ruE GUARDIAN, Wednesday. March 30,20n
Edo farmers stage protest over spillage From Alemma Aliu Ozivruva.
Benin City
t:::ARMERS in Auchi, Estako rwest local government council of Edo State on Monday staged a peaceful demonstration at the Auchi flow station of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPCI over non-payment of oi spill compensation as a resu lt of a spillage that affected their farmland in 2008. The farmers in their hun· dreds,locked out the station superintendent, Duke Ijirigho for several hours and blocked all the entry points to the station. Chanting war songs, they vowed to shut down the flow station if their demand was not met with immediate effect.
The protesting framers' spokesman, Audu Momodu said they were no longer going to wait again and that they should not be held responsible for any conse· quence of their actions. He said several meetings have taken place between them and the NNPC management but have yielded no desired result. "They have made several promises and have refused to fulfill any, not even the relief materials they promised at the earlier stage. Nigerians should know we have been patient enough and we can no longer wait, it is our means of livelihood we are talking about here: they stated. Chairman of the farmers, Alhaji Jafaru Amedu said,
"all we want is immediate
action, which is payment of compensation as recommended by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA). The station manager who addressed the farmers appealed for calm as the headquarters at Abuja is already handling the issue. It would be recalled that the spill occurred on August 10, 2008 and it lasted for 42 days destroying more than 169.251 hectares of farmland. The over 1,245 barrels spillage was as a result of an equipment failure at the pump station of the Petroleum Marketing Company of Nigeria (PPMC), a subsidiary of NNPC in Auchi.
Formor Governor of California, United States, Arnold AlDIS Schwarzenegger (left); Chairman. BUA Group. Abdulsamad Rabiu; and Nigeria's former Beauty Ouoen, Helen Ajayi , during Ihe presenlation of Thisday Young Global Champion for Emergmg Conglomerale Commodilies and Manufacturing Award 10 Rahiu, in lagos, al the weekend.
Why FG/IFAD programme may be scaled down, by Odoemena TIle Federal IGovernment/IFAD-funded community-based Natural Management Resources Programme in the Niger Delta may be scaled down due to the reluaance of some states to pay their counterpart fund . IFAD Country Programme Officer, Dr. Benjamin Odoemena, said this on Monday in a statement made available to the News Agency o[Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. Odoemena expressed regrets that out of the nine states in the Niger Delta, only Ondo State had met its financial obligation. He also said only II out of the 80 councils had met theirobli·
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the last two years. Odoemena, however, commended the Federal Government for paying its counterpart fund of about S78.4 million. He said the Federal Government had raised a team to visit the defaulting states with a view to ensuring that they met their obligations. "With only three years left, the failure has led to the programme using on ly IFAD funds for activities in the states. This is regardless of the agreed funding ratio at the commencement of the programme. The non-payment of counterpart funds had led to increased burden on the replenishment of the J;!rogramme's special account, he said.
I ie said sca ling down the prowamme was a joint initiative
of IFAD and the Federal Government after wide consultations.
NAN reports that the programme is aimed at uplifting the living standard of no
fewer than 400,000 rural dwellers in 243 communities in the Niger Delta region. This would be achieved through interventions in mkro enterprises, communi-
ty infrastructure and modem agricultural praaices.
NAFDAC restates commitment to boost export irector-General of DNational Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii, on Monday restated the agency's commitment to boost export of semi-processed and processed foods. He told a one-day export stakeho ld ers' sensitisation workshop in Lagos that the agency had developed a blueprint that would pro· mote the export of some produas. Orh ii said that the agency would provide technical assistance to exporters in a bid to make Nigeria a nonoi l exporting nation. "Nigeria's regulated produas, food and agricultural commodities have I$reat markets in the internatIonal market But most Nigerian exporters do not have access to vital information and other global networking tools, as well as the need to meet with global market requirements." he said. fhe NAFDAC boss noted
that some of Nigeria's food commodities were being rejected in international". market for poor quality arid' packaging. Orhit disclosed that the agency had introduced some measures, including waivers for tariffs and
charges for laboratory an~ly ses and certificat ion of all regu lated products for export. Other measures are the issuance of certificate of manufacture and free sale for regulated products, inspection and sa mpling for laboratory, issuance of health certificates for processed and semiprocessed products. He expressed optimism that the measures would enable Nigerian exporters to overcome the problem of acceptability abroad. He ur~ed exporters to always VIsit the agency's office nearest to them or the website for necessary guide· lines and technical assistance.