The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Lifeline

  • Lifeline for farmers

    Lifeline for farmers

    Releaf Group, an initiative led by young Nigerians at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States, is deploying science and technology to promote capacity-building in agriculture. The group is determined to make agricultural production sustainable, climate-proof and profitable. How far can they go? DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Agriculture should be the mainstay of the Nigerian economy because it has the potential to sustainably employ about 75 per cent of the population. However, inadequate viable value chain and entrepreneurial activity have kept the sector at the subsistence level, leading to high youth unemployment. To reverse this, a group of young Nigerians, known as The Releaf Group, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States, is poised to train and equip farmers and youths to transform the agricultural sector and enhance economic growth.

    The team consists of two MIT students, some university students and others in Nigeria. They include the Director, Partnerships, Emmanuel Udotong; Partner Business, Development, Ikenna Nzewi; Managing Partner Toby Nzewi; Director, Value-Chain, Joshua Nzewi and  Partner Operations, Isaiah Udotong.

    Others  are Director of Project Management Uzoma Ayogu and Director of Public Relations Adaeze Okoli.

    Their project is part of the MIT’s IDEAS Global Challenge, which connects students with the passion and talent to improve the world with the experience and resources of the MIT community worldwide. The programme supports innovation and entrepreneurship through an annual competition that awards up to $10,000 for a team with the best ideas to tackle barriers to well being.

    In this project, the team will work with Verdant and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to empower farmers in agribusiness to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture.

    While Verdant will offer personalised scientific agricultural information and market intelligence to farmers through a mobile application that acts as an all-round companion, from the pre-planting period to harvest and beyond, partnership  with IITA will  support the group  to  integrate training and technological innovations with production, mechanisation, agro-processing, marketing, recycling, value chain improvement and other related services. The overall goal of the project is to use sciences and technology to promote capacity-building in food production.

    The spokesperson of the group, Mr Isaiah  Udotong said: “Releaf has partnered with IITA to work on-ground in choosing the farmers to work with and evaluation of their yields. They’ve committed staff members to be involved in this pilot, helping with adoption of technology and planting phase and interviewing farmers to participate, evaluations of initial yields and final yields.”

    He said the group will work with smallholder farmers, agro-processing groups, farmers associations, and service providers across the state to introduce improved agricultural technologies and develop specialised skills to order to increase the end-value of their agricultural products.

    For a pilot, Udotong said the group would be carrying out a demonstration project in Akwa Ibom State. In partnership with Verdant,  Udotong said smart mobile devices and low-end phones will be made available  to  farmers.  Then farming information will be relayed through text messages.

    He said: “We are targeting about 1,000 cassava farmers to use the agricultural extension mobile service provided by Verdant to increase their yields.”

    The team intends to train the farmers in establishing sustainable agribusinesses and practices. This, they believe, would contribute significantly to the creation of employment for youth, improving self-reliance and food security.

    This strong value chain, he also believes, will provide farmers with a more stable supply of good quality food as well as bringing them profits.

    Under the scheme also, farmers will be provided with improved cassava cultivar, fertiliser and pesticides. The target is to achieve higher yields per hectare, shorter growth cycles and  improved resistance to pests.

    The varieties are improved genetically modified cassava tubers that research from the IITA has proven can more than double cassava yield.

    Udotong said since equipment plays a very important role in improving crop yields, farmers will be encouraged to use them to increase production.

    He said mechanised cassava graters are part of the project.The deployment of the mechanised graters allows cassava to be grated down into small pieces that can be easily collected for bulk pickup.

    He added: “The higher concentration of cassava grated in even higher quality also gives farmers the ability to process their own tubers with potential to create their own products.”

    He believes the technology is a strong catalyst to boost cassava production on commercial basis in which would additionally create decent job opportunities.

    Akwa Ibom State government is  supporting  the project. Consequently, the state government is providing logistics/support for the selection and training of cooperative farmers groups expected to participate.

    In line with this, the Permanent Secretary, Akwa Ibom State Bureau of Cooperatives and Food Sufficiency, Mr. Effiong Peters, has sent a memo to the Secretary to the state government for its execution.

    In April, Releaf submitted a questionnaire to the farmer cooperative group in Akwa Ibom State and has already received compelling responses that demonstrate the need for the project.

    From the survey, the group learnt that 85 per cent of farmers in the cooperative produce below 15 Metric Tonnes (MT) of cassava per hectare.

  • N6.5b lifeline for capital market

    The Federal Government is to inject  N6.5 billion into the capital market, Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, has said.

    The news is coming even as senators and members of the House of Representatives yesterday began the process of shoring up the dwindling fortunes of the capital market.

    At a joint press briefing of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Capital Market, the lawmakers said they had resolved to rejuvenate the capital market to enable it play active role in revamping the economy of the country.

    Adeleke, who spoke on  Realising the full potentials of the Nigerian economy through proactive capital market legislation, said the government planned to inject N6.5 billion to shore up the fortunes of the capital market and protect investors’ funds.

    He noted that the era of change called for a major shift in approaches to seeking solutions to political,  social,  and economic challenges facing the country.

    Adeleke said the National Assembly was aware of the dwindling fortunes of the capital market and, by extension, the economy.

  • Yet another lifeline

    •Incessant bailout of states no solution to a fundamental problem

    There is no doubt that Nigeria currently suffers severe fiscal challenge which requires a radical rethink of her revenues mobilisation and distribution processes. Though the crunch was long foretold, the oil debacle finally happened late in 2014 when oil prices went on a downward spin. Mono-economic countries like Nigeria that depended almost solely on crude exports knew that it would no longer be business as usual.

    Since then, Nigeria has not been the same again. Revenues accruing from crude oil sales have dropped drastically and this has affected every other economic affair of the land, including meeting such basic needs as staff salaries in many of the states.

    Just like the Federal Government, states have over the years also relied largely on monthly allocations from the federation account, not making much effort to diversify their revenue bases. With the new realities, many states are facing dire financial crises to the point of being many months in arrears of workers’ salaries.

    Last year, the Federal Government had to dole out huge bailout funds to the states to offset arrears of salaries. But as it has turned out, many states are still stuck in the mire.

    Announcing the current bailout after the National Economic Council meeting last week, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, explained that cessation of the deduction of states’ loans would be only for the month of April for a start. Revenues available in the federation account for sharing for the month of April was very meagre, she explained.

    She noted that oil prices dropped to as low as $28 per barrel, therefore accrued revenues fell short for this period. There was an urgent need to see to it that states were able to meet their salary obligations, she said.

    In her words: “We have got to put money into people’s pockets so that the people can start spending just to get the economy moving. Nobody stimulates the economy with austerity but by spending.

    “In some states, as you know, the state governments are the highest employers of labour, so if the state government is unable to pay, nothing happens.”

    However, there is also a plan to get states into good financial health. States are now required to commit to financial sustainability, which includes cleaning up their payrolls, maximising their internally generated revenue and efficiency in all fiscal processes.

    In fact, the states have been asked to supply their financial data so that they can work in tandem with the Federal Ministry of Finance on how to help them on a state-by-state basis. It is on this condition that further waivers and bailouts shall be considered.

    We agree that it makes economic sense for the Federal Government to impose some strictures and fiscal discipline on the states, especially if they have to dole out more bailout funds to them.

    Most state governors, we regret to say, are yet to come to terms with the new economic realities. They remain less than prudent in the use of public funds. Also, many states are yet to come up with viable diversification blueprint; the type that would make them at least partially, if not fully self-reliant and less dependent on the federation account.

    All of these are still short-term if not ad-hoc measures. It has become necessary to device more fundamental methods to tackling what is clearly an incipient financial crisis.

    For one, we suggest a return to fiscal federalism. Apart from the economic exigencies of the time, we expect a progressive ruling party to canvass for and achieve this fundamental shift in the country’s political economy. A situation where the Federal Government keeps more than half of the federal revenues does not augur well for any country.

  • A lifeline for NDE trainees

    A lifeline for NDE trainees

    Minister of Labour and Productivity Chris Ngige, in his home Anambra State, gave out start-up packs to 250 persons trained by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE). NWANOSIKE ONU reports

    It was a fitting homecoming for Minister of Labour and Productivity Chris Ngige. At the St. Matthew’s Catholic Church Amawbia in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State, he was in good company as he gave out start-up tools to over 250 trainees of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).

    It was as much a good day for the trainees as it was for the President Muhammadu Buhari administration whose job creation effort seemed to be taking off. It was just as well that it was all happening in Ngige’s home state.

    The venue brimmed with traditional rulers and the clergy as well as other dignitaries.

    It was the resettlement of over 250 persons by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) under the ministry of Labour and Employment manned by Ngige.

    The state governor Chief Willie Obiano sent his Deputy, Dr. Nkem Okeke to represent him. The traditional ruler of Awka kingdom, Obi Gibson Nwosu and his colleagues from Ukpo in Dunukofia council, Igwe Dr. Robert Eze and Igwe Elias Nneli of Umueje in Ayamelum council attended the event.

    Ngige presented jobs tools to 30 of the trainee graduates, while over 220 others who had started practicing their skills were given financial lifelines by the federal government.

    The federal government has spent over N137m in empowering the people under the Artisans Resettlement and Mentoring Scheme (ARMS).

    Igwe Nneli advocated for a monitoring committee to be supervising and monitoring beneficiaries’ progress, as according to him, some of them sell off their equipment and squander the money.

    The monarch of Awka, Obi Gibson Nwosu, while commending Ngige for bringing such a thing to Anambra, advised the youths who are seeking admission for medicine and law to think twice as whatever you studied must be appreciated in one way or the other.

    Addressing the beneficiaries and the guests, Governor Obiano said through his deputy Dr. Okeke that the state government has similar schemes through access loans for different businesses, adding that it would increase their Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    He assured that the state government would always partner the federal government in such programmes, adding that the state has arable land which necessitated its focus on agriculture.

    He regretted, however, that the greatest challenge to governments at all levels is what to do with the teeming unemployed youths in the society and taking them away  from criminal activities.

    He added that the introduction of such programmes was the answer to joblessness.

    Ngige, while addressing the people said everybody should rally round President Muhammadu Buhari to right the wrongs of the past administrations.

    “This is a government that came into power in a trying moment, there were no savings from the past regime, we feel for the people, things have gone so bad and we want to use this opportunity to correct the sins of the past,” he said.

    ”Let me reassure all present here today that the plans of the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR to change the face of the entire nation for good is fully on course”

    “Those of us charged with the task of creating jobs for the teeming unemployed in Nigeria have long put on our thinking caps and today’s event is just one of the products of our efforts”

    “In the next two months, the second phase of this exercise would have been carried out and I want to assure you that over 2,800 new businesses would have    been    generated    across   the   country, through   the Resettlement   Scheme   of the   NDE”

    “The scheme   seeks to empower already trained persons in any vocational skill with relevant starter packs to commence a small scale business”

    “The Directorate in the last one month has recruited and placed in training, another 1,850 persons nationwide under the Community-Based Training Scheme (CBTS)”

    ”Ladies and gentlemen, in another two months this number of persons shall be resettled to commence small scale businesses in the rural communities across Nigeria”

    “Similarly, Three Hundred and Seventy (370) newly trained agricultural entrepreneurs under the NDE Commercial Farmers Training Project (CFTP) have received soft loans amounting to N137m Thirty Seven Million Naira to start agro-businesses in each j state of the Federation and the FCT”

    “Ladies and gentlemen I am happy to inform you that this scheme complements the proposed Federal Government programme’ called “Teach Nigeria’’ which will soon take off”

    “In the face of all these laudable efforts and programmes, it is pertinent that all well meaning Nigerians should rally round the Federal Government in its quest to turn around the fortunes of our great nation”

    “I will not end this address without placing on record my gratitude to the Government and good people of Anambra State for the conducive operational environment and support they have provided the NDE to function within” Ngige said.

    The acting Director General, (NDE), Mr. Kunle Obayan, said the initiative was under a fresh scheme called the Artisans Resettlement and Mentoring Scheme (ARMS).

    “The desire of the (NDE) over the years has always been to empower all beneficiaries of our skills training programmes and what is happening here today is that change we desired for,” Obayan said.

     

  • PDP gets lifeline, but prefers to drown

    PDP gets lifeline, but prefers to drown

    |Two Sundays ago, this column described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) judicial triumphs in the governorship election petitions in the oil-rich states of Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Akwa Ibom as a lifeline to the opposition. It still is, for even the All Progressives Congress (APC), which mourned its judicial defeat in the three states, also thinks so. Buoyed by the victory, and catching a whiff of the tantalising but chimerical possibility of regaining electoral dominance over Nigeria in 2019, the opposition party shockingly decided to appoint former Borno State governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, as the new chairman of the party. He replaced Adamu Mu’azu who relinquished the post last year May before his tenure ended. When Senator Sheriff was appointed chairman, the PDP governors who plotted his emergence cleverly refused to indicate whether it was in acting capacity or not. They left an open cheque for everyone, hoping that if the Sheriff chairmanship kite they flew drew timid flak rather than create the storm they feared, a transmutation to permanent chairmanship could be contrived.

    But Senator Sheriff is today one of Nigeria’s most controversial politicians. His unremarkable record as governor pales in comparison with his entanglement in the Boko Haram crisis. He is said to be very wealthy, which made him start out as a kingmaker in Borno politics. Soon after, he seized the throne himself, and since then has never looked back. During his two terms as governor, the Boko Haram phenomenon took root, a fact that made many commentators to attribute the emergence of the terrorist group to either his direct or indirect influence and manipulation. He denies the accusations and points out that even his family members, not to talk of himself, are not immune to Boko Haram attacks. The disfavour Senator Sheriff has found himself in many parts of the country, especially in the North, has risen in direct proportion to the sanguinary severity of the terror attacks that have virtually flattened the Northeast and drained the country of its energy and resources.

    To, therefore, make Senator Sheriff chairman of a party battling to find its way back to office in many states and Aso Villa in particular seems to be flying in the face of reason. As many of his critics have said, it does not matter whether it can be proved that he knows a thing or two about Boko Haram’s emergence and operations; what matters is public perception, and that perception is bitterly, adversarially and implacably held. If the PDP hopes to make any serious impression in the 2019 polls, critics suggest, the party will have to rid itself of any encumbrances, no matter how little. The party is now entrenched in 13 states, and has the added advantage of controlling the four oil-rich states of Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers. It now has the wherewithal to consolidate its hold on those states, the stomach to dare mighty things, whether just for the heck of it or as a measure of its defiance of the Buhari presidency, and the strategic ambition to project power and expand territorially.

    More importantly, given the confusion in the APC, its shambolic handling of the economy, and its inability to convince the public its democratic credentials are deep and unassailable, some Nigerians were beginning to hope that a viable PDP could, despite its obnoxious antecedents, yet serve as a veritable and viable opposition to help entrench democracy in Nigeria. If that hope is not to prove elusive, the PDP must see the Sheriff chairmanship as nothing but an interregnum in line with the consensus finally reached last week among the party’s principal organs and leaders. It is unlikely he will leave in March, as the party’s former ministers have advocated. He will stay on and organise the party’s convention in May, other things being equal; but he is unlikely to retain the chairmanship seat beyond that date.

    Senator Sheriff is, however, not the only or major problem facing the party and militating against its drive for renewal and restoration. Most of the party’s leaders have been indicted in the ongoing corruption probes. As the troubles of Olisa Metuh, the party’s spokesman, and Uche Secondus, the former acting chairman, have shown, the party needs to make a clean sweep of its discredited leadership in order to avoid distractions in the herculean task of facing up to the ruling party. More, they desperately need brilliant, courageous and visionary leaders to direct the affairs of the party. Senator Sheriff, had he not been encumbered by the Boko Haram crisis, would have satisfied a part of the requirements for leading the party. He is rambunctious, does not shirk a fight, has money and a winning mentality, and is bold, courageous and iconoclastic. After all, he and former Kano governor Ibrahim Shekarau were responsible for unhorsing President Buhari from the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) some years back. The governors who supported Senator Sheriff probably saw in him the only battering ram capable of checkmating the APC in the years ahead. But as the controversies surrounding his interim chairmanship have also indicated, the PDP may be barking up the wrong tree.

    Those who predict the collapse of the PDP are unduly hasty. Every lover of democracy must in fact hope the party will surmount its troubles in order to help check the APC’s feisty and sometimes amateurish handling of political power. The ruling party does not really have internal opposition, nor does it appear to brook any. If it had an economic programme before assuming office, it has shown no indication it remembers where the blueprint was kept. More and more, the ruling party gives the impression it was thrust into public office before it was ready to carry the huge burden of managing a country during an emergency. If the PDP can utilise the lifeline afforded it by recent judicial triumphs, and avoid drowning itself in the bilge water of murky politics inspired by third-rate politicians like Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, it may make a few more gains in 2019, even if the ultimate electoral prize should prove elusive.

     

     

  • ‘Lifeline to condemned soldiers a relief’

    ‘Lifeline to condemned soldiers a relief’

    The death sentences commuted to 10 years imprisonment meted out on 66 soldiers last March is a welcome development, District Superintendent of the Apostolic Faith Church Rev Adebayo Adeniran has said.

    Rev Adebayo said since the Bible warns against killings, whatever mitigates is a welcome ground.

    Speaking at the church’s Christmas carol at the Campground in Anthony, Lagos, he added that Nigerians should approach the New Year with faith and do away with wasting resources like prodigal children.

    He said: “We should be responsible followers and leaders who are accountable to the creator for whatever resources we are given to manage. Let us be responsible and not let men run after us before we do what is right.”

    Present at the event were the Vice-President’s mother, Lady Bisi Osinbajo; former Head of Interim Government Chief Ernest Shonekan, former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel and former Lafarge Chairman Chief Olusegun Osunkeye.

     

     

  • Scholar offers lifeline to national development

    A professor of Humanities and Social Sciences in Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya, Christopher Shisanya, has reiterated the importance of entrepreneurship education in the actualisation of the nation’s vision 20:20 and the National Transformation Agenda.

    Shisanya delivered the University of Lagos (UNILAG) keynote address at the 10th Annual Research Conference and Fair, held in the university’s multipurpose hall.

    Shisanya, who spoke on the theme: ‘Implementing new research strategies for national transformation,’ said: “A major defect in the Nigerian educational system, inclusive of the universities, is its theoretical inclination. For one instance, most Nigerian universities produce graduates who are at best only suited for white collar jobs and have little or no basic skills of any other vocational relevance. Naturally, such a situation will lead to high unemployment rate, especially among university graduates.”

    He urged the Nigerian government to learn from her Kenyan counterpart which strengthened her citizens to be entrepreneurs, leading the country’s entrepreneurship-based economy, where entrepreneurs currently employ 45 per cent of the labour market, thereby combating unemployment.

    Shisanya also asked government and potential employers to empower and encourage undergraduates to utilise their creativity for development of the nation.

    “You will be amazed at the innovative potential that lies dormant in these young students in the universities. It is high time you tapped into them,” he said.

    Shisanya suggested implementation of several factors to foster entrepreneurship, including regular training of entrepreneurship lecturers and instructors; access to adequate resources, including capital to graduating students; collaborations with nongovernmental organisations, banks and institutions to give soft loans to entrepreneurship students and trainers; knowledge on Information and communication technology (ICT); entrepreneurship-based internships; and necessary support from society and government.

    The Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee (CPC), Prof Olukemi Odukoya, said the event which attracted over 300 research and thesis submissions from scholars and researchers in the sciences, social sciences and humanities fields across the globe, is aimed at fostering research in higher institutions.

    “The conference will provide a major interdisciplinary forum for presenting new approaches from relevant areas of the social sciences and humanities to foster integration of the latest developments in scientific research into applications and to facilitate technology transfer from well-tested ideas into practical products.”

    Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Rahamon Bello, said the university’s seriousness with research has led to its establishment of a research and innovation office, where research results can be put into practice and used to generate financial and social values.

  • Lifeline for 17 farmer co-operatives in Delta

    Lifeline for 17 farmer co-operatives in Delta

    It was a carnival of sort penultimate weekend in Asaba, the Delta State Capital, as several local farming groups gathered to witness the inauguration of the Production and Processing Support Scheme (PPSS) by Governor Arthur Okowa.

    Also at the event, Okowa handed over 25 tractors and farm implements to 17 benefitting co-operative societies which had earlier signed an agreement with government under its tractorisation scheme.

    The tractorisation policy of the Okowa administration, according to Prof. Eric Eboh, Chief Job Creation Officer, is to promote private sector ownership and management of tractor services, adding that the policy will make tractor services accessible and affordable to farmers in a sustainable manner.

    The PPSS, an initiative under the Job Creation Scheme, aims at increased agricultural productivity through provision of inputs, equipment, technologies, micro-credit and technical assistance to local farmers.

    The first phase of the PPSS intervention covers six commodities namely cassava, plantain, vegetables, poultry, fishery and piggery.

    The mood at the event was upbeat as expectant co-operative groups waited for the unveiling of financial packages to them by Governor Okowa.

    Meanwhile, cool music serenaded guests who sat under white canopies fluttering in the cool morning breeze. Guests included top government functionaries, traditional rulers, politicians and agricultural producers, agro-processors and other agricultural value chain operators.

    In his speech, the Governor said the PPSS was an innovative approach to policy formulation and implementation strategies for effective economic diversification and self-reliance.

    He lamented that despite favourable climatic conditions, vast arable land and fertile soils, the country is yet to maximise her potential in agriculture production for economic growth, employment, job creation, import substitution and sustainable development.

    •Governor Okowa test-driving one of the tractors
    •Governor Okowa test-driving one of the tractors

    Okowa highlighted the factors militating against agriculture to include prevalence of subsistence farming, non-prioritisation of agriculture and agric-business at different levels of governance, poor storage facilities and absence of a sustainable value chain.

    He blamed the discovery of oil, stressing that with oil boom, agriculture became a drudgery and unappealing for millions of Nigerians.

    He said the PPSS and other policy initiatives are designed to turn around the fortunes of agriculture and make it attractive and appealing to youths.

    His words: “The PPSS and other policy initiatives of this administration are designed to turn the situation around. They are not only envisioned to engender improved processes, better output and profitability for existing farmers, but to make farming attractive and appealing to our youths.”

    He said PPSS was conceived to help overcome the problems of resource scarcity, poor technology and infrastructural deficits. Financial institutions should rise up to the challenge of agricultural financing with robust credit policies.

    He advised the beneficiaries to reciprocate government’s gesture by ensuring that they apply themselves diligently to their businesses.

    Earlier in his address, Prof. Eboh had said selection of beneficiaries was done carefully to ensure that the support packages reached the right target, adding that the selection process has been ‘inclusive, objective, fair, equitable and thorough’.

    He said the creation of a database of farmers has been a major achievement recorded under the PPSS, noting that the database had entries consolidated from a variety of sources.

    Eboh said the database is in line with the Know-Your-Farmer principle which is an international best practice in agricultural programming.

    He noted that finding markets for farmers has been an age-old problem which the Job Creation Office will, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Commerce, tackle.

    To this end, Eboh said plans have reached advanced stage to set up an Agriculture Marketing Solutions Coordinating Committee, adding that it will make recommendations to government on measures to tackle agricultural bottlenecks.

    According to him, the PPSP interventions will, “from now through the year-end generate direct and multiplier income benefits to the tune of more than N3 billion.”

    He assured that PPSS package will be monitored by an independent monitoring and evaluation group comprising specialists in livestock, crops and fisheries who will make periodic reports on farmers.

    A visually impaired farmer, Mr. Nkem Ofili who exhibited his farm produce at the event expressed happiness over government’s initiative, stressing that with the availability of loans, his tomato farm will have a new lease of life.

    He said following the successes of the last harvest, he plans to expand by planting Okro and cucumber.

    On why he prefers vegetable farming, Mr. Ofili said it was due to its short gestation period and because it is easily sold.

    He said: “We have a tomato farm and we have the intention of expanding it when we receive the loan. We have just finished our harvest and we are planning on planting Okro and cucumber. Vegetables are sought after by everybody. They have short gestation period. So, when we invest, within three or four months, our investment comes back.”

    According to him, the greatest challenge which his farming business is experiencing is access to loan facilities, adding that with the loan facility given to benefiting co-operative society, farming in Delta State will experience a new lease of life.

    Ofili said although he is visually impaired, he derives great pleasure when he touches his harvest.

    “I might not be able to see the products but with my sense of touch, I am gladdened that they came out well.”

    Another beneficiary, Mrs. Rita Kairue whose co-operative society manages a poultry farm, expressed joy at being selected, adding that with the loan, her co-operative group will expand its egg production from 10 cartons to 100 cartons daily.

    “Our co-operative society is into poultry farming and with the loan given to us by government; we plan to increase our production levels from 10 cartons to 100 cartons of eggs daily. The loan has greatly impacted positively on our work.”

    For Tina Brown-Kporaro, President Omena multi-purpose Co-operative Society, Otu-Jeremi.Ughelli South Local Government Area, in the past, laudable government initiatives were often hijacked by politicians. He praised the Okowa administration for ensuring that the real farmers got financial assistance.   Mrs. Brown –Kporaro urged youths to form groups to enable them to benefit from the programme, stressing that with the loan, her co-operative will expand its farm capacity which currently is five acres.

    “We have waited so long for this kind of thing to happen. We are so glad that we are a part of it. We are into plantain, the full value chain of plantain farming from planting to processing into powder and chips for export.

    “We have five acres of plantain but with this loan, we will expand our capacity.

    “Most youths looking for white collar jobs should have a rethink. Delta State is blessed with arable land and, as such, they should work in the farms. They should look inwards. They should form themselves into groups so that they can access such loans.

    “Before now, this programme would have been hijacked by politicians, but this is the first time the women at the grassroots are benefiting from this government. This may be because Governor Okowa has put the right persons to run the agency.”

     

  • Lifeline for ex-inmate

    Lifeline for ex-inmate

    The founder and General Overseer of Word and Spirit Assembly Church, Satellite Town, Lagos, Pastor Chris Ekeh has donated the sum of N200,000 to a female ex-inmate of Kirikiri Minimun Security Prison Apapa, Miss Jennifer Ngozi Mberekpe to enable her to begin life anew after serving out her jail term.

    Miss Mberekpe was recently freed from the prison where she was incarcerated for over a year ago as a result of a case of fraud leveled against her.

    She was freed 12 days after Pastor Ekeh visited the prison on July 17, this year to celebrate his 40th birthday with the inmates.

    Pastor Ekeh had promised to render financial assistance to any inmate that would be released after his visit. Incidentally, her case was struck out by the trial judge.

    At the church service, Pastor Ekeh presented a cheque of N200,000 to Miss Mberekpe in fulfilment of his promise.

    While presenting the cheque, the pastor said: “This is my own little way of sowing into your life and also a fulfilment of the promise I made during my visit to both the Maximum and the Female Kirikiri prisons.”

    Receiving the cheque, Miss Mberekpe thanked the cleric, saying that the gesture was a surprise to her.

    “I am much overwhelmed by this singular gesture. I never expected it. It will surely help in giving me a new lease of life. I am very grateful to you, sir,” she said.

     

  • N4billion lifeline for Hotel Presidential Enugu

    N4billion lifeline for Hotel Presidential Enugu

    A new lease of life is to be breathed into the Hotel Presidential, Enugu. This comes on the heels of a planned N4 billion investment on the facility by E-Hospitality Services Limited (EHSL). The Enugu State government, had in its bid to restore the lost glory of the hotel, granted a concession of the prime property to EHSL.

    According to Jedidah Promotions, the media consultant to the concessionaire, EHSL will undertake the project through a special purpose company – Primeview Hotels Limited. The firm will also engage a suitable international hotel management company to operate the hotel, post renovation.

    Primeview Hotels Limited has since taken possession of the facility and concluded preliminary surveys and assessments including a structural integrity test carried out by Sanni Ojo and Partners, a firm of structural engineers. The firm has also assembled a team of design and engineering consultants and produced a redevelopment concept. A contractor has also been mobilised to the site and has begun the stripping of the hotel in preparation for the redevelopment works.

    The Proposed Redevelopment concept involves reconfiguring and modernising the existing hotel facilities such as restaurants, conferencing facility, outdoor swimming pool, four tennis courts and increasing the stock of rooms from 100 to 150 rooms. In addition, a family leisure centre will be incorporated and the number of restaurants and other elements increased in line with the requirements of the preferred hotel manager. It is expected that the main contract for the redevelopment will be awarded in the fourth quarter of 2015 and the hotel ready to be opened by the second quarter of 2017.

    Once the pride of eastern Nigeria, the Hotel Presidential Enugu, was one of the first iconic buildings built post-independence as part of the Eastern government’s industrialisation plan created under the late Dr. Mike Okpara.  With a unique offering of recreational and lifestyle elements, the Hotel Presidential quickly became a popular destination for Nigerians and foreign visitors. The collapse of the pride of the East led the Government of Enugu state to concession the hotel to bring it back to life and upgrade it to world class standards. The Hotel sits on prime land within the Independence Layout Enugu and is approximately 15 minutes drive from the Enugu International airport.

    These memories however quickly fade once the reality of the Hotel’s current state of disrepair is revealed. Many years of poor management, particularly during the many years of military rule, culminated in a complete rundown of the Hotel and subsequent closure of the once iconic facility.