Category: Niger Delta

Bassey Anthony, Uyo

Youths in Akwa Ibom State are to sharpen their skills in modern agricultural techniques, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has said.

The agency spoke at the launch of an intensive training programme for 100 youths on various aspects of agriculture.

The training, done under the Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Scheme (SADTS) of the NDE is to equip the participants with the right skills and techniques.

Addressing the participants in Uyo, the Director-General of NDE, Nadir Ladan Moh’d Argungu, said the training programme covers areas such as crop production and processing, livestock farming others.

Argungu, who was represented by the NDE state coordinator, Mr. Promise. B. Ekah, said  the participants would  undergo  a one month theoretical class on modern techniques of agriculture and two months industrial attachment in reputable farms across the state.

He noted that the drop in crude oil prices and its adverse effects on the economy has proven that Nigeria can no longer depend on earnings from oil.

Read Also: Conducting election under charged atmosphere

The directly-general restated the President Muhammadu Buhari administration commitment to tackling youth/graduate unemployment, hunger and poverty through huge investments in agriculture.

”In a bid to awaken the interest of the unemployed youths in agriculture to exploit the tremendous opportunities for employment and wealth creation in the sector and consequently stem the rural-urban drift of the youths, the NDE designed a special training programme for youths in agriculture”, he said.

Argungu enjoined beneficiaries to take the training seriously as well as avail themselves of the opportunity to be free from unemployment and lack.

Speaking also, a Director in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Uyiobong Uko, maintained that agriculture was the solution to the country’s economic challenges.

He urged participants to take to agriculture as it is profitable, adding “dependence on crude oil revenue was no longer in vogue.”

Bassey Anthony, Uyo

YOUTHS in Akwa Ibom State are to sharpen their skills in modern agricultural techniques, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has said.

The agency spoke at the launch of an intensive training programme for 100 youths on various aspects of agriculture.

The training, under the Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Scheme (SADTS) of the NDE, is to equip the participants with the right skills and techniques.

Addressing participants in Uyo, the Director-General of NDE, Nadir Ladan Moh’d Argungu said the training programme covers areas such as crop production and processing, livestock farming others.

Argungu, who was represented by the NDE state coordinator, Mr. Promise. B. Ekah, disclosed that the participants will undergo one-month theoretical class on modern techniques of agriculture and two months industrial attachment in reputable farms across the state.

He noted that the drop in crude oil prices and its adverse effects on the economy has proven that Nigeria can no longer depend on earnings from oil.

READ ALSO: Akwa Ibom govt urges residents of erosion-ravaged areas to relocate

The directly-general restated the President Muhammadu Buhari administration commitment to tackling youth/graduate unemployment, hunger and poverty through huge investments in agriculture.

”In a bid to awaken the interest of the unemployed youths in agriculture to exploit the tremendous opportunities for employment and wealth creation in the sector and consequently stem the rural-urban drift of the youths, the NDE designed a special training programme for youths in agriculture”, he said.

Argungu enjoined beneficiaries to take the training seriously as well as avail themselves of the opportunity to be free from unemployment and lack.

Speaking also, a director in the federal ministry of agriculture, Dr. Uyiobong Uko maintained that agriculture was the solution to the country’s economic challenges.

He urged participants to take to agriculture as it is profitable, adding that dependence on crude oil revenue was no longer in vogue.

Ifreke Aniefiok Jeremiah, who spoke on behalf of other beneficiaries, thanked the NDE for the programme and promised to ensure that the knowledge and skills garnered from the training would be put to judicious use.

Vincent Nzemeke

There was no tweet to announce my mother’s passing. Like Chadwick Boseman, the hero of the Black Panther movie, Roseline Adaubulu Nzemeke fought valiantly against cancer as it ravaged her lungs, dulled her beauty, and incapacitated her limbs until she died on August 18, 2020, at a hospital in Lagos, Nigeria.

The tweet announcing Boseman’s passing after a similar battle against Cancer garnered millions of likes and re-tweets. But my mother’s death was confirmed with an early morning text from my brother Gerald, who was at her side and watched helplessly as life eased out of her. There were no likes or re-tweets for a text that broke every heart in my family.

My mother was not a movie star. She didn’t have a Twitter profile and she had just a handful of friends – mostly church members on her rarely used Facebook page. But she was a hero in many ways. Everyone called her Mama Care because she truly loved and cared for the people in her life. She was a devout Christian, loyal wife, sweet mother, and a doting grandmother.

She carried herself with dignity without being haughty and had a permanent smile that bellied all the pains she felt even when her condition worsened. She was also faithful to her friends and kind to
strangers.

Boseman was the strong and resilient king of Wakanda in a movie. My mother was all that and more in real life for the 61 years she lived. The faith and fortitude she displayed as she confronted all of life’s adversity was unrivaled. She was an affectionate disciplinarian and a strong hand that guided rather than scold.

As a young boy, I didn’t like the sound of Ikechukwu as my middle name. I preferred Emmanuel because it was fancy and had just 8 letters. But my mother insisted that I learn to spell it because it was the second name on my birth certificate. We went back and forth for about a week until one day when she insisted that I spell it out loud before I ate lunch. After three futile attempts, my mother came to my rescue just so I could join my siblings who were already eating.

She suggested that I break it down into three syllables. Ike-chu-kwu. I did and never forget how to spell my name again. Such was the dedication of my mother. She was our first teacher. She made all her children do tasks that were not always fun but important. Rooms had to be swept and tidied because a dirty house reflects on your character as a human being. Bedsheets and curtains had to be washed because cleanliness is next to godliness. Cobwebs in room corners had to be removed with a broom and dusty tables and electronic devices had to be wiped daily because you should not inhale dust in your own house. My brothers and I can cook because my mother taught us that no man is too important to cook his own food when she made us help her in the kitchen.

Boseman battled cancer and was still able to make movies because he lived in the United States. My mother didn’t have that luxury. Perhaps, if she lived in a country that was not as badly governed as Nigeria, she may have survived. But Nigeria is a monster that feeds on the blood of her own children. The doctors in Nigeria’s private and government-funded hospitals treated everything but cancer. We paid for myriads of tests and x-rays but none of them could detect the very thing that ailed my mother. One time at a renowned government-owned hospital in Lagos, the doctors sucked buckets of mucus mixed with blood from her lungs for about a week after making us pay for beds, gloves, surgical masks and a fan for the ward where she was being
treated. The test that eventually confirmed her to the status of a cancer patient was done in South Africa and it took three weeks to get the results.

When the chemotherapy process was explained to her, my mother took the news with aplomb like she did everything else. Her body was frail, but her spirit blossomed with contagious optimism. Every time we spoke on the phone, her resolve to live and fight for another day was never in doubt. But Cancer takes no prisoners and two chemo sessions couldn’t save my mother from its lethal claws.

To lose a mother is a painful experience, but to lose her at a time when international travel is a nightmare doubles the grief. I and my brother Victor who lives in Canada watched our mother’s funeral on video calls because Nigerian authorities have set a litany of harebrained conditions that must be met by visitors from other countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our eyes puffed with tears as the church sang and offered prayers at her grave. I prayed for her too. The greatest consolation in this period of pain is the knowledge that my mother lived a good life. The families and friends who travelled from near and far to attend the funeral attest to that. She was a darling to many people and now she has gone where angels go. Rest in peace Mommy!

Vincent Nzemeke, Houston Texas.