. which he described as ooe cL the lngre-
dients necessary for transfonnlng prison yards into centres d n!fonnatlon. The cleric also called 00 the government to turn the Onitsha prisons Into a school d reformation and skill acquisition centre. In his remarks, the Assistant ComptroUercL Prlsons in charge cL the OnIt· sha _ M" Anthony UbaIke. commended An:h. bishop Okeke for- proposing to build a sk1ll acquisition centre inside the prison. Ubalke called on rei· evant government authori· ties to abo lnJliate schemes to enable bunates acquire skllls so that they can be relevant to lhernseJves and the societY after the completion d thelr jail terms.
age that It Is a haven for fraud "What I wlll do Is to ensure that anybody that gets allocation wUl develop It without de lay. If someone is glv en a land and after six months or a year he or she fails to develop it. the state lovernment will revoke it and re-allocate It to another per· son,R Nwosu said. Meanwhile, Gov ernor Okorocha has sworn·ln two commls· sloners for the Ministry of Economic Planning and Ministry of Lands Survey and Urban Plan nlng as he warned them against corruption . Speaking shortly after the swearinl-In ceremony at the Gov· ernment House in Ow· e rrl , the state capital, Okorocha advised them to discharge their duo ties creditably. Okorocba advised the commissioners to Imbibe the culture of team work. stressing tbat his admlnlstra· tion would not hesitate to remove any public omcial who performs below eIpectaLlon or involve in corrupt prac·