FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18,2011
Minister seeks more funding for agriculture HE Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Prof. Sheikh Abdallah, on Wednesday
T
the, sector, adding that the
Fish Farm Estate project
country needed more than
and solicited private sector participatio'"!.
more funding to boost the
that amount to realise the Vision 2020 objectives. The minister said the Vision 2020 had agriculture
agriculture sector.
as its major tool in achieving
Abdallah made the call while defending the ministry's N63.5bn budgetary proposal before the Senate Committee
the desired result and suggested that 40 per cent of the nation's budgetary allocation be devoted to the
on Agriculture.
sector.
He said the Maputo Declaration had stated that 10 per cent of Gross Domestic Product be devoted to
He said the ministry had commenced the process of seeking other sources of funding for the
in Ahuja
canvassed for
Abdallah added that commodity marketing and development companies in the ministry needed to have private sector participation to survive.
"Without private sector participation, it \ViII be difficult for the companies
Senator Andrew Babalola, stressed the need for the ministry to look for other
to
sources of revenue to ensure effective execution of the
survive
even
with
public fund support from the government," he said.
ministry's projects. Present at the budget
In his remarks, the Chairman of the committee,
defence were representatives of some parastatal agencies
in the ministry, the News
Agency of Nigeria reports The agencies
included
the National Agricultural Seed Council, Nigerian Agricultural
Insurance
Corporation,
National
Food
Agency and
Reserve
Agricultural
Research Council of Nigeria
Rep urges FG, states to support local farmers HE federal and state
emphasis to be placed on
governments
have
agriculture if the nation must
been asked to collaborate effectively, in order to provide the enabling environment for local farmers to produce enough food for national
actualise the goal of making
T
consumption.
The
member,
representing the Aniochal
Oshimili Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Ndudi Elumelu, who disclosed this in Lagos, said over-dependence on oil had shifted the attention of governments at all levels from properly giving agriculture the attention it
deserved. According to Elumelu, with
the
provision
of adequate farming tools, loans and good transportation system for evacuating foodstuff from the rural areas, rural farmers
will be encouraged and the agricultural sector will begin
to produce the desired results. The lawmaker, who said he would support any legislation that would ease the suffering of local farmer, stressed the need for
the
agricultural
sector
another revenue base for the country. He said most developing and developed countries in the world, had shifted their atlention to had agriculture, which positively impacted on their economies and ultimately improved their socioeconomic lives.
He said the nation had abundant agricultural potential which must be tapped with all the seriousness it deserved if the nation must grow.
oL-R: Deputy Governor, Enugu State, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi; Chief Executive Officer, National Insurance Commission, Mr. Fola Daniel; and a traditional ruler, Igwe Julius Nnaji, at the inauguration of Compulsory Insurance Products in Nigeria, in Enugu ... on Thursday. Photo: NAN.
Fadama: Expert urges agencies to reposition communication MPLEMENTERS of the National Fadama Programme in the country have been urged
I
to re-enforce' the use of communication to achieve
their goals. The Regional Head, National Food Reserve Agency, North-East Zone, Mr Daniel Kakwi, made the call in a paper presented
in Bauchi at the National Officers Review Meeting of the
Communication programme.
He
stressed
that
the
use of communication in achieving the objectives of the programme was necessary in view of the role
of the media in mobilising the grassroots toward the success of the programme.
AMML raises toll in markets by 100% 'Market
the markets was to increase
at Wuse market expressed
Management Limited has increased toll fares in markets in the territory from
N50 to NlOO for cars and buses from NlOO to N200. The Head of Corporate Mr. Innocent Affarirs,
the toll fees in order to generate funds to keep them in good shape. According to him, the stakeholders and traders were consulted before the increase and they approved
dissatisfaction with the increase, saying that the fees were high. Mrs. Joy Adebayo
Amaechina, in an interview
the initiative.
with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday said that the increase was to carry out routine maintenance of the
He said the fund generated had been effectively used to repair the potholes in the markets and also to provide wider
parks and walhways in the
parking space and ensure
markets.
free flow of traffic. Amaechina said the operation of the AMML
T
HE
He
Abuja
said
the
markets
were not run on budgetary
allocations from the Federal Capital Territory Administration, adding that the management had to source for ways of maintaining them.
...
o
o o
Amaechina added that the only means of maintaining the standard in
management only covered
markets owned by the FCT such as Wuse market, Maitama
farmers
market,
Kado fish market, Dei-Dei building material market and shopping'centres. NAN reports that some of the customers interviewed
said the new amount was exorbitant, particularly on cars and buses.
commended
in the realisation of the goals
Daiyabu,
the implementers for introducing community radio programme in their activities, saying
of the programme could not be over-emphasised.
officers would review the role of communication in achieving the aims
that it would go a long way in enhancing the accomplishment of the objectives of fadama. He charged the
represented by the Director, Agricultural Technical Services of the agency, Mr. Luka Daniel, said that, without effective
participants to ensure that communication occupied a prominent place in the activities of the programme while other components
be difficult to achieve the goals of the programme. He also caIled on the
Kakwi
should follow. In
his
remarks,
the
The
programme
manager,
who
communication,
communication
it
was
would
officers
of
the programme to rise to the challenges posed by modern
Programme Manager of the Bauchi State Agricultural Development Programme, Dr. lliyasu Gital, said that
Communication
the role of communication
Fadama III, Alhaji Bashir
communications technology in
the performance of their duties. The National Officer
of
said
that
the
and objectives of fadama programme in the country.
He
said
that
the
participants would also discuss some of the activities carried out by the programme within the last six months in their respective states "This is with a view to exchanging ideas and experiences on the way forward forthe programme."
he said. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a communique
is
expected
at the end of the throe-day' f '. conference.
Enugu records 'slight increase' in cement price
P
RICES of the various brands of cement in Enugu State have increased slightly by between three per cent and 10 per cent, a market survey has shown.
The survey, conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria in some parts of the state on Thursday, showed that the price of Dangote Cement increased from N 1,550 to Nl,700. The BUA brand of cement now seIls for Nl ,750 as against Nl,600 that it. sold a week ago, while the UNICEM brand
now sells for Nl,550, up from Nl,500 last week. NAN reports that the situation was WOTSe at the 9th Mile Comer, in the Udi LocaI Government Area of Enugu State, where cement is scarce, as only two shops had the product. Traders at the Timber Market, Abakpa Nike in Enugu, said that only one truck load of cement arrived in the market this week, as against between four trucks and five truck that used to offload weekly.
It was a similar story at the Kenyatta Market, Garki Market and Awkunanaw Market, all in Enugu, as they witnessed low supply of the product in the past two weeks. Some of the traders, who spoke to NAN attributed low the problem to production
experienced
by
manufacturers. A cement dealer at Abakpa Nike, Mr. Paulinus Nnagbo, said, "We have not received any supply from Dangote Cement in the past two weeks.
"We heard that they hi;ld a problem at the factory. It is really adversely affecting our sales as many of us have run
out of stock." A seller at 9th Mile Market, Mr Robinson Udeh, complained that the development was unhealthy as it would affect the economy. "If nothing is done about this situation, it will affect a lot of th ings, especially the economy_
It is high
time
Nkalagu Cement factory was revived to save the situation,"
Udeh said.