THE NA nON WEDNFSDA Y, APRIL 4, 2012
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Two agric committees setupinFCT Mirusl~ of Slate for the Feder;lli Capital Turilory. Administr .. lion Oloye Akinlldc OIaJumoke hjts inaugu-
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ratecf two ~ommiW!eS to nev!tallse in the Territory. es~ -r ally in thfo rur.llllrea5. The standing committees are AS"culture Tfillru;folmlHlon Impl~ m~lahon Cornmiltee (A TIC) and a~riculltU1!
From Sukol, AmuUR, Ahula
the Technical Committee on Ni-
gena iflCalti~ased Risk Sharing Agrfcultuntl Lending (NIRSAL). Mrs Akinjide who was repreRnted by the acting Permanent
Secretary. Mallam Nuhu Ahmed, said agnculture is key to solving II
myriad of sociO-e<:Qnomic proD' lems bedeveling Nigeria.
She ulled on bolh commlUee to ensure success on their given uJi~ents.
A suc:us5fui implementation of the agenda will address the need! of farmers .lon~ the value chain 0( key commoditit'S w~ Nigl!l1l1 has compuative advantage and meet the fmancial needs of the producrQ, pr0cu50f'5 and marketers through the joint initiative of the f'edenl Governmmt,W she said. " She pointed out that the Federal Capital ~I!rriloq ~ ~4.ooo h~oul of the I.46miUion residents of bores dehneated" fOT .~ltur~ In the TErritory, assuring thai ~ the mllster pllln. oul of which would be mOb~ to participate -«1))00 hectares a!l' suitable for all in this new direction lor rural «0year-round farming. nomic emandpati(ln In a business Mrs Ak!njide no.t~ thai Ihe FCT whenlo thev are cornpell"nt. has farming famIlies of 165,000, Termll of reference for the FCT
culture and Rural lJreyelopment; lilldlitale letting up of staple crop prOttSSing zones through appropriate policies and inveslments in mlnJ5tTUclu~ and "Provide oversight fun Clion of performllnce mOnitoring and evalullllo n with emphasl.5 on letting value lor money, accoun ability lind lransparency in the Implementation of the IraJUformalion IIgendll." he noted Olainnan 01 the comnullees and ~etary 01 the Agncullure lind Rural Development Secretanat. ARDS, Mrs Dlvadi Bem;ll Madayi. assun"d the Minister that the committee will work;llsslduously to ad1~e the ~l.Jves of the bodies 115 _I OUI In the tt!l"1T1S of rder-
Agricultural Transformillion Impfemenlation Committee will , IImongst others are liS follows : wOve~ the administration of the Growth of Enhancement Support GES prGgfilmme in consultation with the ~enJ Minislry of Agn-
JHow to check water scarcity'
A
G ROUP. MU:Rh Challenge
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ilnd tl~ entire counlry 10 curb tlle level ()f water WlI5tllte 50 thai the exce!8 rould be v:tl nded to the rural commuruties. The group tl'IilM lne appeal in hne With ~ y.!at'5 Wa·er Day cekbralio n The event helJ under Ihe therntw Wae and Ffood Srcurity. 1he workIls thirsty beall!e we are hWl-
~ng
(."OIl'e~
at a in}05 to mark the ct.'y. the STOUp decried the lack of waler esp«i.ally in the rural ~
Miuh Challe ng ! "igeria said good supply of Wllte~ bOosts agriWA Ibom Sule CoIJUJti5sioner for Information, nlekan Umanah hillS haiJro Ihe Akpabio ad.ministration for deliverin~ dividends of democrcy 10 the p eople of the state. The commissioner , who spoke while leading some IOroia profes-
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From Marie-There •• Nanlon", cullUJ"r and the general well-beU18 of poopko. The group explained Ihal \ad.: of water accounts for the acute
~~~;ruu:~o:n~
The Country Coordinator 01 Mkah Challenge Nigena, Mrs. Tahtha ram staKeholders i~
:IN
~~~,,;!:ate o/&~
availability of water to~Uy now that Climate change is affecting everything and bringing misery
u~~a:~~ed
that thes-e have been effot1!i by stakehoIdm to provide fre5h water 6t forconsumpilon.
~ 3 need 10 r.uK' .warmess be-twet'f1 Wilier and food production and promote more 5U5tiIinabie rood production and COIl!Iumplion pat-
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According to m . Nigeria is endowftl with74 million of"aral»e land. 60"4 of the Nigerian population is involvtd In agiiculture. yel ma;o.-. ity of the popUlation are poor and malnourished due to inadequate wates" supply She reiterated the need for peop\r' espt!'Ci;IlIy in the urban areas to reduce ~ rale of water wastage. the people in Ihe n.tnIl Area! to o.iltiViite WOller" in rainy season ;md farmers 10 learn to ~ water for immrdiate U!e in the I'anns. The Country Coordinator decned
high conlil.mloilltion of waler" SOUl'Ce5 in the cities, adding that Wille" and land ~tionart"impacting ~ tiv~y 011 Industrial and agriciLltuial
practices.
Her" words: "As the world maries Wale" Day, today, we ha~ lobe re-
minded thai water is key 10 food se-
curity. all the food from crop and
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Madayl m.llintained thai the FCT will throuJh the committees harness the nth and l"nOtmOUS IIgricultural r\'50urces of the FCTby taking advantage of the mgredlents of the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) programme and tile Nigeria i~ltve-Based Risk. shari.ns _ Agric ultural Lending (NlSRAL) to boost AgricullW"al activities in the FCT
livestock production, Inland or aquacullUf1! iU1d fomt produch noquill' Wilter " Food 5eCUrity Vlists when all people al all times have both physacal and economic iICC£'S!I 10 sufficient. safe and nutritious food thai meets dietary nreds for a healthy life. Lad: of water can be a major call5e 01 famine and malnourishinent. poor sanitation and d.i5eases.
Pace of ongoing projects thrills Commissioner sionab on a tour of ongoing projei:1 sites, commendea the transformation in the slate courtesy of Governor Godswill Akpabio's leadership At the Ukpom Bridge, Umanah
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up'ressed optimISm that the bndge will becomplcted on schedule to link otherpilrts Abakand Ukpom A"'''He lruIinlained that the Ukpom road and bridge pro;ect is signifi-
or
C.IIllI as il will provide aa:ess for the people of tfie area to the Gener..! Hospital in Ukpum, as well ')5 to Edlene Ikot Ohio Irno and Idom communities in U)'oA representative of the consiruchon firm handling the rrojed, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim. told the commissioner that the work was on COUf5e as planned and that the community was very supportive of the compan)' In the project execution. While !IOpping over at Ekom hnan-Abak dual carriageway project, Commissioner Umanah opined that Abak people will fMever remain gnteJul 10 Akpabio for rewriting their history. Umanah, an indigene of Abak, said he W.IIS s;1tisfied with Julius Berger for the advanced stage reached on the duali.sed road and
thanked Governor Akpabio for fulfilling hiS campaign prorruses 10 the pee"le.
While dnving through Uyo, the state capital. where he made a stopover III the new n)'over bridge. the information commissioner noted that the era of classifying Akwa Ibom as an educationally backward state was over. He later went through the AkaNung Udoe Road being dUlLlised by the slilte government through the Chinese firm CCECC, and maintained that with the road nearing completion, there was bound to be an upsurge of economi<: activities in that axis of that state that easil)' links Ibesikpo Asuatan, Elinan. Nsit and Ubium and EUt people with the staIr capital ~ ---------
At the Ukpom Bridge, Umanah expressed optimism that the project will be completed on schedule to link other parts of Abak and Ukpom Abak · Umanah cond\lClT~; jounuliJrls rou nd a proj«tsile in U)'o
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