IITA's research crucial to Nigeria'~ cassava revolution - Minister Om obo laj i So lagbade
RESEARCH
by Ihe Inlernallonal Institute of TropICal Agiicuhure is Oi tical to the tran. forOlollon of NI9'!I ja', awicuhuJaI sector,
Ihe Mmlsler of
Agrlcultur~
and Rural tRvclopm~nt . Dr Akm ....."lm' Ad~Lna. has sad A Sla H!mem by the IITA on Monday. qUOIed the minister
as saying this at a recent Stakchokiers' meeung on cassava In lbacian He said thaI agricultural le~alch and development across the value chain of Nlgena's agricuJtuJC1l commodll~ could reduce hun!JO!l
and
poverty,
and
largo! the translorllUlUoo 0 1 the economy. He commendefl UTA for the developmen t of Improved varieti~ , which brough t ~boulll'3n5lormaliOl'l of malle production in the northern Guinea savannah He said, - IITA's work on ma~e
a ling a 51udy by the Intemaoonal Food PoIiry Research lnstitute, Adana said thai doubling research inve5lme:nli in ~ and ~wnl
an sub-Saharan
Afnca could life an e;;til1lColoo 144 million people OU t of IlO'.'erty路
He reiterated the li$OIve
of the Federal Govemmen[ to support aguculrure by cunincJ Iood importS. WIllie commencllng UTA for organISIng the conferzna! on buildrng a cassava road map. lhe 1l1ini5tcr said the govi!fnment ~Id grve the necessary SUJlPOll 10 cassava, $b.~ng that Itll! 1001 crop \Vil5 among the oops cargeted to drive the lran5formatkwl agenda 01 Presidenl GoodIuck ~than's admini5lJation . The support, accordLfl9 to
programme
!i.a\'O!d
the
ECOWAS region an eshma led $9-lm peT yo!ar Research on the comrol of CdliSava mealybug generated benefits worth be""""en $ 15 .6bn and $27 Sbn in 200拢1 ~ The statement lldded that Ihe meeting in lbadan brought stakeholders in the casszt.va sector together 10 d&uSli opportunities on value chain de\lelopment in cassava pIlXesSU-.g \~,rh a VIeW to developing markets and generaung )Ohs And Ulcomes foc fMmeB
products Ulonie;; finn
P
AINT manufacturer, Bo:!rger PainlS N i~ria Pic, has expressed worry over the proliferation of fake products in the counlry and r~m~nded stiff penaJr y for culpnts. The position was made known in Abeokuta by the company's Salas "nd Business Development M"nager, I-Ir. Anthony Oasi]ver, lit the inaugurat ion o f the fi rm's club. The club is an umbrella forum forpalnlel'5l1nd sellers o f the company's bl'1lnd. Dasilver also SolIid the nallon's e(()(lomy \VOIJld not
Monarch initiates youth empowerment programmes -[HE Dlofa of Olla. Dba Mulutau Gbadamosi. who IS a leading rice farmer in the coun try. hM unfolded plans to Inirialiil poIjdes and ptocjfi!lmmes aimed at empowe ring the people in his kingdom economically. TIle monarch made th IS kno.vn dunng an interactive S65ion with journalists In li1!)05 on Tuesday. He said the pursuit o f youth empoo.vemwnt programmes and other inl tllltrves well.! foctlsed on helping to empower the people of the aRa econormCl)/ly One o f 5lJch in ll ratrves, according to him, is the Ijakadi FeslLval, a cuhural festival among the peopi.!, whJch uoder$ool'e s the people's umque ness. The monarch said " new dimension \\IOUld be IIlIToduced in to the festival. \vith key changes th.al \\IOuld IncolpOrate economic pofential He said ihe festival, 5I:heduled for December, would CfeZi te ZI platform fOf the people to showcase the ir rich tradrtional heritages, while also creanng an avenue
[ VSnlll'l$
Proliferation of fake
~n
helped to make Nigena the IaJge$t soybean producer in Afnca - IITA's bioconu-oI
Introd UCe::',
him. wdI come in the aR!a of fDmM.Jlation of polICIeS thai wiD 5Upporl CllSSaVa pnxludJon and value &ddllion. lie said the limitations to cogocullural prodUClJOO v..oukI be IbCkIed, .nJing thal the private sector would be encouraged 10 take the koad in agicullUrai development It will be recalled thai bel1er and imprOl.ledcassavavaric!1les helped Niget1an farmers boost prodUCIion by 10 million 10fUleS belween 2{X)2 and 2008, enabUng the oou nby to overtake Thailand as th~ \Vorld' s biggest producer of cassava . Consumed by millions o f Nigel'ia ns, cassava is also an [lllpOI'13n[ industrial crop that provides slarch and o ther produc ts for confectione ry, S\veeteneIS,
for commerce. According to him. Olll! of the things he will pursue this lime, with the tacit SUp[lOrt o f hIS people. will be economic empowerment o f adults and you ths. He saId one of the fastest ways of atlTllcling development In any commumty was by empowering people ElaborAting 0 11 the I~kadi for example. he SolIId, ~ It is a lmost synonymous llli th Ihe Offa people. and the full meaning is Ijakadi Loro Offa, a Yoruba phrase meaning, 'WJl':Slilll9 is Offa game' ~ What \Ve am looki ng at is dOing 50mething lhal \\IOuld sustain the cultural not only Irfestyles o f our people, but would also boo5ltou rism and increase ea rn ings accruing to both the Slate Zlnd Ihe peopJe. ~
In the area o f empowering the you ths, the OIofa said he would be leaning on h IS experience as an entrepreneur, and In collaboration wi th others, j')Ul'5Ue the SlUng o f indusln~ In the Offa com munity.
develop if the trend \Vas not immecltately che<:ked He further lamented the cou ntry's law on adulteration wh ich, according to him, st iputat ~a fine ofN2,OOO for anyone caught adulterating products. Da.sllver said, -It is unfortunate thai thiS cou ntry is directly or indlledly boosling activities of those behmd adulterated ploducts with N2,OOO penalty placed o n adulrCl'1Ition - If anybody IS caught fo r aduherZited products, the maximum fine he will gel is N2,OOO despL\e huge expenses one might have incurred in prosecutIon, luigauon and an tilat ~I think the Federal Government should take a good legal step against llduheration of products in o rd(.'I' 10 achie\le undlStUlbed economic de\leJopment in Nigeria that will be mutually helpful to both pubhc and private industries. ~ Dasilver, who SZlid adulteration of prod ucli was an economic bouleneck, added that undue Importation of paint products allowed innux of unwholesome: paint in to the nation' s markets. him. According to Imported paint products are IIsuaily $llllable for the WOIa rher where Ihey am manufactur~.
He noted that any pain t made for the NIgerian malket must be troplcallyformula ted and fit to IllitMtand Us weather in telms of aesthehcs and durability. Da5ilvCI, however, appealed to Ihe government to curtail adultera tion of locally-made products and reslrict und ue importation o f goods, particulally paint products
PH ,; 01-7759430, 070-28023'174, 01 -7768656 ,070-2.80 -24'173 .
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Dustbin; can be branded with you r logo 8. Messages.
The
S(~A!Pl[~ ~lt debuts on Saturday in
Pro fessor Udoto l 's Profile NO one knows exactly when Prolessor Akpan Udolo t was torn bu t hiS parents es路 Ilmale II was soma 40 years ago. Ail ihe plDlessor is ceriar" is hts 33 yeals expelienee In sex ual practIce. He believes he los t his vllginily III hIS ea rly teens when an exploralion o f the a nato my of a female frrend prodUCed 3ul prrsmg bu t pteasant resulls. The duo were oul loraging lor lire wood in the fOfe s t tn Akwa lbom S la te Tha i accident 0 1 discovery opened hiS e yes to the pleasure i 0 1 the lIesh . One day. he read the holy book and made anolher d iscovery. The "'-'ty book challenged humans to go and multiply. Allhough the book d id 1'101 s tate the process 01 achIeving Iha t e nd, il did nol lake long for A"pan Ud a lo l 10 \VOIk it ou t From Illen, I,e came 10 see sex a s an an 0 1 worsh ip . He h as worshipped in low and t llg h places and In many lands. (nilla ny he saw himself as a me ra wQ(shippel , g ra du a ted to a p ries t and lale r made him Self High Preesl He took on htS presE:nl Jille al ter a g rsletul shrine anOInted him 'profesS()(' lor his unrivalled exp erlise in servll:..a to womankind T he professor will be imparting htS skills and knowtedge In Ih e atl 01 salisfYlng sex 10 Ihe re ade rs of Th e Moment on Saturday_
rjjfl -$rNrpert ~er/es lifor fhost/who hove"~n doing Ur" JI~t pi liitK ftnd now wan' 10 I(ttun ,htl an of saxuElllvors~fA