₦airaland Forum

sheyguy: I followed it also and was amazed at how the whole scam population ratio was maintained under OBJ's watch. That singular act alone represents one of his greatest betrayal of the the average southerner.

Pharoh: Lol funny that some peeps were thinking that we are questioning the legality or right of a governor to sell a land that is under his domain. I am specifically saying that it is wrong to lease land to another state government as the law only allows you to lease or sell to individuals and organisations.

Lagos acquires Osun land for agriculture

APRIL 19, 2012 BY SESAN OLUFOWOBI

| credits:
Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola says his administration has purchased land in Osogbo, Osun State for agriculture in order to tackle the challenge of food shortage in the state.

The governor added that the state was making moves to acquire land in other states where it would commence the planting of cash and food crops such as pineapple and citrus.

Fashola, who was represented by the deputy governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, spoke at the inauguration of the state’s Farm Service Centre in Oko Oba, Agege, Lagos on Wednesday.

He said the country was facing a challenge of feeding its huge population.

He said, “Our food security is being threatened by rising food prices. Between 2007 and 2010, prices of major staples rose by over 50 per cent. Nigeria was listed by the World Bank as one of the countries with the highest domestic food price increase among 58 countries surveyed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation.”

The governor explained that the state had come up with an Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy to tackle the challenge of food shortage.

At the event, which was also used to mark the 2012 Farmers Appreciation Day, Fashola said his administration would ensure that by 2025, 30 per cent of the food needs of the state would be produced locally and by 2050, the state would produce 60 per cent of its needs.

“Lagos State under the present administration has done a lot to make the agenda possible. We have built a 20,000 metric tonnes per annum rice milling plant. A lot of work has also been done in the cassava sector of the transformation agenda. These will provide employment, promote rural development and reduce poverty,” Fashola said.

Earlier, Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Mr. Gbolahan Lawal, said the centre would expand the scope of government’s support to farmers in the state.

Chanchit: Please did anybody watched GEJ's acceptance speech in Liberia.

Our dear president wanted to thank the president of Liberia for the national honour being given to him, after talking as if he knows what he's saying, na so my president say "I want to use this opportunity to thank the lady of cameroun... Oh...! Sorry Liberia.." see national disgrace, I don't even know which one is better between him and his wife.

Standing5: Everyday, we see buses coming in from the east to Lagos and filled to the brim with human being while they return relatively empty. yet the percentage of Lagos state population isn't growing. We all know those behind it. Combine OP's piece with the Federal Character Principle and you have one of the world's biggest scam.

SUBSIDY ISSUES : The wastages that drain development
on JANUARY 23, 2012 · in POLITICS
5:03 am
6
BY CHARLES KUMOLU

CONCERNED about the high cost of governance and economic leakages in the system, the Federal Government in September 2010, set up an Expenditure Review Committee, ERC, headed by Professor Anya O. Anya. The committee described the size of the federal bureaucracy as unsustainable.

While it was expected that the government would address the issue to forestall further waste of funds, Nigeria still has over 40 ministers managing often competing bureaucracies. This report takes an in depth look at the various leakages and channels of waste in the system.

THE “war” triggered off by the removal of the alleged fuel subsidy may have been fought, won or lost but it has raised bitter concerns about how Nigeria’s commonwealth is managed at all levels of government.



From the federal ministers, who displayed how best to support a president in time of crisis, to the joint labour delegation whose doggedness kept the executive arm of government on its toes, and among the general public, the concern about the wastage in the system is near unanimous.

Indeed, most revelations that emanated from the recent subsidy impasse, have become a source of worry to most Nigerians who believe that the cost of governance has risen considerably at the expense of the welfare of the citizenry.

Examples of wastages range from the cost of sustaining constitutional system of government through the multiplication of bureaucracy and officials of government to the open stealing of government funds by those in government and their proxies.

Who needs bicameral legislature or a huge cabinet?

The Senate and the House of Representatives with a total of 469 members carry out almost the same functions with the notable exception of the approval of certain categories of executive appointments, which is the preserve of the Senate.

Leading the pack of those who cried out loud on the matter recently was the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

He queried the rationale behind the huge vote for recurrent expenditure in the 2012 budget, saying if he had a choice, he would recommend the sacking of 50 per cent of the civil service and a restructuring of the country.

There are also structural costs that may need a tinkering of the constitution to resolve. One of these is the constitutional requirement that each state of the country should have a minister. It is not as if any of the presidents since President Olusegun Obasanjo had shown any concern in this perspective as none ever maintained less than 40 ministers at any time.

The National Assembly has also helped to sustain the unwieldiness by proliferating the number of committees leading to increased expenses.

The Senate has more than 54 standing committees a situation that every Senator is either a vice-chairman or a chairman. It is a survivalist measure for the Senate president and speaker who use committee positions to buy loyalty of legislators, but all at the public expense.

The House of Representatives on its part has more than 70 standing committees. The United States Senate has 16 standing committees compared to Nigeria’s 54. It would be recalled that the Theophilus Danjuma-led Presidential Advisory Committee, PAC, had in January 2011, expressed concern over the increasing cost of governance and advised President Jonathan to reduce the number of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

PAC, in some of its recommendations, insisted that the government should begin the process of merging and reducing the federal ministries and other government agencies to help cut down on government’s unnecessary spending. The PAC also recommended a rationalisation of all non ministerial agencies to eliminate overlap, duplication and redundancies. The Nigeria Labour Congress has also made a similar call.

Reduce number of ministers

Nonetheless, these unheeded suggestions were also supported by a report which maintained that, the emoluments (salaries, allowances, perks, etc) of 17,474 public office holders and the judiciary at all tiers of government amount to about N1.2 trillion per year, gulping about 60 to 70% of the federal budget in a country of 140 million people.

Besides that is the uproar associated with many provisions of the 2012 budget, which have generally been termed as wasteful, bloated and unrelated to the felt needs of the majority of Nigerians.

An extract of the presidency’s budget would seem to indicate that the focus of the authorities could well be out of tune with the sufferings of the common man.

The presidency proposed N230.133million on the acquisition, upgrading and furnishing of the VP’s official guest house.

Over N1.06billion, comprising N500million for the construction and furnishing of the extension of the same VP’s lounge, and another N560million for the construction of official quarters for the VP’s director of protocol (DOP), aide de camp (ADC) and security chief, was provided for in the 2011 budget for the same Aguda house.

Another sum of N116.733million has been provided in the 2012 budget for installation of universal power system (UPS) facilities at the VP’s residence, while about N108million has been budgeted for the provision of communication equipment at the VP’s guest house along with the presidential villa, Dodan Barracks and State House, Marina.

Salaries and emoluments of lawmakers: Another source of worry is the jumbo salary and allowances of federal, state and local government legislators. Ever since the current CBN governors revealed that Nigerian lawmakers gulp 25% of the national budget, controversy has continued to trail the structuring of salaries of political, public and judicial officeholders by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). Each senator reportedly earns N15.18m in salaries and allowances monthly, just as each member of the House of Representatives takes home N10.59m a month. Annually a Senator takes about N198.54 , while a House member earns about N127.18m.

Further checks revealed that , it will cost the country at least three hundred and thirty eight billion, six hundred and forty five million eight hundred and forty five thousand, five hundred and ten naira N338,645,845,510bn in taxpayers’ money to keep the 469 members of the Senate and House Representatives.

Comparatively, a lawmaker in the United Kingdom earns $8,686(N1.3m) monthly while his counterpart in Sweden earns $7,707 (N1.2m) monthly. In addition, with a total annual package amounting to over N500 million ($3.23 million), the office of the Senate president gets 10 times more money than the $400,000 (N62million) US president Barack Obama earns as annual salary.

Security votes

Section 14(b) of the 1999 Constitution states that: “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” Although this vested the security of lives and properties in the hands of government, it did not state that there shall be a pool of funds called “security vote.”Every year, billions of naira are squandered under the guise of security votes in Nigeria. The funds earmarked to provide security for the president, governors and their domains, end up being transferred into personal bank accounts. With security challenges such as armed robbery, kidnapping and bombing campaigns on the increase across the country, many Nigerians wonder what the security vote is being used for.

The governor of Imo State, Mr. Rochas Okorocha, disclosed after he came into office that his predecessor, Mr. Ikedi Ohakim, received a whopping N6.5 billion annually as security vote.

During the four years that he was governor, Ohakim could then have collected N26 billion as security vote if Okorocha is to be believed. But the security challenges in Imo State only grew worse during Ohakim’s stewardship.

Presidential aircraft and cost of maintenance: To a lot of Nigerians, the size of jets in the country’s presidential fleet amounts to waste, considering what it costs to maintain the fleet.

In the proposed 2012 budget, the presidency reportedly budgeted N18 billion for its presidential fleet. It was gathered that Nigeria has no fewer that ten aircraft in the presidential air fleet. Only Russia and Mexico are known to have higher number of aircraft in a presidential air fleet while several other countries maintain none.

Following, the whopping amount dedicated for the maintenance of the presidential fleet, analysts have argued that the amount is only N1 billion higher than what could provide decent accommodation for the 17 million Nigerians estimated by UN Habitat to be homeless. In contrast, the Egyptian government operates an Airbus A340 200 (Registered SU GGG) as a VIP transport.

Similarly, the Pope flies on a chartered Alitalia fixed wing aircraft when travelling to or from more distant destinations. The tradition is for the Pope to fly to the country he is visiting on a chartered Alitalia jet and to return on a jet belonging to a flag carrier from the visited nation. The Queen of England flies on commercial aircraft.

N280m for two presidential bullet proof cars: Under the “replacement of aged vehicles of the presidential ground fleet (PGF)”, in the 2012 budget proposal, N280 million is set aside for two bullet proof vehicles for the President and the Vice President.

The 2012 budget also proposes for the “procurement of two treated (bullet proof) Mercedes Benz saloon 600 E Guard for use by the President and Vice President at N140,000,000 each”.

Next year, the Presidency plans to spend N356,724,300 to replace aged vehicles belonging to the presidential ground fleet. Besides, there are plans to acquire “five Mercedes benz saloon 350 (semi plain/partial bullet proof) at N25,000,000 each, 10 jeeps (assorted Range Rover, Prado and Land Cruiser) at N10,000,000 each and procurement of accessories and maintenance equipment for guard vehicles at N25,000,000.”

Multiple ministers/Special advisers

Whereas the 1999 constitution mandated the President to appoint at least one minister from each state of the federation including the FCT, currently, there are about 42 ministers. This does not include agencies, embassies, commissions and parastatals. In a lecture titled “Perspectives on the cost of governance in a democracy”,Mallam Nasir El Rufai lamented that, up until December 2006, there were 31 cabinet level Ministries including the FCT Administration and about 42 Ministers.

According to him “The reforms of 2006 led to the merger of the ministries of petroleum and power into a single Energy Ministry, water resources and agriculture into a single agriculture ministry, commerce with industry, the addition to Steel Development to the mandate of the Solid Minerals ministry, the abolition of the ministries of police affairs, communication, and Cooperation and integration into larger ministries, works into transportation.”

He noted that the reforms reduced the number of cabinet level MDAs to 21 but without a significant reduction in the number of ministers but that the Yar‘Adua and Jonathan administrations reversed these reforms leading to the increase in the ministries to 30 and accommodating between 42 and 48 ministers. Also, the present administration has also been criticized for accommodating a record number of Special Advisers who by some estimates are now more than 16. Special Advisers are almost of cabinet rank. El Rufai is not alone in this claim of government profligacy, as many believe that a larger part of the country’s income goes to political office holders.



Over 400 parastatals



The federal government, apart from its 42 ministries, reportedly runs about 400 parastatals. The ministries with the highest numbers are Health, 77; Science and Technology, 40; Education, 41; Agriculture, 44; Power and Steel, 27 agencies. Most of the parastatals, investigations revealed, are unable to provide prompt and efficient services, for which they were established. This has led to the erosion of public confidence in the ability and sincerity of public administrators who manage them.

Granting of special waivers: The waiver granting policy of the government has been identified as another source of wastage in governance. And it has started generating concern from various quarters. For example, the House of Representatives not long ago, described the policy as a conduit pipe draining the nation’s economy.

Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, weeks after assuming office, criticised the government over the waiver policy. He particularly expressed worry over alleged indiscriminate waivers granted to companies offering diverse services, describing this as inimical to the growth of the nation’s economy.

In a bid to check the alleged arbitrary waiver granting policy, the House reportedly mandated its Joint Committees on Finance and Customs and Excise to investigate over N276.9 billion in waivers and exemptions granted by the government.

taharqa: You are slimming fellow( sori propagandists) as usual, and not very good at it...GEJ met a Recurrent budget that hv bn increasing from a little more than 60% to 77.1% when he became president, that yearly increase has not only been stoppd but has bn decreasing yearly to a proposed 68.7% in d new budget(almost 2% below the rate many experts thought dis govt cud reduce it to ie 70%). The yearly increase in d Overhead( a measure of d cost of governance) has also not only been halted but has bn cut by half from about from about #526billion in 2010 when he came in to about #230billion today; just as the deficit as a % of GDP has also decreasd from around 3.35% when he came to 2.85% dis yr and 2.17% proposd nx yr. Shld he do more? Absolutely- and the president has already put in d plannd MTFD(2013-2015) already wit d National assembly plans to even carry on d reductn momentum by implementing d Oronsaye's report that proposd drastic cuts in govt agencies- but to say in public wit a straight face dat ' he did absolutely nothing', simply defines you and yr real intents... I pray dat very soon, inspite of yrself, you leave this Guerilla Style('Hit-and-run') propagandist tactics of yrs and Debate yr point. I DARE YOU TO DO SO

Jonathan: The Waste Continues
Posted: March 6, 2012 - 16:03


GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCFR
President Goodluck Jonathan in June 2011 sought and obtained the approval of the Senate to appoint 20 advisers to assist him in running his government. However, the President has, in apparent breach of the number of aides approved for him, gone ahead to appoint at least 24 advisers as at the last count. Beyond exceeding the number, the designations of the appointees also raise serious questions as to the necessity of the appointments. Let’s consider a few.

Dr. Tunji Olagunju, Special Adviser to the President on NEPAD and Dr. Pius Olakunle Osunyikanmi, Special Adviser to the President on International Relations. Apparently, these two offices could have been handled by a single person. Besides, why do we have to appoint a special adviser to the President on these when there is a Ministry of Foreign Affairs with more than one minister, permanent secretary, directors and possibly a department in charge of NEPAD?

Mr. Oronto Douglas, Special Adviser to the President on Research and Strategy. Sentiments aside, what exactly is the role of this office and couldn’t it have been carried out by a permanent employee in the Presidency?

Prof. Abubakar Sambo, Special Adviser to the President on Energy. Really? What distinctive ‘special advice’ is the President expecting from the incumbent here that the ministers for petroleum, energy and power cannot give?

Mrs. Sarah Akuben Pane, Special Adviser to the President on Social Development. One is too stumped to even comment on this. Mrs. Sarah Jibril, Special Adviser to the President on Ethics and Values. What a joke! Who even monitors what, if any, work some of these appointees have been carrying out?

Kingsley Kuku, Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs. What would the minister and the minister of state for the Niger Delta ministry be doing and what about the head of the Niger Delta Development Commission?

Prof. Dan Adebiyi, Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties and Senator Isaiah Ballat, Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties (Office of the Vice-President). Could someone please unpack this designation for us? Same request suffices for Nze Sullivan Akachukwu Nwakpo, Special Adviser to the President on Technical Matters and for Mrs. Asma’u Abdulkadir, Special Adviser to the President on Gender Issues. What on earth amounts to ‘Technical Matters’?

And there are also Yakubu Abdullahi, Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters (Office of the Vice President); Mr. Bashir Sufyan, Special Adviser to the President on Legal Matters (Office of the Vice-President).

Professor Nwanze Okidegbe, Economic Adviser to the President. What economic advice would this officer give the President that the National Economic Management Team members including the Minister of Finance and the Minister of National Planning cannot?

Senator Ben Obi, Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs. There is absolutely no reason to appoint a special adviser for just this function, when there is Ahmed Gulak, Political Adviser to the President just as the designation of Dr Mariam Ali, Special Adviser to the President on Inter-governmental Affairs.

Perhaps the most curious is the Special Adviser (New Media), Reno Omokri. In clear terms, he is special adviser on Twitter and Facebook matters! This is aside the fact that there is a Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity. Strangely, the ‘Twitter and Facebook Special Adviser’ is not attached to the office of the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity but to the Special Adviser, Research and Strategy.

By the way, these special advisers would ordinarily have their own personal assistants and their personal assistants will have their own P.A.s and so on and so forth.

Beyond these bizarre appointments also is the waste of money in servicing committees and task forces which are fast becoming mere “job for the boys”. The Jonathan government continues to diminish the place of the federal civil service and associated executive organs in the functioning of government but continues to mushroom a legion of committees, task forces and panels to assume sundry responsibilities at the centre. These mounting layers of bureaucracy and its cost implication are a major source of concern just as the non-implementation of committee reports submitted in recent times and it calls to question the commitment and sincerity of the “Jona-our-Son” government.

Take a look at some of the committees; Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) headed by Gen. T.Y. Danjuma Rtd., Presidential Committee on Expenditure Review headed by Prof. Anya O. Anya, Presidential Projects Assessment Committee headed by Alh. Ibrahim Bunu, Presidential Taskforce on Power headed by Prof. Barth Nnaji who doubles as the power minister, Presidential Committee on Security Challenges headed by Alh. Usman Galtimari, Presidential Committee for Review of reports on ethno-religious crises in Plateau State headed by Chief Solomon Lar, Presidential Committee on Post Election Violence headed by the former Grand Khadi of Niger State, Sheikh Ahmed Lemu.

Others are Presidential Committee on Review of Outstanding Constitutional Issues headed by Justice Alfa Belgore rtd, Presidential Committee on NDDC headed by Chief Isaac Jemide, Presidential Taskforce for Passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) headed by Senator Udo Udoma, Presidential Special Committee on the reorganization of the Police headed by Parry Osayande, Presidential Committee to negotiate with Labour on Fuel Subsidy headed by Justice Alfa Belgore rtd, again, Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force headed by Nuhu Ribadu, National Refineries Special Task Force headed by former Finance Minister Kalu Idika Kalu.

This has been the rash in recent months. Anytime an issue emerges, the President rather than rely on constitutional structures to achieve results will rush to mushroom committees and the reports of these committees have also been piling with the government showing no interest in implementing their recommendations. That the President has chosen to rely on extra constitutional bodies is an indication of lack of confidence in the civil servants yet no one in the civil service has had to pay for their inability to produce results if that is the reason the President does not have confidence in the civil servants. This leaves us with a reasonable suspicion that these committees are not set up to achieve anything after all; they are only conduits to siphon money into the pockets of those the administration wants to settle.

When the President arrived the African Union meeting in Addis Ababa last month with thirty aides and his wife with forty two aides and the media reported the news, his information managers cried wolf accusing the media of mischief. But our thinking has been that a few weeks after the President promised in a national broadcast to curb waste in government, sincere efforts where going to be put in to achieve that aim but from all indications, there is no sign that this President can prevent Nigeria from her procession to Golgotha.
God bless our country!

Agba Jalingo.

Journalist/Activist

HNosegbe: Men... "Shocking" doesn't even begin to describe this. I intend to carry out my own study, and if this turns out to be true....

The census figures are now six years old and I did shout myself hoarse at the time about what is a truly scandalous set of figures. I do not know how it is possible to have census figures that grow exactly the same over 15 years. How does Lagos for instance continue to maintain its share of the population when the place is a magnet for people migrating from other parts of the country? We can also conclude that, for the numbers to have been so shamelessly and crudely fudged in this manner, there must be a lot riding on them when it comes to the allocation of scarce resources.

I spoke to some people about this afterwards and they said it is very likely the overall figure of 140,431,790 for 2006 was a very good estimate of the real population of Nigeria given that the EU was heavily involved in the counting and collating process and there was a lot of international help given to Nigeria to conduct the census. But it does seem as if, as soon as the foreigners left, we simply went back to our old ways and allocated the numbers as we have always done.

How do you build a nation on a lie such as this? What exactly is true about Nigeria? Because people who will lie about census figures in this manner will probably lie about unemployment figures and budget spending.

dayokanu: Edo.girl,

May you live long

Gabbysky: ARRANT NONSENSE!!! Look at their NAMES sef --- Debo Adeniran; Adetokunbo Mumuni; Promise Adewusi; Jaye Gaskia; Yinka Odumakin; Tunde Bakare + the rest of them... Whenever you guys are done whinning, you can then go to Abuja to take over from her.

Safest means of purchasing urban land
TUESDAY, 09 OCTOBER 2012 00:00 BY ONYEKACHI UMAH FEATURES - LAW


IN the last edition I wrote on “Safest means of purchasing rural land” which dwelt on the purchase of land under customary law, which often occurs in our villages. I highlighted the legal requirements and steps to a successful land transaction under such law. Now is time for us to take a deep dive into land transaction under our statutory law. It is for land transactions in our towns and cities. I urge you to learn as much as you can and save yourself embarrassments.

Purchase/sell under statutory law

The most popular means of purchasing land in Nigeria is through her statutory laws. It is purchase according to the Acts and Laws invoke at a particular time in Nigeria. Statutory law in this context means Acts enacted by the National Assembly and Laws enacted by different State’s Houses of Assembly of Federal Republic of Nigeria. All purchase of land in Nigeria under statutory law must be in strict observance of the provisions of Constitution of Nigeria, Land Use Act 1978, Conveyancing Act 1881 (for lands located in the southern and northern parts of Nigeria only except Abia and Rivers States), the Property and Conveyancing Laws (lands located in former western Region of Nigeria, parts of Lagos inclusive), Registration of Titles law (for some part of Lagos State; (Lagos old colonies; Victoria Island, Jibowu, Ikoyi, Yaba and parts of Mushi) and Stamp Duties Act among others.

The above prevailing Acts have placed lots of restriction for transactions under the statutory law. The restrictions are mandatory.

Restrictions on transactions under statutory law

[size=14pt]Consent of the Governor of the State where the land is located is required before any alienation sale and transfer.[/size] The Governor of the State cannot grant consent to the sale of land to any person under the age of 21 years old.

A non-Nigerian cannot be granted a right of occupancy except with the approval of the National Council of States.

Land and property owned by government authorities, ministries and departments require the consent of the minister-in-charge as provided in their enabling legislation.

Certificates of occupancy often restrict the purpose and use of concerned land.

Environmental, town planning laws and regulations restrict the sale of land at certain areas due to planning and hygiene reasons.

Any sale or purchase of land done in flagrant disregard of the above restrictions is null and void (invalid).

A valid land transaction under the statutes has 3 stages/steps. None of the 3 steps can be avoided and one comes after another. Below is a step-by-step guide toward a valid purchase of land under the law.

pappy2000: Firstly,you and I know that the reason Ribadu was appointed was because of his stance against corruptio. I believe that you also know that if you are. In developed world when strong accusation of corruption is made against you the path of honour is to resign and face the charges,don't get me wrong nobody is saying she is guilty but the path of honour is for her to resign and clear her name.

bigtt76: Like seriously ....does anyone still read or listen to Presidential release condemning bomb blasts in the country anytime such happens? Its becoming monotonous and meaningless. You can even predict the message word for word. What me thinks now is that the President is or has been lying on oath he swore to during inauguration which states amongst other "....to preserve the lives and properties of the citizen" and as such NASS should do the needful

What's your take here guys?

stolen stone: if this is what it looks like froggie-bulgie-eyes should be on her way out of the office, but then again that could be anoda utopian dream of mine cos corruption and incompetence seems to be more celebrated in this country than heroism and gallantism.

lari03: To the best of my knowledge there is still no PIB (Correct me if am wrong)
So I believe anything they say about DAM must be a dressing of the rot, that exemplifies Nigerian Politics.

mbulela: The fact that you are baffled gives you away as slightly naive.
Where do you think GEJ's slush fund is coming from?
How do you think the election was funded?
As long as GEJ remains, that woman remains. By the way, there is nothing in that report that is news.
NNPC and the federal civil service are neck to neck in the epic corruption race.

omiobo: Indicted minister setting up committee to investigate report of Ribadu. We have all been taken for granted in this country. Well,I blame Ribadu for taken up the appointment because as a member of opposition party,the outcome of his report will always be faulted whether it is in favor or against of the minister of petroleum.

She is not just minister of petroleum; she is the chairman of the board of the NNPC, and the corporation is deep in corruption.”

Ribadu report: Sack, prosecute oil minister — Labour, SNG, others

OCTOBER 28, 2012 BY FIDELIS SORIWEI, ALLWELL OKPI AND LEKE BAIYEWU 31 COMMENTS


Labour groups and civil society organisations on Friday were up against the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, for her unwillingness to accept wholly the report submitted by the Mallam Nuhu Ribadu-led Task Force on Oil Revenue.

The minister had denigrated the report as just a “draft” which required inputs of government before becoming a public document.

Consequently, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Social-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and the United Action for Democracy called for her dismissal.

The Nigerian Labour Congress also said she must not be a judge in her own case, just as the Trade Union Congress led by Mr. Peter Esele, urged the Federal Government to prosecute those found culpable including the minister, if she was one of them.

The Federal Government had set up the panel early this year to recover oil revenues owed it by multi-national oil firms and to establish governance structures to guide operations in the oil sector, which had been crippled by corruption and brazen theft of public funds.

A report by Reuters, an online news portal, last Tuesday, had said a total of $183m (N28.73bn) in signature bonuses paid by oil companies to the federation was missing.

The report accused ministers of petroleum resources between 2008 and 2011 of handing out seven discretionary oil licences, while $183m in signature bonuses was missing from the deals.

The report further alleged that three of the oil licences were awarded since the current minister, Alison-Madueke, came into office in 2010.

It further revealed that three oil majors – Shell, Total and Eni – made bumper profits from cut-price gas, while oil ministers handed out licences at their own discretion.

While this was not illegal, the report, however, said the process did not follow best practice of using open bids.

The minister had acknowledged receiving the report in September.

Miffed by the minister’s action, the Executive Chairman, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, Mr. Debo Adeniran, on Friday called on her to voluntarily resign, or be sacked by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Adeniran said, “Given the position of Madueke in the sector, her inadequacies and her inability to give proper account of the amounts of oil explored, exported, imported and of monies spent and the revenue generated, there is a need for her to step aside to allow the investigation.

“The minister has proven herself to be incompetent by not being able to provide accurate data on activities in the sector during the post-subsidy removal crisis. The industry has recorded several irregularities under her.

“We have said Madueke does not have the moral standing to continue as the minister, she could not convincingly explain how about N1.7tn (subsidy) found its way out of the national coffers. We are awaiting her voluntary resignation or she should be sacked by the presidency.”

According to CACOL boss, the submission of the report through the ministry is an ambush, and a way of killing the report.

Similarly, the Executive Director, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Mr. Adetokunbo Mumuni, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the Federal Government’s attitude to the Ribadu report was condemnable and spoke volumes.

He said, “It is worrisome that the government sets up committees and commissions of enquiry, only to dump their reports after damning discoveries have been made. We hope the Ribadu committee report is considered and its recommendations implemented.

“Those who set up the committee should have the political will to flush out the minister in charge and other indicted persons or organisations.”

The Deputy President, NLC, Promise Adewusi, also said, “We have not had the privilege of reading the full report to establish the culpability of any person. But we have always been against persons being judges in their own cases.

“Since the excerpts of the report as published allege that some of the shady deals took place under her supervision, we insist that she is the wrong person to set up a committee to review the Ribadu report as this is tantamount to being a judge in her own case.

“We call on the presidency and the legislature to take immediate steps to establish the veracity of the report and bring all culpable parties to book.

“Such impunity against the national treasury is a draw back on efforts to check corruption, if not tackled immediately and with tenacity of purpose.”

[b]In the same vein, the Chairman of the United Action for Democracy, Mr. Jaye Gaskia, called for the immediate removal of the oil minister.

Gaskia said a government that was truly serious with the prosecution of the campaign against corruption would take the bold step to remove the minister of petroleum especially with the fraudulent management of the subsidy funds under the watch of the minister and the emerging revelations.

A total of 21 oil firms are being prosecuted for allegedly siphoning N328bn oil subsidy in 2011 under Allison-Madueke’s watch.

Gaskia said, “One of the things we have consistently done is the call for the sacking of the minister of petroleum, going by the discovery of the fuel subsidy fraud which happened under her watch.

“A regime that is serious with the fight against corruption would sack her immediately. My reasons are clear. She is not just minister of petroleum; she is the chairman of the board of the NNPC, and the corporation is deep in corruption.”
[/b]
Esele, however, said sacking of the minister would not be the solution. Rather, he said, she and others should be prosecuted, if found culpable.

He said, “If the minister is culpable, she should be prosecuted and the law should be allowed to take its course.

“Any company that is involved in the corrupt practices, whether directly or indirectly, should be duly sanctioned and the personnel involved prosecuted. That way, the institution would be strengthened.

“Right from when we started the strike in January, we have been more interested in strengthening the institutions and not necessarily sacking anybody. It would be unfortunate if these reports are swept under the carpet.”

The Save Nigeria Group was however of the opinion that nothing good would come out of the probe, just like previous probes in the country.

The Publicity Secretary, SNG, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, told one of our correspondents that, “Ribadu must be naive to think that this probe would achieve anything. Has he forgotten that he indicted many top politicians in 2007, when he was the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and they are still free men?”

The convener of the SNG, Tunde Bakare, also said the Ribadu report showed that “these are not the best of times for Nigeria.”

“The motto of Jonathan’s administration is ‘see nothing, hear nothing and say nothing’ regarding good governance and the aspirations of majority of Nigerians except those of the crew and the cheer.”

Reuters, citing the Ribadu report, had alleged that international oil traders sometimes buy crude without any formal contracts, adding that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had short-changed the Nigerian treasury of billions over the last 10 years by selling crude oil and gas to itself below market rates.

But Allison-Madueke had denied this to the news agency, saying, “NNPC buys at international rates.” She also denied awarding licences.

“I have not given any discretionary awards during this administration,” Alison-Madueke told Reuters.

While she said the President had the right to do so, instead of using bids if he saw it fit, she added, “That is entirely up to him.”

Also, while the report seen by Reuters was labelled ‘Final Report,’ Alison-Madueke had told the news agency she received the report last month but that it was a draft and the government was still supposed to make input.

“It is a draft. There will be some areas where the government may have a slightly different opinion and will put its point of view to the committee,” she said.

President Goodluck Jonathan had on February 7, 2012, inaugurated a 21-member task force to probe and collect revenues accruable to the country from both the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry in the wake of the oil subsidy removal crisis in January.

A statement announcing Ribadu’s appointment issued by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Goni Sheikh, had said the setting up of the task force was consistent with Jonathan’s promise to clean the oil industry of corruption in line with the yearnings of the people.

Demdem: Another good agricultural initiative from the State govt.

https://www.nairaland.com/1086037/lagos-partners-songhai-develop-agriculture

‘Government alone cannot develop agriculture’
Our Reporter October 8, 2012 2 Comments »



By IME OLA

Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal has assured farmers in the state of government’s support to increase their productivity.

In an interview with Daily Sun after a tour of some agric projects and farm estates in the state, the commissioner said government will continue to strengthen agricultural production to ensure food security. He also assured Lagosians that government will not allow them to face hunger now and in the future.

“We will continue to see that” food security is ensured and we will reduce malnutrition, he said.

Lawal urged young people to move closer to the agric sector to find a means of livelihood as government is already providing an enabling environment to stimulate the growth of the sector.

He also spoke of plans to create an agric park to boost food production in the state.



Agric estates

We have land constraints in Lagos. In the input policy of the ministry, we have land policy, which comprises land reforms, land tenure and land quality improvement policy.

In the land policy, we have already earmarked certain areas of the state for agricultural purposes. There are some areas for industrial and real estate purposes. The agrarian areas are in Lagos East and Lagos West and some parts of Lagos Central. Lagos East starts from Ibeju Lekki to Epe, Ikorodu and some parts of Kosofe. For Lagos East, we have farm settlements in Epe Araga farm settlement, Imota farm settlement, Ikorodu farm settlements. The idea is if we have farm settlements in a cluster, we are going to benefit a lot. We have extension services, financial services and value addition services concentrated in those areas. For instance at Araga, we have a feed mill for the poultry estate. In the fish estate at Odonguyan, we have smoking kilns for processing and a feed mill.

In Lagos West, which comprises, Badagry, Ojo, Amuwo Odofin, we have areas earmarked for agricultural purposes. We have vegetable farmers around Ojo-Iba axis. Over 100,000 families are coconut farmers in Badagry.

So it is very difficult for us to have farms in the cities.

What we are trying to promote is home stead farming. You can have a fishpond in a collapsible tank at the back of your house. We are also promoting African farmers kits to plant tomatoes and vegetables.

Government, is also providing technical services, that is why we have the feed mills and processing centres for farmers in the estates.

Rice factory at Imota

Lagos consumes over 500,000 tons of rice annually and Nigeria spends N1bn per day to import rice. Lagos has the capacity to produce rice because of the low land that we have. Rice can be grown in low and up land areas in the state. We started with 20 hectares of land. We are now on 360 hectares and the total production capacity is 600 tons, if we are looking at 2.2 tons per hectare of product yield.

In the Rice for Job programme for the rice farmers, after production, they take it to the rice mill at Imota which has 20,000 metric tons capacity annually. The mill is a South Korean model. We have started production and you know it is a gradual process. And as we are expanding our production line, we will also scale up our processing and jobs will also be created on production, processing, distribution, even to the market. So the entire value chain is involved.

The Federal Government plans to totally ban rice importation. Before now, we have made our own plans in Lagos State because we understand where we have competitive and comparative advantage. Aside from that, we are also talking to our neighbouring states for more rice farms; we produce the rice and move the paddy to our mills. We also have cottage mills for Ofada and the rest. Government has already spent a lot of money on this. If we want to talk about the cost, it is not just going to be the cost of the mill alone, you will also talk about the infrastructure, access roads, industrial borehole, power and other things. You have to add everything together to arrive at the total amount.

To encourage more farmers to plant rice, we are giving them incentives and support. All their produce, we buy back from them and add value to it, process bag and sell it in the open market. The rice value chain is also included in the commercial Agriculture Development Project (ADP) that Lagos State is collaborating with the World Bank.

World Bank will not come to Lagos to assist rice farmers if they know that we do not have the potential to grow rice. This N150m dollars project started in 2010 and five states are involved, Lagos, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano and Cross River.

FG’s Agric transformation agenda and Lagos State

The Federal Government has its agenda and in Lagos, we also have our agenda. Food security features prominently in the 10-point agenda of this administration. We already have our plans, we have the land, we have the people. And we are collaborating with the Federal Government to ensure food security in the country.

Be that as it may, we also have our own agric policy. And that is for us to produce 25 per cent of what we consume in Lagos and we feel we should be able to do that. Food security is important to us.

[b]We have over 300,000 farming families in Lagos. We still have people in the agrarian areas in Lagos. It is only through agriculture that a lot of jobs can be created. We started the Agriculture Youth Empowerment Programme (Agri-Yes) and the aim is to produce world-class agric entrepreneurs. We have engaged 400 youths so far, but the target is 1,000. We have the Israeli model as well as the Songhai model. Our consultants are the Songhai Regional Centre in Benin Republic and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. We want to catch up with other nations of the world who used agriculture to drive their economic growth. In those nations, agric is highly subsidized by government. We are also focusing on aquaculture and our target is to do 1 million metric tons of fish by 2015. At the moment, we are doing 125,000 metric tons and the consumption in Lagos is over 500,000 metric tons. Nigeria imports 780,000 metric tons of fish yearly, spending a lot of money to import fish, it is not sustainable. Any country that cannot produce its own food is in trouble. If there is any trade policy from the exporting country, the importing state will always suffer. Look at the case of rice, Indonesia at a time was not a rice producing nation,. But when it got to a stage, they banned the importation of rice and today Indonesia is one of the rice producing nations of the world.

Nigeria is the second largest net importer of rice from Thailand. It is not sustainable. Yes, we believe in collaborations, trade policies, but you must be able to do what you have the ecological support for.[/b] That is why in Lagos we focus on poultry, vegetable aquaculture. We also encourage people to bring their produce to Lagos to add value. We can add value to your citrus, process and market in Lagos. What we need do is fix the rail transportation and once we do that, you can bring in anything from any part of the country and you add value to it.

In Lagos, we are going to have an agric revolution. We have an agro-allied park at Imota. We are talking to some people to come and do dairy, fruit juice processing. So we already have a focus in Lagos and we are targeting food security, job creation and poverty alleviation. We can tackle these challenges through agriculture.

Farm estates for retirees

There is a misconception here. We should not make agric a retirement benefit. In developed countries they start very young to engage in agric business.

We have started executive programmes at our farm service centre in Oko-Oba, Agege, where we train people who want to go into agric ventures when they retire. We are collaborating with all the stakeholders and make no mistake agricultural development should not be left in the hands of the government alone.

We want to provide jobs and alleviate poverty, if we do not address agriculture properly, I don’t think we will get it right. We are not building farm estates for retirees. We are building capacity for all our farmers and supporting them to increase their productivity.

Just recently, we provided fishing inputs to fishermen at Orimedo. These are fishermen who are always in distress sales. We have provided five cooperatives made up of 400 fishing families with fishing boats, outboard engines, fishing nets to the tune of about N4 million. And how do they pay back? It is a support service. The idea is mainstreaming the FADAMA concept.

From Lagos East, we are moving to Lagos West. After the commissioning, we have received so many applications from over 500 cooperatives. This is what we are doing, we are touching the lives of our farmers directly. We did not force the inputs on them, we asked them to tell us their needs, what government could do to support them. The farmers are happy and the government is happy too. The whole idea is to reduce poverty and raise the living standards of our people.

Unsanitary conditions at the Lagos State Abattoir

We are already addressing that. I want us to go back to where we are coming from. At a time, we were using carts to move carcass from the abattoir to the market. Then you would see people carrying carcass on their heads. That has been phased out and we graduated to air-cooling system. Now we have refrigerated vans.

We still have challenges but we have asked the management to key into our new system to provide wholesome meat products to Lagosians.

We have our hygiene officers and veterinary doctors there. We are reconstructing the place. It has a mechanised system but our people have refused to change. On a daily basis, they slaughter about 2,000 cattle there, but since the management does not generate its own energy, that is a challenge.

We are working with private investors to convert the waste at the abattoir into biogas and then use it to power some of the equipment there. We know our challenges there and we are tackling them one by one.

Machinery, research and development

Mechanization is in our input policy. The tractor mechanisation unit is under the Director of Agricultural services. We have mechanical engineers and extension offers. Lagos is doing so much, we have procured a lot of tractors even hand tillers for our vegetable farmers. We have farm hands that are ready to support our farmers. During planting season, we deploy our tractors to the farms of cassava growers for their use at a subsidized rate. We do the same for our rice farmers. We have combined harvesters for them. We provide a whole lot of machinery to support them. Aside from cassava, rice and a bit of maize that we plant, we do not have much arable land that would require too many tractors.

More agric investors in Lagos

Government alone cannot develop agriculture that is why it is creating an enabling environment for investors. If we have investors that can come in for just processing of fish, a lot of jobs will be created. If we have investors to process tomatoes, you know how many jobs we would create. We have a Green House at Araga, the yields are bigger and much more than what you would have in the open field. It is a catalytic project, we have started in Lagos and we have 2,650 hectares of land.

Plane crash: Injured Gov Suntai transferred to National Hospital
Our Reporter October 27, 2012 9 Comments »



• No co-pilot with Suntai

By UCHE USIM

Taraba State Governor, Dambaba Suntai was the last person rescued from the crashed Cessna 208 aircraft he piloted. An official of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), who participated in the Search and Rescue operations, said the governor was stuck on the cockpit at the crash site and required extra carefulness to bring him out.

“Othersm who sat behind him, were immediately evacuated, making him the last person to be rescued. He was stuck on the cockpit,” he said. Meanwhile, fresh facts have emerged as to what might have caused the crash.

According to a top official of the aviation ministry, the governor and his entourage allegedly disobeyed the flight rule of Yola Airport, which, at the moment, operates a sunrise to sunset arrangement, as it does not have night operations facilities. Consequently, the airport closes at about 6pm, but the governor and his team radioed Air Traffic Control in Yola that they will be arriving by 6.45pm.

This made the ATCs to await their arrival. Five minutes to the expected time of arrival, the ATCs lost contact with the Cessna airplane. “The control tower people became worried and they alerted the Airport Fire department and immediately, a Search and Rescue operation was initiated using the coordinates of when he last contacted the tower. He established contacts with tower five minutes to landing and thereafter nothing was heard from him. Under normal operations, he was not supposed to come in at that time.

He ought to have come in before 6pm but he radioed that he will arrive by 6.45pm; so the tower was expecting him, but never got here. The airplane went down some minutes to 7pm. By right, the airplane ought to have been closed but they had to wait for them,” the source said. The source further said Suntai had no co-pilot on board and having lost contact with tower means he likely had a technical hitch, though he never at any time said he was in distress.

The source also said the airplane took off from an unmanned airstrip in Jalingo, as neither navigational equipment of NAMA nor its staff were present at the place. “So, it calls to question how he has been taking off from an unmanned airspace in Jalingo and landing in Yola. So, who has been clearing him for takeoff from an airstrip without air traffic services,” he queried. Officials of the Accident Investigations Bureau (AIB) have taken over the investigation and cordoned off the crash site.

A source in AIB told Saturday Sun that the bureau would reconstruct what might have probably happened and also study the black boxes. The Cessna 208 is a single turboprop engine, fixed-gear short-haul regional airliner and utility aircraft built in the United States by Cessna. The airplane typically seats nine passengers, with a single person crew, although with a FAR Part 23 waiver, it can seat up to fourteen passengers. The aircraft is also used for cargo feeder liner operations.

boles80sg: I will like u pple to check YES store that is not far from ministry of Finance at alausa where u can see those agriculture product produced by individual who r been located lands too in Lagos state farm settlement. And also come around doing december where u will see YES farmers selling their product inside the secretary.

LAGOS FLAG OFF AGRIC-YES COURSE IV

As part of its continued effort towards providing food security and job creation, Lagos state government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives flagged off the Course IV Trainees of the Agricultural Youth Based Empowerment Scheme AGRIC-YES.
Speaking at the ceremony, Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal said the conceptualization of Agirc-Yes is to create jobs, provide food security and eradicate poverty in Lagos state. He said the programme which started in October 2009 is initiated to make agriculture attractive and rewarding to the teeming youth population in the state.

He disclosed that the programme has concluded two cycles of training, internship and settlement with 100 youths each, adding that the first batch graduated in December 2010 and have been settled in Araga Farm Settlement fashioned after the Isreali type Kibbutz.
According to Lawal, participants of courses II and III of the programme have also graduate all hands are on deck to settle them soonest. He revealed that the products from the scheme which include over 1,500 crates of Eggs per day, 32,000 broilers per month, 18tonnes of fresh fish per cycle, 160 tonnes of cabbage, cucumber, water lemon and leafy vegetable per month are already being marketed in the state.


He however, implore the trainees to be of good conducts as they were lucky to chosen out of the over 2,500 that apply for the course. He added that the management will not condole any act of indiscipline at any point in time.
Lawal assured the trainees of provision of necessary materials that will make them comfortable and feel at home throughout their stay.
Earlier speaking at the occasion, Director Agric-Yes Mr. Oladeji Alao said the course curriculum has been designed to attune the trainees not only to the modern trends in their core technical areas but also in general management and leadership.
”Regularly, armed entrepreneurs and live coaches will be invited to inject into the trainees innovative tonic for success” Alao emphasized.

aribisala0: Those pictures have been displayed ON NAIRALAND before and there was a good debate.
I asked two questions for a simple test. I knew You would ignore the more important one and answer the obvious.
The issue is not for me,about Tinubu save that for your usual combatants. The issue for me is
"There is no credit in doing the wrong thing well"

should government be doing this and how efficient is it. I know for a fact of several government farms in Lagos that have been mismanaged with their produce stolen.There is one at Itamaga in Ikorodu it is NOW in private hands,why it failed under government.It was transferred in Fashola's watch. I don't blame him. It failed long ago but if he cannot revive that why should we believe going to other states will change the fundamental problem which is not an ACN or PDP issue. The Lagos state civil service are quite inefficient and corrupt and this is very much the case in the agricultural sector. I do not believe Lagos State can manage these ventures efficiently based on their track record. Lagos State whether ACN or PDP.

By the way my question was HOW MANY TONNES HAVE been milled to date. We know that those bags on display were milled from imported rice as part of a test run. Surely they would not not commission it without testing it??Those pictures were published on the day of commissioning.What has happened since. What is the average capacity utilization and does it make economic sense. These questions are normal analytic questions anyone would ask. Quite why they must be taken personally is a big mystery

Even a photo of ONE bag of rice from this mill would be nice

aribisala0: Unveiled yes. How many tonnes of rice have been milled as of today 26 October. that is the koko. It is not unveiling the bride that the granmother is after it is grandchildren

Even a photo of ONE bag of rice from this mill would be nice

Lagos Unveils Mega Rice Processing Factory

16 May 2012
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Governor Babatunde Fashola


By Gboyega Akinsanmi


Lagos State Government Tuesday inaugurated a rice processing factory, which it said had the capacity to produce 20,000 metric tonnes per annum (equivalent to either 350,000 or 400,000 bags)

.
Governor Babatunde Fashola unveiled the factory in Imota, Lagos along with the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Gbolahan Lawal, and Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr. Alhaji Bukar Tijani Borno.


Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the governor said the development was a wakeup call on hoodlums popularly referred “to as area boys to vacate the street and key in on the employment opportunities that the factory offers.”


According to him, the factory was situated on a 23,000-hectare industrial estate and had about 10,000-tonnes storage for rice paddy and 45,000-ton capacity storage for finished rice.


He added that time for miscreants to reign in Lagos “is over. The time for wealth without work is over we have provided the framework for you to get your hands busy, get off the streets and go to the farm.


“We will give you farm land. I will give you the support. If you put your mind to it, there is prosperity. Our land is too green for us to be hungry. Our youths must be ready to work in the farms that we are creating.”


The governor reiterated the state government’s commitment towards reinvigorating its agricultural sector, noting that it “is only through such that the nation can summon its economic challenges. We are beginning to see progress and a clear path towards establishing a sustainable agriculture.”


According to Fashola, there was need for government at all levels to begin to consider investment through development of infrastructure, input, budgetary allocation and funding for farmers.


He said the establishment of the rice mill was a journey that started four years ago when it was discovered that the state was cultivating only 30 hectares of farm land per annum, saying it was double to 250 hectares within two years while it has a set target to increase production to 500 hectares.


He urged the Federal Government to release land in Ogun River Basin to enable it increase its production and meet the facility processing capacity while directing the state ministry of works and Infrastructure, energy and commerce and industry to ensure the development of good road network, constant power supply and improve infrastructure within the industrial estate.


Speaking at the forum, Tijani commended the state government for the development of the infrastructure which he described as government’s response in meeting the aspirations of the electorate.


He said governance “is all about responding to those who elected you. The development was in line with President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda of food security through improve agriculture in the country.


“We have to start to produce more rice, we cannot continue to depend on rice importation from countries such as Thailand and Indian, but we have to start now to produce what we can eat.


“Lagos was among the few states in Nigeria that is championing this course while assuring of the support of the Federal government to improve commercial agriculture. We will do more in Lagos when it comes to commercial activity to make food sufficient and improve our value chain.”


Earlier, Lawal said the factory built with Korean Technology to the highest technological and operational standards can process rice which would compare with the best quality rice from any part of the world.


He added that the facility, if operated optimally could produce between 350,000 and 400,000 bags of rice per year.


He said the target of the state was to increase local rice production and enhance food security, saying the country presently depends largely on Thailand and Pakistan for rice which according to him, increases the food security risk level.

S/West unfolds plan to boost food production
on AUGUST 25, 2012 · in NEWS
11:12 pm
0
By Alaine Elizabeth & Hamzat Ouwasayo
As part of the search for a critical solution to the challenge of food and livelihood, the six states of the South-west are bringing farmers and operators in the agro-allied industry together for a food security exhibition/fair.

The present administrations in the South-west states, according to the managing director of Chubbies and Fields, Dr. Akin Ajiboye, whose organisation and Oodua Chambers of Commerce are partnering with the state governments on the initiative, have moved to consolidate their gains in agriculture.

“The exhibition will enable the governments achieve their objectives in mass food production, food security and to efficiently harness the agricultural resources of the South-west states and to contribute significantly to their GDP”, Ajibola, flanked by Mrs. Jumoke Adeyemi, the Director of Finance, Chubbies and Fields, and Mr. Victor Fatula, said at a press briefing in Lagos.

Ekiti State will host the maiden edition of the food security exhibition/fair in Ado Ekiti Trade Fair Complex between September 10 and 14. Ajiboye explained: “Chubbies and Fields will be working with Ekiti State Government to host the 2012 Farmers and Food Security Fair to commemorate our bid to reclaim food and sustainable development in the South-west states”.

He listed the thematic focus of the exhibition/fair to include agricultural input subsidy program, supply of farm implements to farmers and mass training on best farming practices.

The managing director added that participants at the event will be drawn from all the local government councils in the South-west while awards will be given to distinguished farmers.

Odunnu: If Reno tweeted that, he was mislead by the ever lying, cheap attention seeking Sahara Reporters.