Page 36, THIS DAY, Vol 15, N o. 5490
Tuesd ay, May 4 2010
Ogitn- Hails Firm's Ultia M_o~demCassaya Mill he Ogun Slale Governmenl has hailed
T
By Crusoe Osagie
Thai Fann International
Limiled's (TFl) ultra ous natural resources embedmodem cassava flour mill . ' 9¢ in the natio.n's-·agti)!plsited in the Ososa area olthe . tural seclor, agricultur<i still state. • .;remains the. mainsi!i'ifor, the Speaking ai the officifil . .' ~ountry 's,economic i1evelopopening and commissio~a,tg .-,- " ~e'n.t. . :--. . . of the mjlling faclory at ljebu . Badru. 'sood that · In 2005 ; Ode Ogun State, !pe the 0llun State governmenl Governor, Ogun Stale,. es\~btished a revolu~on pro~ Otunba Gbenga Daniel gramme 10 promote the' development of cassava and explained Ihat the commissioning of the ultra mod~rn the agro allIed seClor of the cassava flour mill is a giant eC?~~~~·agro al lied sector is . step by the state to develop given much attention, il has the agro allied sector of the the ability to solve the probnation's economy. le rn of industria1 rural transThe Governor who was forination , food security , represented by the Deputy employmenl and economic Governor, Ogun State Alhaja frustralions," she said. Salmat Bad ru stressed that "This new faci lity that has been given birth today will' the cassava flour mill will
boost the employment .and the indus trial sector of the
sta~~e
enhance our Gross Domestic Producl(GDP) growth rale
development of the sub-sector of the economy. "We are callmg for more investments in the sub-sector '>li'a nit we:itope that this ultra modem facilily will show , that Njgeria is ~. good desti_, nation for Foreign Direct . Investments..JFDI) for many . 'inveslors" she said. ·;.~<According to her, the facil." ity Which rep'resents a unique empo"werment of the farmers will go a long way in not only improving their lot, bUI also greatly ~educing Ihe "gours of farmtng arnong the cassav~ farmers , while. also Improvmg therr producllvlty. She lamented that recentl y several comparues have left the shores. of the country for nelghbourmg counlnes as a result of inj'rastructural deficiencies like dismal power supply arirlhad roads, among
properly harnessed thereby making us self reliant on our own without waiting for bud-
vale sector to look into cassava fl our mills as an investible area, She stressed that the commissioning is also a demonmalion of potential diversification of the nalion's economy, saying that with the vast arable lands and the numer-
getary allocations," she stressed . She assured investors that the federal govern men I will co ntinue to provide the e nabling and level playing field for investments in the country and further strengthen the economy for the
T Africa.
The project, funded by the Common Fund for Commodities and implemented by !ITA and partners, seeks
to contribute to sustainable improvements in welfare and li velihood of faimers and processors in the cassava sector. at the same time enhancing food security particularly in Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the Republic of Benin. The FAO Supervisory Body (FAO-SB) led by Adams Prakash expressed satisfaction. w ith the progress of the implementation of the project's components, especially the on-time commissioning of the processing centers given the logistical and communication constraints in the region. He also commended Lateef Sanni, UTA-CFC Project Leader, and his team for effectively coordinating the project. Contained in a 20-page report, Prakash said staff of !ITA and the national implementing partners should be cited for their hard work and dedication towards realizing the project's goals . Also of inlerest to the FAOSB was the continued relevance and potential impact of the project in al leviating rural poverty through sustainable market-led initiatives. The FAO-SB report also gaye kudos 10 the provision of opportunities for fanners and villagers to participale in value chains to improve tivelihcxxls.
, . , , 'oJ }J1~ re,Pllfli~as :b~.~'1. ~n. .. . r~9,SB . mOI)lIOn~g . nusslpn .
e Toronto World Conference on disaster management scheduled to hold lune2010inCanada w ill tackle pocir disaster management across the globe. ,. The organisers of the Nig<;rian participants for the exptJ, Promosalon Nigeria ·said the conference will
carried out from 4 to. 10 February 2010 . The exercise involved fie ld visits to the project siles in Sierra Leone and
two of the three sites in Nigeria. In Sierra Leone, the monitoring team visited th~ sites in Bo, Moyamba , Bombati , Port Loko, and Western Rural districts; while in Nigeria, ' the
TI
team inspected the sites in Kuje , Abuja, and Joe Beg . Banu in Nassarawa State. During the field visits , .members of the FAO-sB also held discussions with project
stakeholders, beneficiaries, and UTA and local implementing partner representatives in the two countries .
addresses issues common to
aU aspects of disaster and emergency whicb has
management a major
become
socia economic issue the world over. Managing Director, Prom6Salon Nigeria; Mr. Akin Akinbola said that the 2010 Conference theme is: Building Solutions for a Global Community; Emergency Management and Business Continuity Worlcing Together, and will feature speakers from many parts of the world. According to him, the expo will provide excellent opportunities for training and networking with experts and practitio ners in Emergency Planni ng/Management , Business Continuity, Emergency Communicatioris, Emergency Response , Disaster Management Research, Risk Management,
MAN Laments Rising Cost of Business
TIe-
Manufacturers' Association of Nigeria (MAN) has expressed dismay over the high cost of doing business in the country
=~~fb~:~=ati~d
the increasing state of insecurity, insisting that unless something urgent was done, an appreciable percentage of industrialists may relocale to other countries. Speaking ' at the ' first. Advocacy Roundtable organised by the Enugu Coalition of
Business and Professional Associations (ECOBPA) with members of the Enugu State House of Assembly, the Executive Secretary of MAN, Mr. Joe Ernoleke said as a result of the unfriendly business environment; a total of 860 companies have been forced to close down across the country. In Enugu alone, he said a total of 16 companies have been shut down while another 16 are planning to relocate to other more friendly places to ply their trade. Emoleke urged the various tiers of govemmentlo find ways of remedying the situation before it gets out of hand , stressing thaI unlike in other climes, an average manufa.ctw'er in the country pays a minimum of 24 . different kinds of levies which u1tunatel affects the ;"'t of " roduoubn, and by' so ,doing', . ,
P
,
, , ,.
.
.
culture is the best alternative 10 bring the country out of the recession. He added the facility is a representalive of FOI for Nigeria stressing that it is also a right start in the industrialisation process of the country.
"Today marks the dawn of a new era for industrialisation as we have been able to stand the test of time as a country reducing our indebledness from $90 bi Ilion to $3.5 billion. Eslablishing relevant industries using our natural resources will make us one of the emerging economies by 2020," he said. "TFI has kicked started that pace of using educational and agricultural materials
to achieve our dreams and boost the agro allied sector of the country," he said . He said that the facility will produce 60 metric lonnes per day using 150
metric lannes of cassava tubers for its p"roduction. "This initiative will help
our farmers increase their income thereby transforming their lives," he said. He called on the government to take industrialisation as a federal concern, saying thaI there is a need for good polic ies al the Federal. stale and the local govern ment levels to make the industrial . sector ..attractive to foreign investments . "This is a clear demonstration of the organisation's commitment to the support of entrepreneurship in the agricu ltural sector," he said.
~
FAO Lands IITA on Cassava Value ChafuDevt he UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has lauded the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (UTA) for effectively implementi ng the Cassava Value Chajn . Development projecl in West
as an exceptional initiative and a huge motivation for the farmers who have voluntarily· taken to cassava growing in a rather chaJlenging sector and at a time the agricultural sector requires urgent interventions. She pledged ' the Ogun state government's commitment to continue to collaborate with more investments in the sub sector in delivering laudable agricultural developmen~initiatives to the people of the slate. Also speaking at the event, the Chairman, Thai Farm Inlernational Limited (TFI), Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi
said the global economy is gradually coming out o f recession , saying that agri-
"roronto E.xpo to Deal WI'th·POO'r DI'saster Mgt 1
~ne~e:~~:a~~e~~~ (rc:~)~~
added that the cassava processing industry 'is a greal achievement any nation can make and called on the pri-
others and advised that diversification of the nation 's economy through agricultu re is the surest way 10 develop the economy. She described the facility
From Christophe; Isiguzo in Enugri becomes a heavy bUrden to the
end user. '''The imptication of compa-
, nies folding or relocating is thaI Ole rate of unemployment will become very uncontrollable , the economy will be in bad shape while insecurity will assume an a1arm;ng proportion," he stated.
services, insurance, transportaSecurity, Industrial Training , tion, communications, manuHuman Resources , facturing, petro.chemical, eduEnvironmental, Community cation, and numerous other Planning and the organ;sations industries. WCDM is an ideal which supply and service opporturuty for academics and these professions. researchers to commu nicate '''This year we will take an and network with these practiin depth look at how our professions have evolved over the tioners. past twenty years, the lessons Akinbola said that the past we have (or not) learned as 20 years have seen tremendous well as looking into future development in not only the trends ooxl threats to the safety number of delegates al and well-being of our corhmu- - WCDM but also the demand nities," he said. for such an event globally, ''This will be the .20th stressing that there has been an World Conference on Disaster overwhelming increase in tlle Management (WCDM), the number of key decision-makpremier annual event thaI ers, top corporate executives addresses issues common to and government representaaU aspects of disaster/emertives interested in exploring the gency management," he latest developments and added. already-proven industry-relatHe stressed that the four ed products and services. day conference will offer new He stated that the conferideas and approaches that will ence will also bring industry belp build solutions for a globexperts in its educational al community, specialised ' workshops, plenary and coneducation, trainIDg for aU levels· of disaster management, cunent sessions to cover topics gain valuable contacts and dison pandemic planrling, climale cover new products and serchange. natural disasters, corvices. porate resiliency, corporale He added that the audiences planning and preparedness, are predominantly practitionglobal perspecti ve. business ers from aU levels of governcontinuity, poster presentation ment and .the private sector, and networlcing. including: utilities, financial
<:haimum, Sona Group Nigeria Pic, Mr. AX Mirr:handani, j/mrk£d by Managing Direcwr/ChUf EuctJlive, GM Nigeria UmiJed, Mr. Tony! ~'Il'eka, (lff!).oM.vi,riIi[l1l Pfe.sUlff!l" Managing f!inCII!!.,.GJA Africa OperotWns, Mr. Edgar Lourencon (right), at 1M dinner orgqnised in ' . iwnourofLOurenconat La ScaJa RestauranJ, VlCtorialsland ... recently ~ "