politics
------------------------July 14,
succe,s NWOGU writes that the agricultural pads signed by the Kwara State Government with international organisations have become a source of concern for the opposition
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lIj llr oppositioJl parties nnd the Kwara State (,k'l'!!mment are III 'lag,en drawn over lOlltt Memoranda of Unders1andillg ,)D the Slate's agricultural de\ocl<Jpment pn~cl. Gmemor J\bc:hdratah Ahmed had at the iottp1ton of hi; 'ldministratkm in Mo)' 29. 2'J11 ide,life11 agncuhuJ't' as II mRjOr straitlY to h.ame;:s the stale'! abundant human and m I"'rial ~UI'Ce$ for the imp"""erMnl of the people's well-being and f·n the trlln ;j"'lnnation of th", 'State of Ham.ooy. TItt gO\"ef"lm"111 had signed II N70un MoU with VaL'lIkr Consultoria 2006; an MoU with MosL 0 Group. Unitrd Siaies of A1nftic1 for In -tIro processing plan!, and anotber MoU for Kwara Slate Agricultural Mooemisatilln rlanwith CornelJ UnhoersilY 10 lhf' US "Ih~ 1M UnltN States Ambassador 10 Nigena. &lr Tmoce McCullry, and 1M outgoi", Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria.
lIIr lIloshe Ram . .>isited the stnte, Ahmed had Ippeale!1 for 'ullpOrt and pe.rtnershill for ayicu1tll1'l1an j industrial de\.-elopment 0( tbfS!.IIte. But the 'l"lAtr' chapter of the Action Con&fe5 of Nigl ria and the Caml).llign OI''Pnisatioll of CUlOmodore Ayuba Buhari oftM Omgl'l'SS 101 Progressh1! Change said the MoUs \~ nllerupts in futility. Ace<JnJing 10 liM m. the MoUs D~ meant to give the inp-ession ihnl Ahmed IS tonlO1iued to ImD!lfonning the: slate, while .ctu.~Uy the) art. plm' to enrich the nlliug
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Th". reasone j that since thl" presellt administrathtn ltaJ spent O\1!r '1 year, and the hm ~a"5 hf for the adnlinistrn tion may br 5p('nl en dectionte:ring. Ulen! wuukl be no mt'u,m.gfnl elI:ecution orlbose Molk dunnt-: AI," ed's lenure Tht ACN t':hnilmlln in the ~Iale, Mr Kayode Qia11efO. said any cle\~lopment pol~ b)' an· sen-)US gO\'enllllellt must be buill around the p 'Ople. He stl'Iled tha the ACN would continue 10 Ol'pose and e:.p1li(' any design to enslavt' or 'o'J)O\-erish KWlLmns, no matter the paCQgin.B given t( such a poliq, He opined tb II if any pri\'1Itf' in\"eStor Is iDt."f15t~ in ~I'rwing m or cac;sa\'lt in the "tate. such all investor slululd invest its Inont'y nnd Qt"goliate a fnlr deal for wha"..."'t'r "'00 needed while Ih~ government !lunntees th~ rt>lIIpan)' a friencil~' emiroT,nent and PlOtf!cts tht' inlert'S1 ofthe hoI!! community Acl!unlin,g 10 im, what Ih(' stale is e.xperlencmF; ill " dangerous dimension gf Public Prl\41le P.lr nership. H~ said. -It ~ Iau&hahle that our government left K'vara rorNew York tosign an MoUoo a prole __ t meant for Kwal1l State. called KAMP. Whal do U,ose prufessors know about :tgnclilt~ in Nigeria? U tht')' were 'Jerious abNI e\'Ohin! an A,;ricultural pohC) wurlwble itl our environment, why didn't theyg" 10 tl,~ International Lnstilute of Tropical Agliruiture, lharlan or even Apieultur.d RUnI' Manal:emenl Trainin, Institule iu 1I0rill; -And may lOt'. !IOUnd this warning to them thai the IJe-Jllle of Kwant \Io·m not condone. the s)'1I'"mic land grabbillg beiu, perpetnth'l:l under the guise of avicuhunl f('VOllution.. ~ AI.... tho- Director· Gelle...l of Ayu),a 8 II h a r i
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Campoign Orpnisnlion. lsllloil Muhammed. said the organisation was sceptieal about the MoUs and oontract.s. He allqed that a similar apicullural project, which was sold to Kwarall!l under the PDp·led &ov~ml11ent in the past, had no posith'e resull. H~ said his group doubled the efficacy of the project lind the siocerityofthe majoracto~. H~stated timl the orgamsation wvuld have ~kollled the recent MoU ben.~n th~ state g~rn lllen t and Cornell Uni\-er;ity on KAAIP. but there was no sign of the lake-<lrr of a recent MoU betW1ee1l the stat~ and Valsolar Coll.!lOrtium. -Uke manyotherc:harade:s ailed projects theatrically imposed by the PDI'·If!d gO\-emment 00 the people of Kwara Slate, we a\'l'ltit the: outcome. We are afraid that this is a jouruq' from nowhere to nowhere as it affect.! our people: Muhammed said. But a faction o( the Congress gf NiAerian Political Parties. in a statement by its Cbainnan. Zakari Mohammed. and ~tary, Bamidele Omotosho, said there was an eviden~ to show that lhe agricultural project of tht' stale government III the past had an impact 00 the people. They aflued thai if Shonp Farm Hoklings was exporting 6 ,000 tOnnes of Cassava to China; and so mao)' c::rops that had been exported in the past. then the MoUs and contracb ore not a waste of time or re5OOn-es. To the group. Kwara was not tht' only stale that had signed MoUs. It said some other states in Nigeria had si&oed MoUs with rountnes like US. Britnin, India and China Attording 10 them. one of the best altemath."H to the dominant oil economy is the agrarian economy, especially when agriculture is the mainstay of tht' lIation's economy Ahmed had said that the MoU with Cornell was a verystnttlic n1<»-.lo reshape the state's economy. lie said his adDiinistradOIJ's a\'QWed commitment to maximising the social and eamomiepotentiaJof.gricuiturt'bynotjust putting food on the table of the ciliuns but creating jobs and more wealth. infurmed the signing of the MoU wilh Cornell. Ahmed said. "1be fi\'e-year lIUlo:ter plan maps out • phased implementation of a dynamk. hiply produc:ti\'eand "UStainable agriculture sedorin lheS1ate with partic:ulnr empbasis on the need for ezpC>oential increase in agricultural outpul and linkages among all .gricuhural support and manufacturing sectors,Senlor Special Assistant 10 Ahmed on Media and
2012
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Agric
MoUs set I{wara govt, opposition on collision course
Communication, Dr. Muyideeo Akorede, said thaI evidence of the benefits anticipated from KAMP was eJ:emplified with the signing of a contract between Kwara Stale co-owned Shonp Farms Ud and Auslnwia, exporters of dried cassava chips, for Ule exportation of 6,000 tonnes o f cassa\41 c:hips to China, lie said SInce w<'t'ption. the Ahmed admmislration had identified agriculture 85 the pivol of its 'shared prosperity' programme. Hestatedthat thegm"ertlment was benchmarking against r,lobaJ best prac1ices by partnerin,; with those who had sutt'eSSfully implemenled commen::u.1 a&ricultllre suclt as th~ US. Israel, Cornell lind other foreign im'efito~. lit' slated Ihat since gOl't!man<'t' is a continuum, the partoerships were not limited 10 lhe tenure of the administration. ndding thol wboe\"er takes m'er from Ahmed is expected to continue with their implementation. J-It' aflued that since the majority of !Cwara people were farmers, it made sense tn build on thcir strength in agriculture as the foundation for the slAte's economic growth. Akorede said the MoUs wuuld creat~ agro-alliedjobs,K"OnomiC8l1y~"owe:rthe CarulCrs. substantially inc!'eA5e the slnle's Gross Domeslk Product. atlt1lct foreign direct investment andI provid~ mOre _ job s
for the youth as ~II as guarantte: food St.'Curity, He said KAMP contained a fi~year madmlll' for making Kwara the hub of agriculture in west Mric:a, UeSlllled lha l tbeplanwllSacol:laborauon IImong tJle Sialt' governmt'nt, unh'ersities, priVllte sector Ol'J,alllsatioUS and international ~Iopment organisations, He added that 10 domesticatl" !CAMP, profeuors from the Kwara State Unh-ef'Sily and Unh'ersity of llorin participated in the m35ler."lan design, He elI:plai ned that Ihe stale government choseComeJlbecauseofilsr)oba,lexpertise in agriculture, especially in soil and plant science. Akorede said the MoU with Valsolar was designed to tau advantage of the S1ale's vast wal('1" along lhe Rh-er Niger and the quality of ill!; soil to create a rire cultivation, pl"lX'eSSing and pad(a!ing project. li t' stated thai und~r tht' MoU. the government was providing 20,00Q h«tares of land while Valsolar would invest N7'Obn o\'er four years, -Similllrly, our MOU with Mosilo Group of the US for an agro processing pilmt is designed to take ac:!\1lnlage of Kwara 's position as Ihe laflest produrer of cassava in the counlly at 40.000 tonnes per hectare as opposed to the IlIllional a\'erage of 15.000, Thecompany isestablishing an IIgra-processing plant, whirh will process caSSIU'lt inlo chip"'. mn:h, addili\'cs and sWleeteners. -n-,is was II follow-up to the MoU wesi&ned with the Fedenll Milllstt)' of Alricullure uodes- the Cassa\'lt Tmnsformatlon Pn:Jp1Imme last February. which was designed to faei l jtal~ a market oollet for 660.000 lonnes of tassaVll throup inlt'rvenlions In dried chips. gari/lafun, fufu. fuel ethanol and sweelener: he said Publicity S«:retat)', Kwara Siale POI', A1lmji Mu'ud Adebimpe:, said the signing of the MoUs and invitation for partnership with some forei&n countries that had excelled in agric:ulture: confinned the foresight and sincerilyof purpose of the Ahmed .dmmlstraUoo 10 \'I1pe out pO'o-"'t'rty in the land. Analysts. however, observe that no matter how aptivaling the plans appear. Kwara resKienu are anxiously awaiting their positi\-". impact.
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