rage 42, TH IS DAY, Vol. 16, No. 5911
Th u rsday, Ju ne 30, 2011
8 BusinessWORLD
development ,Desertification's a Global Problem, Says Kano Gov
K
ano Statcgovernment is poised
funds
to
the
Slale
\0
release
Ministry
From Ibrahim S JlIl aibu III K.~~
of
Ezwironmenl for the procurement of 2 million seedlings 10 be planted in the sl:JIe to mitigate dcr.at Olcro:rluno\l .
Undastanding (r"loU) for bilal.era1 ooopcralion in Desol oontrol and rnpacity
The stOlle Governor. Or. Ra/)iu K....'lII1kwaso. disclosed this while ro:riving the member.> of
AtiiC3Jl Dsatilimion Control Initiative in his o llia:: al the GovemmOlI House in Kane. noting thai desmilicaLion is iI global problem. which must be trlled urgently in the inlCR:St of sustai nable development. KWilnkwilso. who dcroibcd his government
as environment friendly • .'i.-lid his administration wou ld ensUIt: that millions of trees are planted in all the44l...cctl govem mmt areas in the stale. He instructed the slate Ministry of Environment to collaboriltc wi th all stakehold-
ers towards m<king proper arrangement for the annual Trtt Plant:JIion exotise;ness the state. While w¥ing people in the stale to engage mOil! in agncu1tun: to presttVe the ecosystem, the gO\'emor appealed \0 them \0 keep their domestic animals at bay to protect f<mllands and cum roaming around thc stnRS. Earlier, the President Afiican DcsatifiC31ion Control lnitioIive, Alhaji Umar D:m1:Jdi Slales th.1! their organ isation is nongovnnmental whidl campaigns against desmific:llion as wel l as oomplimenting govemmO'it e[[on tOW3Itis udding the men~ of ~ifiCllion and the dcsin: to improvc the living stamlan.! o f people. AJhaji Umar disclosed th al. last YCilr. his NGO signed a MeTliornndum of
I
building with the Gh[\J\ Su Dc:set Control Re;cvch Institute. China. On their ochiC\'ements, he said the Institute secured sdiOlarship for intcm:l1ional tmin ing
I
on modem techniques of oombating desertificalion and climate di[\J\ge for the eight indi~enes of Kano State in China. lsm=1. Indla:Jlld TurKey.
ACT Now Costs N75 as against Nl,500'
Mcm ornndum of Undmtanding (MoU) signed bet\\'ttI1 partllO'5 acting a,gainst mal:ui::! is \0 m::Jke . Artcmisinin-based Combin::!tion TIlernpics (ACTs) drug available :tt affordable prices to patients allover the country. Signed between Sustainoole He:tIthcre Initi::Jtive (S HO and National Malmia Control Progrmn (NMCP). ACT m subsidy will rOOucz the cost of ACT cost as lower as N75 as against the N l , 500 per dose. Acrording to the Project diJtttor, Mr, Mike Omolosho, Afforuab le Medicine Flrility mnlaria{ACTm) will msull! that ACTs are available in both privale and . public sectors (:\'erywhere in the cou ntry. Omotosho said however that only ACTs with the green leaf logo are subs idisa!. saying the logo will be printed on the p<rls and the aluminium foil s contillning the medicines. The diJtttor e.'plained that all medicines beruing the logo are safe. cffective. of good quality and should be sold for
A
Life Quips (I) • You only live once, but if you work it right, ·once is enough. • Life is like a hot bath . It feels good while you're in it, but tlle longer you stay in, the more wrinkled you get. • TIle purpose of life is a life of purpose - Robert Byrne • Life is like an onion: You ~l it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep. • Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans - John Lennon • SOllrce: www.coolnslI1mt.com
PHOTOSPEAK
Fro m SegfU! AK'ofadeji i" SGlKlr1 about NJO forchildren 's dose and N75 forM ~ult dose. Hestato:llhaLACTs with distinct ACTm Jeaf logo quality, :reACfs approvoo by WH O and NAFDAC as the drugs have been manuf<D:urOO in oompli:mce with the best st::Jlldruds. O motosho funha explained that Artemininin-~cd Combin::JIion Th~ies (ACl) oombinc:s Artemisini n-based with another effective anti·malaria drug and is currently the most effective form of tn::ill.menl for m<li:na, The World Health ~anizajon (WHO) spo:i liGll ly recommends ACTs as the firsl~ line tn::atment for unoomplic::Jted mularia as me not widely usa! becnJse they ~ more expensive Ih::lll the less-effective allcmal.ives such as chloroquine. In a idaled de'-'eiopment . a Bauchi-based Non Governmental DrEanisation (NGD) Fahinta, has provided eduaJlionnl and nutri· tional suppO!t ....urth NI.6 million 10 50 orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) in Dass and Bauchi local government =tS of the staLe. Plt'Sident o f the Fahinta. Haji )'::! Maryam GaJba, slated this while pR5alting the m:tterials to the OIphans in Bauchi; she said the amount e.'{pended represen ts halfof thc N3.6 million ~\'ed from the Association of OVCslNGO in Nigeria ..... ith su pport from Global Fund. According to her, the o~anisation hat 30 childn:n of'Mlzirin Majoou primary school
Dass under the care of Fabinla NOD. Ten olhers come from gallies vill nge junior ~ndary under the care of anolher NGO Rahama, while the rcrnaning 10 children arc from junior ~ndary school Kofnr WllIlmbai and senior secondary school Bauchi are being managw by C HIC HEf. TIle nutrilional support presented 10 each child included a b3g of rice, half a bag of beans, a gallon of palm oi l, half C3Iton o f mi lk and sxhet of chocolate, tile educar.ionnl support includes dozens of exercise books, school bags, a pair of sandnls and socks for each of the orphans as wel l as writing materials. Haji ya Gama urged policy makers at the state and 10ClI government leo."ds to emu· late and repliClle good pra.1io::s initialed by NODs and to support such organisatiol)s in whatever way they could to uplift. the standard of li ving of the orphans. The President of Fallinta however implored other caregivers to ens un: fair distribu tion of the;e materials and warned pan:nts and guaruians of these children from selling the nutritional and educati onal m31oials. saying that these itcms .....ould help in promot ing their health and social wellbeing Also speaking at the cnemony, the National Cooruinalor of the Association of DVC fNoo in Nigma. Mrs. Grace Dalang, mlled on well-mcaning Nigerians to addn:ss the plight of orphans and vu l· nerable children and UI};OO the citizens to come to their aid .
Anambra Distributes N5.3m Equipment to Care-givers
A
bout 120 poor rural
poopJc have Il'l:eived
V()I;:3:ionai tquipment 'NOrth N5.3 million
By Cll arft5 Ajllllwa from the Anambra Slate govem mcnt. through the Ministries of\\ume:n Affairs and Social Development and Budgec and Economic Planning, with the support of United Nations C hi ldren Fund Education
(UNICEF). The known
beneficiaries
are
as CJre-gi\'ers who
take c:re of young people and w~::re selected from six local govemmerlls namel y Nf'IC\lli North and South. Anaocha, lhinla, Drumba North lIIld Orumba South. Acrording 10 Prof. Chinyere Okunna, who is the stoIe chairman of the Millennium Development Goals (MOOs) , lhe C\'ent is part of the state govnn· ment's po\'Oty eradicaion progrnnlme and om:: of the progr.unmes through whidl the. govern\'llCllt in tends to address the first f\'IDGs goal which is erndication of extrcrne po\'Crty and hunger. She said the bmeficiari~ .....ere those ronsiderOO very poor and thar. Ihis Wll') determined throu~h the state gO\'CJ\'Iment's poverty mark· ing through ....ttich the poorest communities of the state ....-m: aswtained.
Okunna, .....ho is also the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, which is the coordinaling m inistry, statro that the evertt was a Je;ult of an earlier workshop organised for the beneficiaries in April and that such an C\'ml was a monthly Ihing. She said the ber1efici~es would be oonstalltly monitored on the use of the equipment 10 ensun: they were put to good use. She also staled that the criterion for selection W:IS baseil on request and need. SOIllC of the I'ljuipment lIIld included weaving sewing machines. vulcanising equipment. ovens. kerosene stoves and grinding m:rltines. among OIh-
"'.One of the beneficiaries. Mrs . Dgechukwu Amah, from Drumba Nonh said she was earlier t3IJghl food processing :nd preservation for upwards of two years and th:nked the state gov· ernment for empowering
,''''''.
The l."\It:r1t also roincided with lhe D:!y of tile AfriC3n Child marked to comlllem~ orale the day ....'hen dti!drt:n demanding to be ooualled in their own language woe slaughtered in Sower.o South Africa in 1976.