SUI'IIJIAY rUN e H
22
Agric-Economy
OCTOBER 2 2011
PIB: PENGASSAN
Enu!Ju reit.eri\tes bid to boost agriculture
reiterates call for new stakeholders' fonml
OZI OMA UBA HUKOH -,~
,
;-.--..-, 1
NUGfJ
State
GoI/emor. Sudivcm
has
Mr. Chime.
SlIid
thai
'--'tll th!!i-! is no going
back on hi5 lgl\l'emment's ambition to
ma~
the stale
the leadill9 pl(x:lucer agricu ltural PI'XIucts
of in
Nigeria. Speakmg while inaugurating II mulli-million naira e~tricity 500 KVA
ha nslolmer at [he Adllrice
farm.wttlement in Adani. Llro Uwani Local Governmen t Alea 01 the slllle, Chime said Ihal 110 effC'r1 \O.IOuld be spared 10 ensure Ih1:l1 the objective I"as oc'lieved . The gove1 nor, who
was
by
TePiestnl£d
Commissione r
for
Developrnent.
Dr.
the Ruml
Eric
01uedo, said the project was
PlIrt of Ihe g~ermnent's
design to make Il le settlement self-sufficient and completely focused on agricultural and agt"CHIlHed purposes. Noling that enormous potential abounds in thl! lIgfitu itural sedor, he said the govem ment was already implementing ill master plan
10 ensure that the state nol only becmne In exporter of many ca~h crops bul that the Ctglicultural seclo r offered II'H! gre;1te l nu mber o f em ploymenl t'pportunilies to the 1et!llling YXllhs Chime ~aid lhe occasion al50 marked Ihe first anniwTsa y of the governmenrs 'ollabotallo n wit h the Songhai Institule. Benin R'i!puh ti:. for the developlW!nl o· 2 1 GlWn Rural CUi:?S in I:nugu Stale. add illg lllllt Un successfu l lake-off of th·! A,dani green vlllage within so shorl a tin'H! 1.I.'i!S a 1e5limo l1Y 10 the slate's commitment 10 he Initiative. n le go-JE:mo' promised to ensure thi1!1 ali vi al roads and other in ll7t5lnlC1Jre ne«led IC' ensul"i' Ihe aU round success of Ill'! viUage "'en? completed in Ihe next sill. months. adding that anoU-.er balch of young graduates in the state was aboul 10 be sent for interNve training in agrlc.ulluml and allied di~plines al Ihe Songhai Institu te . ~We have I"id out OUt vision for ZIIJri :ullure. lIIld we have ·.mad a clear our ambillon to SUfJ.-a5S aU o ther.; in this sedot 111ld we are going aboul il \.l llh undiluled vigour a nd re5')lve a nd we are sparing nelhing to get t here .~ he sait!'
• C hIef Executive Officer, Animal Core Sernlce.s NIgeria Limited , Dr. O'atunde Agbaio; 43rd Pre.sldelli of rtte United SLatell' of America, Mr. G eorge W. Bu~/l ; and D eputy Farm Manager, Animal Care Servlce.s Nigeria LImite d , Mr. Ko' a!»Ole Ola/yet , at tile International Eggs Commissio n Conferen ce Gala Nlghl , held at the Ga ylord National Harbo ur Resort Gild Convention Centre Was illtlgtoll DC, USA ." rec ently.
Goinbe to enhance income of farmers to boost IGR .~
~
O~I BE
Stale
G ov e I n o r , Ibrahi m D an kwlIm b o . has said lnat his ooministralioo plans to boOst the sta te 's intem aJl y generaled revenue by lacilitating increased income lor the largely ~rian state. D!lnkwllmbo . said Ihis in Abuja vAlile fielding queslioos at the News Agency
J
Mr.
a/Nigeria. He said Ihal5inc:e the state was not ai endowed as the
othe r older stliles, lind was llirgely lin agrarllln state, it l\IOU ld locus on the pote ntia l of its IUrai farmers to mise lis intem a lly ge nerli led revenue. He explained thai the only way his ~In~nt could get people to pay taxes was by e nhancing theif income. He said, ~Wha t I think is the trick is. in opening up my people like I 5lIid, to earn more income, You see, getU ng money from people is a lunction 01 what they have. if somebody does not have
a ny income. no ma tter what you wll nt 10 ta x him you cMnol tax him. ~ [f you want to collect tenement rat e you can not do It if it is II tha tch house and we are not so privileged like some othe r old er §iates where govern menl ha5 invested 1I lot 01 money. where you need to dean up those places only 10 Stalt making mo ney. ~ I don' t have bridges. I don' t haw roads. I don·1 have banks. I don' l have o il companies, whal I have are
EbonyAgro boosts rice production with 50,000 tonnes mill m ·1
It. e Govemmenl Alea of the stale. According 10 Ug,\.'uh, the completion of riC\!· opening oIthe EbonyAgro riceprocessi n g proce:5Sing mill. which starts mill by rice proouction by October, EbonyAgro Indust lles Umiled . as well as the eslllbli!-hmenl the cou ntry may 500n relum . 01 II riu,pl"ocessing du§ier In to Ih'l! path 01 5E!l1.sulfi6mcy Ebony! Stale. will change tile In rite produdion . as against role oIl1l1 players on the value tht> massive importation of the chain. dividing their functions in a way thllt is most efficient. It ~!!pIo! food flom South Ea.slem Asian countries. will enable the farmer 10 locus Former Plesident of on what he knov."S hoI.lI to do fo.tanulacturers Association ~t . which is to plant nce. of Nigeria and OlolIi.. man. same for the processor He SlIid.1"he old system Blonyl\gro Industries limiled. Mr. Charles L.lg.vuh.. said the wlme the Immer dries his fIVe coml""'ny W<tS commiHed 10 to 10 bags 01 harvested lice the development and proper pOOdy. IJ<'Iboils it. goes 10 the coordination 01 rice production mill and p'oce55eS it 101 a fee in Ebon~.'i Slale belOfe: hellC.ling 10 the market to lbe project comprises sell ~wl no k:loger be feasible It agricuUural input suppliets. can no langei' be competitive. famlf!l"5 . §iorage and Iogistia In .spite 01the rigours involved. among others, to make the farmer INin nOi produce rice production In the §iate high quality rice. He Is li kely comr>elilive and comTTll!Tti<llly 10 parboil lNilh dirty wlIter. pu t Ihe rice on the hIghway 10 dry. viab\!!. l..JgIwh also said tha t the ~Wilh Ebo nyAgto Industries COmpany WM working in Um iled bridging the rice partnership wilh Ihe Ebony! processing gap and o lfering State Government to establish linkages 10 the. nwlle!. rice an industrial clusler fOI lice farmers in Ebony! ·State llIill proces!5ing in IJru.-o l...ocaI concentrale more 00 fanning.
thereby growing !rom mere subsistence farm ing into a commertil!lly viable enleTprise. To make this a reality. the company inll!1x\!; to bring !l-'OIJng enterprising gr.tduales to intelmecilale be"Vl!en il and famlefS 10 improve effICiencies by bringing lecI"Inotogy to land prepa.alion. This will ensure that the fa rmer builds capacity and can operate rice farms as a commertiaI m terprise that JllIYS profit. nol as mflI! subsistence:· He added lhal investment in rice-proceWng miD by EbonyAgro i!lligned INith lhe Federal Qo.,emmenf s wm!nt policy focus to d~fy the economy and leposition the agriwltural sedor 10 play its pivotal role in economic
--I.
"II wiD boost the quantity and quali ty of rice production in the countiy, revital ise and hamessthemomlouspotential of the aUing agriwlture sedor to create food security. stimul ... le job crealion. while lliso enhance the ina)me of farmers. ~ he said.
farmers. so wha t I have done \$ to see how I can enhance th e reve nue or the income of my local people, and what we hllve started doing is to better thei r oppol tunitles In farmi ng.~
Oankwambo said Ihal his admi nistraUon hlld gone ahead 10 open the IUra! area 10 ease the transporl of fllrm produce to ma rkets all In a bid to enhance income He added that the mO\le would also inCll!a5e QOI!t'rnment"s chi!lnces a l collecting lalles on Ilinn produce Dankl.~"CImbo added thai hi! l\dministralion had designed a blueprint for the prO\li~ion of bllsic facititi~ and essential services as " way 0 1 encou rllging paople to pay taxes in the slate He argued thllt Ihe pl"Q\lision of bi\!ic SOCial Sl!T\'icl!5 fOI the people ~\IOuld form Ihe basis lor My demand for the payment of taxes by the people of the stale On the welfare of wOlkers in the itale. Oankl.lJ.lImbo SlIid lila! hiS lId mtntslralion was paying belter than the other states and was preplirerl 10 do mOle for Ihe \l.'Orkfon:e in Ihe slale. He said IlllIt the slale government was "'OIking on an incentive to altracl lea chers and doctors whom he said remained strategic to the development of the stale. On the issue o f govwnors relinquishing their security volcs. the gOlll!rllOT said that Ihe maltel was much ledmic... 1 than was perceived in some quarte ls. He advocated transparency in goveTOance and dialogue belween the leaders lind the led for governmenl 10 achieV1! Its goa ls 01 tlansforming societies.
r T l HE Petroleu m and Natural GasSen!or Staff Association of Nigeria has called on the 7th Na tional Assemb!ytogenuinelyengage slakeholders in the oil and gas Industry in resolving any gley area in the Pelroleum Industry Bill. The workers' uni on stated this in a communique issued al the end of a four day Synergy Wooohop held recently a l the Conference Hotel. Ijew Ode. Ogun Stllte The PIB is prop05l!d as a compendium of all 1a1.l."S governing oil and gas operations in Nigena. $tllkeholdels. including labour. had elIpressed some reservations lIbout the bill, which was at Ihe ve-rge of being passed by the tasl Nalional I\ssembly. The "110 in-house unions in the oil and gas industry. PENGASSAN and the National Union of Petroleum lind Natural Gas WOIke rs. have been dema nding Ihal the Nallonal Assembly shO\.Jld publish the bill being pTOcessed for pa$...Glge on Its website 10 enhance trlln~parency and enable public inpul and partidpation In the legislalil.-e process. According to PENGASSI\N. the I~vo chllm~ of the federal paTfiament should condud a new stakeholders· forum on the PIB to resolve an!o-' reservation by all playe.s in Ihe oil and gas indu5try and thereby loreslal! any C1i~is a fter the pMsage of the bill Spellking on th~ oulcomt' of the S~'Ilergy Workshop organised by the association for newfy elected Cenlral Committee Working membelS and other nalional office rs. PENGASSAN Nal ional Public Relations OfficeT. Mr. laid Kolawole. de~cribed the non-passage of the bill by the last Na ti onal As~mbly as unique l.I.~ndow 01 opportunity for Ihe CUT rent legislator"!; 10 do \Vhat Wa.! right. He noted thaI non-pas...<age of the bill had been deprIving Nlgelia the much n~ed potential of its h~odrocal boo resources.adding lhatbenel1ts such as}ob opportunities and plugging of all economic Ivastages. would continue 10 elude tht' country if Ihe bill WliS not passed. The ~pokespen;on for the association. hOl~·ever. said. M Just as slated in the communique, Itw: inability of the las t Nationa l A!i5I!mb ly to pass the PIB plOIIid£s a rale oppo rtu nity lor the present Ni'ltional A!i5l!mbly to genuinely e ngage a ll stakeholders and ensure the quick paSS"ge 01 a new grundnorm for the oil and gas industry which meets OUI national MIJiralions.-