The Nation Newspaper

Tag: biggest

  • 2018 Carnival Calabar would be biggest so far, says Ita-Giwa

    The Leader of the Seagull Band, one of the five competing bands in the world famous Carnival Calabar, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, says this year’s edition of the carnival would so far be the biggest and most relevant to the society.

    Ita-Giwa in a chat with The Nation in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, said this would be due to the theme of this year’s edition, which is “Africanism.”

    The former Presidential Adviser said they were working tirelessly to interpret the theme of the Carnival, which would hold on December 28.

    Her words, “This year’s carnival is going to be the biggest carnival so far because of the theme Africanism. It is such a huge theme and it is a theme that is very important for Africans to raise our consciousness about who we are. The story we are going to tell is a story of Africa. Where we were the before the white came and led us into believing that we were not good enough and thereby moved us to thinking that whatever is good is white.

    “The important thing is how the Carnival has grown from little to where we are today. The world knows about the Carnival and the entire Nigeria and the world are planning to come down here to come and see the Carnival. This is the going to be biggest and most colourful and most factual carnival because we are telling the story as it is. It would be the most relevant to what is happening today in Africa.”

  • My biggest error

    My biggest error

    THE Baale of Osokoro community in Lagos State, Chief Olusegun Oyiri (61), has denied the allegation that he ordered members of his community to torture, kill and bury a Police Inspector, Sunday Musa, who was found dead in the community. The deceased policeman was said to have responded to a distress call in a land dispute between two families alongside his other colleagues when he was allegedly killed by a mob in the community, after which they buried him in a hidden location. The suspects were said to have told the police that the late Musa was first taken to Chief Oyiri’s palace who gave them the order to kill and bury him.

    But Chief Oyiri has denied the allegation, saying that his biggest mistake was that he did not report the incident to the police when it occurred. In an interview with our correspondent yesterday, the community leader, who is now cooling his heels in the cell of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Lagos State Police Command, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, who said he was crowned as the Baale of Osokoro about 31 years ago, said: “On 29th November, 2016, there was a quarrel between Omodemaja family and Ogunbekun family over land and chieftaincy dispute matters, which has lasted up to 10 years.

    “One traditional ruler called some soldiers from Bonny Camp who with some members of Odua People’s Congress (OPC) went to Abule Lekki to attack members of the Omodemaja family. They took some members of Omodemaja family to the army barracks. Later, the mothers of the boys that were arrested and taken to army barracks went to a retired Justice’s office and reported the matter. The judge then went to Bonny Camp to bail them.

    •The late Inspector Musa

    “In the evening of the same day, the Omodemaja family went to Osokoro village and fought them. Later, they said they had killed one policeman who turned out to be Inspector Sunday Musa.

    “I was arrested because I am the Baale of Osokoro community where the fight occurred. After the fight, the Onilekki called me for a meeting. He brought out a list of five alleged suspects from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) office. I summoned the five persons and took them to the Onilekki, who asked them where they kept Inspector Musa’s AK47 rifle, and they brought it. I was not the one who ordered the killing of Inspector Musa.

    “Our village is large. I was at home in my palace when it happened. I did not ask anybody to take an oath. I could not go near to assist Inspector Musa when they were killing him because his killers were many and were shooting guns.”

    Asked why he could not use his royal position as the Baale of Osokoro community to control his people and stop them from killing Inspector Musa, he said: “The land matter was happening at Lekki. It was the members of OPC working in Lekki that caused the trouble. They were working for the Onilekki Boys.

    I was the one that showed the Onilekki where Inspector Musa’s corpse was buried. When they killed Musa, the youth chairman came and narrated everything. The police released the list of the six persons who allegedly killed Inspector Musa. They are Ileasu Tekelu, Jimoh Olorioko, Soku Balogun Isiaka and three others. I do not remember all the six names now. I did not take any oath with the youth.

    “I have never killed or conspired with anybody to kill any human being. I have no police record. Go to Akodo Police Station and check whether you will see my name as suspect or complainant. I have never entered the police station since I was born. I don’t know anything about the killing of Inspector Musa. I did not send anybody to kill him.”

    Asked why one of the suspects who allegedly killed Musa could have said that he (Baale Oyiri) was the one who sent them to kill the late Inspector, he said whoever said so must have been out of his mind, stressing: “How can I send somebody to go and kill a police Inspector? I did not send anyone to kill him.

    “I am a chief in Osokoro. I was arrested because the incident happened in my domain and I did not report the incident to the police. This is the biggest mistake I made. I did not report the incident to the police immediately. I thought I had done enough reporting the matter to Kabiyesi.

    “It is not true that we celebrated the murder of Inspector Musa in an Oro festival night. Nobody celebrated Musa’s death.”

  • Hope rises in local fabrication as firm builds biggest dredger

    Hope rises in local fabrication as firm builds biggest dredger

    Nigeria is a country to beat when it comes to fabrication if the government takes the issue of local content law seriously.”

    This was the view of stakeholders at the public inspection of the on-going construction of the biggest locally made dredging machine in Nigeria. They called on the Federal Government to take sincere measures to grow local industries.

    The stakeholders said facilitating effective implementation of the provision of Local Content Law of 2010 would fast-track the desired economic growth. They noted that economies of developed countries of the world today, are driven by small and medium scale industrialists and organisations, and noted that if the content laws are fully implemented, the country’s economy will be better off.

    The cutter suction dredger machine is being built by Nwakama Dredge Nigeria Limited in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital. Participants on the inspection tour expressed satisfaction in Nigerian manufacturing industries especially fabrication and dredging sector.

    •Another side of the dredger being built
    •Another side of the dredger being built

    They described local industries as main drivers of the economy and said that the provision of local content Act is key to achieving the successful diversification of the economy for economic growth; they called on the National Assembly and Federal Government to enforce the Act.

    Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange, who represented Bayelsa east senatorial district, was among those that inspected the dredger being constructed by Nwakama Dredge Nigeria limited in Port Harcourt.

    Amange said major construction work can hardly take place in the Niger Delta region without sand being dredged from areas for the projects. He also said in the region land sometimes are reclaimed for community settlement so dredger is a significant tool for development in the region.

    He called on Niger Delta governors to take advantage of the opportunity the local manufacturer has created to develop their states, and stop embarking on capital freight which according to him is injurious to the economy.

    The former Law maker appealed to the federal government to strengthen policies and legislations that would support growth of fabrication of dredgers locally in the country. Amange who expressed surprise that this dredger could be fabricated locally said the government should grow this sector of the economy.

    Managing Director , Nwakama Dredge Nigeria limited, Elderd Onwuzuruigbo said the features of the first locally fabricated 18×16 cutter dredger his firm was constructing among other things include spud pillared, crew kitchen, inbuilt capacity to hold 33,000 litres of diesel and is equipped with 22 meter ladder would be operated manually.

    Onwuzuruigbo appealed to the federal government to fast track effort to make the Ajaokuta steel begin full scale production to discourage importation of steel by local fabrication companies in the country.

    The MD said inspection of the dredger while under construction became necessary to avoid any doubt after completion that it was constructed by Nwakama dredging company.

    Taagbo Monday who spoke for Rivers state chapter of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), expressed surprise that an indigenous firm could fabricate such dredger. He called on local manufactures to identify with SMEDAN, saying that the agency was established for their benefits and growth.

    “The need for effective policy framework to encourage local manufacturers of dredgers by way of patronage and loan facilities and also stop further importation of foreign made dredgers into the country cannot be over-emphasized by what we have seen here today.

    “Local manufacturers can compete favourably with foreign their foreign counterparts, there are so much our manufacturers can offer, the government should muster the political will to enforce the content law if the country must move forward.” He stated.

    Also in their separate remarks, the State Chairman of Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), Dr. E. Oko-Jaja and the National spokesman of Dredger Manufacturers Association of Nigeria(DMAN), Ufoma Tom-Smith corroborated Amangi, and said content law  could have been enforced over 35 years ago, stressing that further delays would inflict more torture on the economy.

    According to Oko-Jaja, “The direction we are going now as a Nation is what we have been asked to do 35 years ago and the country refused to comply with it because oil was booming, the direction we are going now is going to open every sector of the economy to take its proper place particularly the local content issue.” Oko-jaja said.

    Tom-Smith expressed satisfaction on the product and stressed that there is no more need for Nigerians to continue to import dredgers from outside.

    He said Nwakama Dredge deserves governments’ encouragement in the areas of loan facility and electricity. He noted that the brand has the four major components of a durable dredger-the Pump, Engine, Hydraulic system and electrical systems used in manufacturing the product gives it an advantage over the imported ones.

    He noted that dredging industry was also helping to reduce the challenges of unemployment in the country.

    “What we are looking for overseas is already here. The engine he iis using can run for twenty four hours , there is the advantage of availability of spare parts locally.

    “Nigerian content board has failed the dredging sector.  What are the policy they have in place to protect local dredging fabrication centres. There is no where you will do a job in the Niger delta that dredgers will not be needed.

    “The local content board is not helping the dredging industry because we don’t feel its existence.  We don’t see them in our operations. I am a representative of a dredging manufacturing company in China. The price for this dredger we are gathered here for is far less than what we give in China.

    “There is no IOC dredger in this country that has this length. Bank of industry should sponsor projects with economic importance to the nation.” He stated.

    It is expected that the innovation in the dredging industry when fully developed would stop the importation of foreign made dredgers if government encourages growth of the sector with policies.

     

  • LASACO Properties launches biggest board

    LASACO Properties has launched the biggest Billboard in Nigeria and West Africa, the company’s Managing Director, Olumide Jayeiola, has said.

    Speaking during the unveiling of the multi billion naira billboard located at the brink of the Third Mainland Bridge at Iyana Oworo, Lagos, he said the billboard will bring huge investment into the country.

    Jayeiola said the billboard which was brought in from China ranks as number three in the world and described it as an advertiser’s dream.

    He noted that coming from investors’ perspectives, LASACO Properties is a real estate and investment company which is not limited to properties alone.

    According to him, it encompasses any venture, businesses that will bring investment return.

    He, however, noted the risk and challenges encountered in bringing the board into the country.

    He said while the Nigerian Customs posed the major problem,  power was also a challenge.

    He said: “Nigerian Customs was one of the problems we had in bringing it in. If Nigerian investor will go all the way to bring in investment and it is the Nigerian government that is killing the business, then that is not so good for the country.

    “The fees we were to pay were skyrocketed by the Customs and there was the problem of power to make the board function but at the end, we surmounted all the problems”.

    He stressed that the company want to create a niche in the advertising world.

    Managing Director, LASACO Insurance, Olusola Ladipo-Ajayi said the board sits strategically on a peninsula of the Lagoon.

    Ladipo-Ajayi on his part, explained that the board is a joint venture between LASACO Properties and Media Views.

    He said the board is sitting in front of the big board which carries Airtel advert. “The advert was put there 12 years ago but has become small now with the entry of this new mega board. Throughout the period of 12 years, there was no idle time on it.

    “The board has become a landmark used to describe traffic by radio presenters for inland mainland and island on the Third mainland bridge. We assisted them at that time by introducing them to Ibile Holdings which is our majority shareholder,” he added.

  • ‘It’s not any coach that can work with the biggest clubs’

    ‘It’s not any coach that can work with the biggest clubs’

    Louis van Gaal sat down this week for his first extensive interview as Manchester United boss. Among the subjects touched upon were his reasons for taking the job, the squad he has inherited and the daunting task of trying to replicate the success of Sir Alex Ferguson. Here, Sportsmail brings you a full transcript of the interview with the man that United fans will be hoping can bring the glory days back to Old Trafford…

    QUESTION: How much does it mean to you to be managing in the Barclays Premier League?

    Louis van Gaal: I already had a lot of opportunities. But at the time the priority was not like it is now. I am already 62, so my career is reaching the end.

    There is only one football country I wanted to see inside and that was England, because of the level and the atmosphere and that was why I announced my intentions in October, so that all of the English clubs knew. I had more offers than just Manchester United.

     How did you announce it?

    In October I announced it. I said it 10 minutes before a Press conference as coach of the Netherlands. They were very angry that I did it. They said it was unbelievable that I could say that before the World Cup and I said that was bullshit because the pressure I put on myself is higher than the Press ever can do.

     So was it a dream opportunity when Manchester United came to you in April?

    I won’t say it’s a dream, because I am 62 and I know what I can do and I think Manchester United  know what I can do and I think that is why they have come for me and they were not the only club. Tottenham Hotspur also came. I am not a child anymore, I know what I can do, but it’s fantastic because not any coach can work with the biggest clubs.

     What do you need to work with a club of United’s size? What makes you a good fit for this club?

    I have experience because I worked in Spain with the number one club, in Germany with the number one club and also in the Netherlands, and I speak the language, which is important.

    It’s now much easier than when I went to Spain, because I didn’t speak the language but within one year I spoke the language . I speak English my way, but people understand it. You can understand everything I say, and that’s the most important thing.

    In Germany I spoke the language at once, and that is why I always choose countries where I can speak the language, because for me communication is very important. The third thing is my philosophy, and that philosophy I have shown in every job I have had.

    These are the three qualities that convinced Ed Woodward and the owners to take me. I don’t know, though, you’ll have to ask them.

     Have you taken over at the best time? Are expectations lower after seventh place last season?

    I don’t think so because when you have to make a club that normally plays from first position, and now you are seventh, then you know the selection is not in balance or is broken, or that the confidence or something like that is wrong.

    I had to follow Bobby Robson at Barcelona. He had won three titles. That was easier for me than now I think. The same with the Dutch squad. It was very difficult to succeed Bert van Marwijk because two years before he was second in the World Cup and then he left a broken selection behind – so that was much more difficult than you think.

    I was already asked in the ‘90s by Manchester United [if I would join them] because Ferguson wanted to quit at that time and then maybe I could succeed [him]. That was more easy at that time I think.

     Did you come close in the 1990s?  Did you have detailed conversations?

    No, no no. Only rumours that he might quit.

    You say ‘broken’, which is a strong word. How much does it take to fix it?

    I don’t think it is a hard (strong) word because I think when you are seventh the selection at that time, (the team) is not happy and unsatisfied and without confidence and when you are like that you are broken.

    So now they have me: a new manager so new chances for the players and they want to show themselves unbelievably. That is nice that they want to do that. But we have to make a way of playing football that is not the same as before, and that is difficult for them.

    They have to perform under resistance (pressure). They have a to decide (what to do with the ball) within one second and that is not easy.

    When you were at Barcelona you said you need an intelligent group who can adapt. Is there any concern that this group will not be able to adapt to your demands?

    Every club where I have been, I have struggled for the first three months. After that, they know what I want: How I am as a human being and also a manager, because I am very direct. I say things as they are, so you have to adapt to that way of coaching. It’s not so easy.

    And also the way I train and coach is in the brains and not the legs. You have seen my exercises with all the tactical arguments and not without the tactical arguments. I am not for running (for its own sake). I am for running with the ball but they like that (laughs) of course.

    But the most important thing is they have to know why we do things and when they do, the football player is not playing intuitively. A lot of players here are playing intuitively and I want them to think and know why they do something.

    That’s a process that is difficult at first and in the first three months. It takes time. When we survive the first three months, it will be the same as for me at Bayern.

    In Bayern, after the first three months, we were sixth or seventh and we were third in the Champions League [group]. We had to win at Juventus and we won that game and that was the turning point.

     The British footballer is characterised as a man who plays on emotion and doesn’t play in the way you describe as much as the Dutch footballer does. Is that fair?

    That is your opinion. You say it, then you say I have to say it.

     Is that an unfair statement?

    I don’t know because I have to know the players first then I can judge. You can judge because you have been a journalist for many years and have seen the culture.

     From the outside what are your views of a British player?

    What you have mentioned.

     So you share a similar view?

    No, because I have already said the players under the direction of David Moyes are a lot of different to the players under the direction of Alex Ferguson, but also under the direction of me.

    But we shall have to wait and see. But from the outside it is fair to say that. But I don’t want to be judging as an outsider. I want to hear that and feel that but at the moment they are doing great.

    Is part of your challenge to build a squad at Manchester United to be successful for a few years not just one or two seasons?

    That is always my philosophy. I’m  not a coach who thinks short term. I am a coach who thinks always in the long term. The way you see Barcelona still playing with six players from my time because I gave a lot of chances to the youth players.

    The structure and the culture of the club is Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Valdes and Motta. I also gave him his debut and he is playing in Paris St.Germain now, not a little club.

    At Bayern Munich it was the same. You can see that in Muller, Alaba, Klose, that kind of player. So I am always for the long term not the short term. When I buy, I buy players for the long term, not the short term because I do respect the club a lot and also the other clubs.

    Is that your preference? Is it better to win with your own players rather than have to buy players?

    The argument for that is when you use youth players of the club they know the culture of the club and they want to defend that culture and wear that culture and transfer that culture.

    When you buy a player from outside you have to wait and see and not every player will fulfil your expectation. It is much more difficult, also for the player.

    What do you think of the challenge of having such a big club like Manchester City in the same City, a team that has also won the title?

    It does not bother me. Whether they are 10 metres away or 30 km away.

     What do you think of what Manchester City have done over the last three years?

    It is amazing because they were not a big club and now already Champions and they have also won the Cup in the last three years.

    They are knocking at the door but that is good for Manchester United also because where there is competition you can be proud when you are the champion at the end and maybe we will be the champions.

     City fans would argue that they have knocked at the door and opened it and closed it and now you have to knock at the door again and try and get back through it?

    If you like to say that, then you have to write it down! I feel that he [looking round the table] likes to say that.

     But that’s their view – that they are on top…

    I have learnt the word ‘entice’. You are enticing me. I said ‘provoke’ but Ryan [Giggs]  said it should be ‘entice.’

     Are you looking forward to your managerial battle with Jose Mourinho?

    No. I play against Chelsea. And not against Jose Mourinho. My team and his team are playing against each other.

     But he is renowned for engaging in mind games with managers and players – will that provoke you?

    No. He shall not do that with me.

    But he’s already tried over Luke Shaw?

    No. I’m not reacting to that kind of stuff.

    Fergie’s legacy is daunting for anybody but because of your CV and experience are you undaunted by the scale of club etc?

    The club are thinking that I am the man who can wear this legacy, so….

     Are you not worried about being compared to Fergie?

    Yes, but that doesn’t bother me. It is nice to be compared to such a class trainer. It’s nice when you do that and when you give me a positive compliment.

    Have you met him yet?

    No,I’m here in America.He is not

    United fans are excited by the way you handled some of the Holland games in the World Cup? Changes of formations, changing of keepers for shoot-out etc?

    It is also a little bit lucky when you do that! But of course you do those things for a good reason. Already I give this press conference with a lot of arguments [reasons] and I hope you can understand that.

    We had a manager before who we had a lot of arguments with…..

    I don’t mean arguments, I mean the reasons why. So it’s good that I explained that. I don’t have arguments with you – until now…. [laughs]

    Sorry, we’ve got to go…

    Interesting eh? Interesting. You’re all coaches now…..

  • ‘US, biggest oil producer  after overtaking Saudi’

    The US has  overtaken Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world’s biggest producer of oil as extraction of energy from shale rock strengthens the nation’s economy,according to  Bank of America Corporation.

    U.S. production of crude oil, along with liquids separated from natural gas, surpassed all other countries this year with daily output exceeding 11 million barrels in the first quarter, the bank said in a report  yesterday.

    It  became the world’s largest natural gas producer in 2010. The International Energy Agency said in June that the U.S. was the biggest producer of oil and natural gas liquids.

    “America is now the world’s leading producer of oil and gas,” Francisco Blanch, the bank’s head of commodities research in New York, said in the report. “The American shale revolution has had a transformational effect on the U.S. and global economies in recent years. Low energy prices are a key edge of the U.S. economy.”

    Oil extraction is soaring at shale formations in Texas and North Dakota as companies split apart rocks using high-pressure liquid, a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The surge in supply combined with restrictions on exporting crude is curbing the price of West Texas Intermediate, America’s oil benchmark. The U.S., the world’s largest oil consumer, still imported an average of 7.5 million barrels a day of crude in April, according to the Department of Energy’s statistical arm.

    U.S. oil output will surge to 13.1 million barrels a day in 2019 and plateau thereafter, according to the IEA, a Paris-based adviser to 29 energy-consuming nations. The nation will lose its top-producer ranking at the start of the 2030s, the agency said in its World Energy Outlook in November.

    Production growth outside the U.S. has been lower than the bank anticipated, keeping global oil prices high, Blanch said. Partly as a result of the output boom, WTI futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange remain at a discount of about $7 a barrel to their European counterpart, the Brent contract on ICE Futures Europe’s London-based exchange.

    Rising U.S. oil supplies come as an Islamist insurgency threatens output in Iraq, the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia. Territorial gains in northern Iraq by a group calling itself the Islamic State has spurred concerns that oil flows from the south could be disrupted. Exports from Libya have been disrupted by protests, while Nigeria’s production is crimped by oil theft and sabotage.

  • Aregbesola: agric is our biggest industry

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said his administration will make agriculture the “most viable industry” in the state.

    He said his administration was working hard to make farmers agents of empowerment.

    Aregbesola spoke at the weekend during the “Osun Farmers’ Day With Ogbeni”.

    Inputs worth over N80 million were distributed to farmers at the event, which was held at the Bola Ige House, Government Secretariat, Osogbo.

    The governor said: “Because of the enormous agricultural potentials in the state, this administration came up with the Six-Point-Integral-Action Plan, with agriculture as the major plank.

    “Our agricultural policy is squarely focused on farmers, hence the theme of this interactive session: ‘Imagine the World Without Farmers’. We are convinced that increased agricultural productivity is a pre-condition for the emergence of industrial development, as well as the foundation stone for economic growth.

    “Hence, we initiated programmes that enable subsistence farmers multiply their production through expansion of their farming capacities, improve on the techniques of farming and package their goods for marketing in bigger markets, such as the ones in Lagos State.”

    Aregbesola said his administration has upgraded infrastructure in Iwo, Mokore, Ago-Owu, and Esa-Oke – four of the nine farm settlements in the state.

    He said 77.2km of access/feeder roads were built.

    Aregbesola said the government assisted farmers through farmers’ cooperative groups.

    This includes helping 28 cooperative groups to plant maize on a 17km stretch, clearing over 150 acres of land, providing farmland and loans.

    The governor said N529 million loans were given to 260 cooperative groups in 2011 and 2012, an intervention he said generated 4,813 direct jobs and 2,600 indirect jobs.

    He said 2,160. 75 metric tonnes of fertiliser; 10.242 metric tonnes of maize seeds; 2,723 litres of liquid herbicides; 89 tubes of insecticides; 24.16kg of fungicides; 884 units of minor equipment and 16,603 bundles of improved cassava cuttings were given to farmers at subsidised prices.

    Aregbesola said to curb post-harvest losses, a 500-metric-tonne-capacity warehouse has been built in Osogbo and seven mini-warehouses in other parts of the state, which are complemented by on-farm storage facilities.

    He said one tonne-capacity cargo tricycles were distributed to seven Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES) cadets for transporting farm produce, adding that more would be provided.

    Aregbesola said: “The unprecedented development that our administration has recorded so far in the agricultural sector has been made possible through the well-packaged and well-received agricultural programme, Osun Rural Enterprise and Agricultural Programme (O’REAP).

    “The four major components of the programme are: Farm Estate Development, Farmers’ Cooperative Support, Agricultural Land Expansion and Large scale Agriculture.”

  • ‘Agric will be our biggest employer’

    ‘Agric will be our biggest employer’

    There are hopes that agriculture will create more jobs than any other sector engaging people in gainful activities from the grassroots to urban centres. Over 3.5 million jobs are targeted, according to Minister of Agriculture Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.

    “The focus is to ensure food security, reduce expenditure of foreign exchange on food imports, diversify the economy, generate foreign exchange and create jobs,” he said, highlighting the prospects of the Federal Government’s agric transformation agenda.

    Under the plan, the Goodluck Jonathan administration, working in conjunction with the states, is focusing on food and cash crops, seeking to increase their production.

    Adesina has taken the agenda round the country.

    In Ogun State, he warned against hijacking fertilizers meant for farmers, saying the Federal Government has ensured that such farm inputs get to farmers directly, rather than merchants who sell them at huge profits to the growers. Adesina addressed cocoa producers in the Southwest, telling them that the Federal Government has worked out a plan to ensure fertilizers get to them directly.

    In Taraba State, the Minister launched improved cassava stems for planting, urging farmers to make optimal use of the facilities they received in order to boost food production not only in the state but also in the entire country. The state is said to have remarkable potential in cassava production.

    In Ekiti, where Adesina also visited, Governor Kayode Fayemi has lifted before a crowd an impressive, freshly harvested bunch of cassava tubers to project the state’s potentials as well as the agric reform.

    In Anambra, such collaboration promises to enhance the plan of Governor Peter Obi who has covered much ground in the sector.

    The government’s Growth Enhancement Support scheme seeks to maximise the production of notable food and cash crops, such as cocoa, millet, sorghum, cassava, yams, wheat and cotton, among others, so as to shore up Nigeria’s food supplies.

    The proper coordination of these activities will provide lots of jobs in the country, said Mr. Oronto Douglas, the President’s Special Adviser on Research Documentation and Strategy. There will be jobs for unemployed youths, he added.

    “Agriculture will become the biggest employer of labour in the country,” he said in Lagos at the presentation of a book documenting the government’s agric reform and other gains.

    Under the plan, moribund or neglected industries like rice mills are receiving fresh impetus across the states, with the prospects of remarkably changing unemployment and food profiles in the country.

    Adesina said: “The agenda is focused on major policy reforms to eliminate corruption in the seed and fertilizer sectors, improve the functioning of market institutions, establish staple crop processing zones to attract private sector into areas of high production to reduce post-harvest losses, add value to locally produced crops and foster rural economic growth. In addition, the agenda includes improvement in rural infrastructure and access of farmers to financial services and markets.”

    Part of the agric plan involves giving farmers facilities and improving rural infrastructure.