The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigerian news

  • $251m lifeline for African women entrepreneurs

    Leaders of the G7 nations have approved a $251 million package in support of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative to support women entrepreneurs in Africa.

    AFAWA aims to raise up to $5 billion for African women entrepreneurs and the AfDB will provide $1 billion financing. The risk-sharing mechanism used by AFAWA is a practical approach to international commitments.

    It is a direct response to the demand by women to ease access to financing, specifically on the need to establish a financing mechanism for women’s economic empowerment.

    AFAWA was adopted during a summit of African Heads of State in 2015 and assigned to the African Development Bank (AfDB) for implementation.

    The $251 million package for African women entrepreneurs was announced at a press conference at the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France, during the week.

    French President/G7 president Emmanuel Macron said: “I am particularly proud, as the current G7 president, that the programme we are supporting today, the AFAWA initiative, comes from an African organisation, the AfDB, which works with African guarantee funds and a network of African banks.”

    Beninese artist Angelique Kidjo, a guest at the press conference, in her role as programme ambassador, described African women as the continent’s backbone. “I’m thrilled to bring their voice to the G7. AFAWA is essential for our continent,” she said.

    AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina applauded the “extraordinary support of all the G7 heads of state and government, which will provide incredible momentum” to the AFAWA programme.

    “This is a great day for African women. Investing in women entrepreneurs in Africa is important, because women are not only Africa’s future, they are Africa’s present,” he said.

    Adesina said women operate over 40 per cent of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Africa, but there is a financing gap of $42 billion between male and female entrepreneurs.

    ‘’This gap must be closed, and quickly,” the AfDB president said, adding, “This financing effort for women is the most significant in the continent’s history.”

    The initiative, backed by the G7 nations, was based on three fundamental principles. The first was to improve women’s access to financing through innovative and adapted financial instruments, including guarantee mechanisms to support women entrepreneurs.

    In cooperation with strategic partners, the second principle was to provide capacity-building services to women entrepreneurs, including access to mentoring and training courses in entrepreneurship.

    AFAWA also assists financial institutions in responding to specific needs of women-led businesses through specially adapted financial and non-financial products.

    The third principle was improving the legal and regulatory environment, eliminating obstacles that specifically affect women by engaging in policy dialogue with governments, central banks, and other institutions.

    The press conference on AFAWA was part of the G7 Summit’s emphasis on reducing inequality, specifically including a renewed partnership with Africa.

    This partnership will be highlighted by creating sustainable employment and supporting entrepreneurship, particularly women entrepreneurs.

    France holds the presidency of the G7 this year, and Macron is championing gender equality as a major theme of his five-year term.

  • MAN to senators: patronise made-in- Nigeria cars

    Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has urged Nigerians to drop their penchant for foreign goods in favour of made in Nigeria ones, saying that patronising made-in-Nigeria products was necessary to stimulate the growth of the local economy.

    Briefing reporters, in Lagos, ahead of its 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM), MAN President  Ahmed Mansur said there was the need to develop the national economy through consumption of local goods, especially Nigerian assembled cars.

    Mansur frowned on the alleged planned purchase of foreign cars worth over N5 billion by the Senate, arguing that if such huge amount was spent for the purchase of locally made brands, it would tremendously impact on the country’s automobile sector.

    “The planned purchase of vehicles worth over N5 billion by the Senate for official duties would have tremendous impact on local automobile sector. I urge Nigerians to consume what is produced here, as this will impact positively on the local economy,” Mansur advised.

    MAN, he said, was working hard to improve the value chain in the manufacturing sector and create jobs.

     

     

    He stressed that this informed the theme of its 47th AGM, “Improving Value Chain in the Manufacturing Sector for Competitiveness and Job Creation.”

     

    According to him, this was borne out of the need to highlight the significance of improving manufacturing value chain linkages as part of efforts to make the sector competitive and contribute more to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and create the much-needed jobs.made-in- Nigeria cars

  • Ortom’s second term will be better, says Speaker

    Benue State House of Assembly Speaker Titus Uba has praised Governor Samuel Ortom for his peace-building initiatives.

    He said peace is critical to the progress of the state in the governor’s second term.

    Uba said Ortom is now free to use his initiatives to govern and foster development because he is not teleguided by any godfather.

    The Speaker spoke in Lagos, shortly after attending the conference of 36 Speakers of the House of Assembly organised by the Nigerian Institute for Lagislative and Democratic Studies.

    He said: “We are now having peace becuase the anti-open grazing law is now in place. That was the basis of the crisis. Now that the law has come to stay, we have relative peace.

    “There are communal crises due to border issues, farmland issues. An inter-state conference with Taraba State has been held. We had robust deliberations on border issues. The two governments agreed that there should be an end to the crisis.”

    Uba said during Ortom’s first time, he faced the challenges of insecurity and godfatherism, adding that he will perform better in his second term because some of the problems have been resolved.

    The Speaker hailed the governor for focusing on infrastructural development and welfare of workers.

    Uba spoke on the challenges of the national minimum wage, saying that states and the Federal Government should sit together to reconsider it.

    He feared that some states may not be able to cope, owing to the meagre allocation from the Federal Government.

    Uba stressed: “The last minimum wage was implemented in Benue. The governor wants improvement in the wages of workers. He will implement it before he leaves office.”

    The Speaker lamented that Benue’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is small, adding that the federal allocation to the state is also small.

    He also lamented that, at a time, Benue was being run on over-draft.

    However, Uba thanked Ortom for paying salaries in the last two years.

    He assured that the governor will also pay the arrears in his bid to enhance the welfare of workers.

    Uba said the state faced serious political crises, particularly during the last general elections.

    In his view, politicians heated up the Northcentral state in their disperation for power.

    He thanked the people for supporting the governor to retain power.

    Uba said: “Governor Ortom enjoys the goodwill of the people of Benue. He has their mandate to perform. In his second term, he is not under the influence of godfatherism. He has initiatives. He has been restoring peace in the state. We need peace so that there can be development.”

     

  • Fed Govt adopts Sept 16 as National ID Day

    The Federal Government  has approved the recognition and observance of September 16 of every year as National Identity Day. It said it is in line with the  United Nations (UN) position on  the contribution of dates to the achievement of the purposes of its Charter to promote action on political, social, cultural, humanitarian/human rights issues,

    This is a move to create awareness among the citizens on the importance of  identification as a modern tool for national development and social cohesion.

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha conveyed the approval in a letter dated August 29, 2019 and addressed to the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr. Aliyu Aziz.

    In the letter signed on the SGF’s behalf by David K. Gende, the Director, Planning, Research & Statistics in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Mustapha conveyed government’s approval to the NIMC chief executive officer that Nigeria “should join the Coalition for International Identity Day,” in response to the latter’s earlier request.

    “I am to inform you that the SGF has considered and approved that Nigeria should join the Coalition for International Identity Day, which will recognise the role of identity management for proper planning, governance and efficient service delivery; that the National Identity Management Commission should proceed with educational and awareness campaigns on the proposed identity day to other public and private sector stakeholders including institutions in the movement,” the letter read.

    By that approval therefore, Nigeria becomes the first country in the world to formally adopt September 16, otherwise called 16.9, as Identity Day (ID-Day).

    Aziz said already, NIMC has lined up a number of activities to formally launch Nigeria’s Identity Day on September 16, 2019, year being the debut edition.

     

     

  • LSACA screens 6,000 for HIV to mark Sanwo-Olu’s 100 days

    To commemorate Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s 100 days in office, the Lagos State AIDS Control Agency (LSACA) has screened no fewer than 6000 people for HIV.

    The exercise was carried out on Tuesday and Wednesday in six locations in three local government areas – two locations in Amuwo Odofin, two in Ajeromi Ifelodun and two on Lagos Island. Also included in the medical test are blood sugar  and blood pressure.

    LSACA’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Oluseyi Temowo said the next step after people had known their status is to link them to facilities where they could access free treatment in public hospitals.

    Benefits of the exercise include pre-testing counseling as well as post-test counselling, which seek to address emotional disturbance that often comes up during HIV screening programmes, he added.

    He said those who were screened also went home with compensatory (OTC) drugs, such as pain relievers.

    “The essence is to ensure we make an impact among the populace. As an agency, we come around in different locations in Lagos for people to check their HIV status. Globally, the song is now that people must ensure that they know their HIV status by 2020. That is, 90 per cent of people that are positive must know their status by 2020. Then 90 per cent of such people must be on treatment because there are free drugs in our hospitals. That is why we are encouraging people to come out to check their status,” he said.

    The LSACA boss said Lagos has covered 73 per cent in its HIV screening, and that the next phase of 17 is what remains to be achieved between now and next year.

    With this pace, he said he was confident that Lagos was on its way to eradicating HIV/AIDS by 2030.

  • Long overdue

    Insurance benefits are supposed to be paid promptly to beneficiaries, especially in the event of death, to alleviate the sufferings of the victims’ survivors. This will not necessarily bring back the dead, but it would at least help in mitigating the pains of the loss and bring some form of closure to the issue at hand. All that is required is for the relevant papers to be filed and verified by the insurance companies.

    This is why we find it hard to believe that the insurance benefits of eight of the ad hoc workers, including two corps members, who were killed in the course of their engagement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the last General elections, and 27 others who were injured during the period, are yet to be paid, five months after the elections.

    All lives are equal. However, we are particularly worried for the corps members because of the peculiar circumstances under which they were posted for the one year compulsory national service. It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to give them insurance cover, especially now that they are engaged in the risky business of conducting elections. It is common knowledge that elections are like wars in Nigeria, especially as some politicians engage in electoral violence and other crimes in their desperation to win.

    That the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members do not enjoy any comprehensive insurance cover leaves a sour taste in the mouth. This is, to say the least, scandalous, for a scheme that is over 45 years old.

    When corps members are posted outside of their states of origin, the expectation is that they would sacrifice their skills and goodwill for national development and national unity, not their lives. But when the inevitable happens, then, their families deserve to be compensated adequately and promptly, too.

    The least that can be expected of a country that makes cheap labour available for one year is to ensure that what the corps members miss by way of commensurate allowance is compensated for by some other means, insurance cover inclusive. It is regrettable that all the goodies that made national service memorable, attractive and pleasurable in those days are all gone with the winds! These days, many establishments reject corps members posted to them for all manner of excuses; many others that accept them do so grudgingly.

    We saw the terrible experiences that many of them went through during the last elections, when, despite what were supposed to be fool-proof arrangements to make them comfortable in their respective electoral duties, many of them had to sleep on bare floors overnight, some were attacked by thugs recruited by some unscrupulous politicians for refusing to do their illegal bidding.

    This is not the best way to encourage our youths to be patriotic.

    It is incredible that it is only in recent times, indeed, as recently as 2017, that the idea of health insurance for corps members began to gain currency. And this was after the death of some corps members in their orientation camps.

    We urge the House of Representatives to expedite action on its ‘A Bill for an Act to amend the National Youth Service Corps Act Cap. No. 84 LFN to make it mandatory for the service corps to provide life insurance policy for corps members and to provide for matters incidental thereto, 2019.’ The bill, which seeks to amend the NYSC Act, was sponsored by Mr Abdullahi Ibrahim; it passed the first reading in July. Its aim is to make the Federal Government extend its life insurance policy enjoyed by civil servants to corps members.

    This is the way it should be. Serious people always plan for insurance. If there is no reciprocal action on the part of the government, people can refuse to serve. Alternatively, concerned parents should take class action to compel the Federal Government to do the rightful.

  • Conmen, conmen everywhere

    Conmen are not only 419ners who send phoney e-mails promising heaven and earth to the greedy and gullible. Conmen are not only Yahoo boys who reap where they do not sow. Conmen are not also only those who promise old white ladies love in order to have access to their hard-earned cash or those who go into other people’s bank accounts and drain them. They certainly go beyond men who ask for plenty of cash to buy chemicals to wash supposed black currencies into crispy dollars and Pound Sterling.

    There are so many conmen in unexpected places. Checklist: conmen on the pulpit, conmen in power, conmen in banking halls, conmen in the newsroom, conmen in deeds and conmen in the markets.

    The conmen on the pulpits call themselves men of God but they are really men of god; their god is small and his only motivation is cash obtained by deceit. What do you call a ‘man of God’ who, during a church service, brings out his mobile phone and dials God? The confused man proceeds to ask ‘Is that heaven?’ He then begins to say all manners of nonsense and his excited congregants are in awe of him. They are excited that, finally, their woes are over. He then adds a clincher: He will soon release God’s phone number. Wow! And no one gets up and slaps the madness out of his head.

    There is also another one who engages a demon in a shouting match. The demon he employed for his deceit looks like one of those actors in a badly-scripted Nollywood home video. As expected, he defeats the boasting demon and declares the devil a liar when he is actually the liar and devil in human form.

    I was flabbergasted the day I saw another clip of a conman on the pulpit who practically strangles a woman with a stiff neck. How on earth can delivering someone with stiff neck involve squeezing the life out of the ailing neck? She collapses and after a few seconds the ‘pastor’ performs some abracadabra and the old woman jumps up shouting Hallelujah. She is healed. Just like that!

    Some of these conmen giving our dear Christianity and the Church a bad name charge fees for deliverance from the inability to have a baby, husband and a job. They charge for every human woe. They even charge and do special prayer on passport so that the United States, the United Kingdom and Canadian visas can be received with ease.

    The conmen in power are the worst. During electioneering campaigns, they go from Makoko to Ajegunle and other ghettos in the country. They promise better lives for the ghetto dwellers and disappear thereafter. The only time they will be seen again is during the next electioneering campaigns when they will come with rice and money to buy votes. They are deficient in integrity. They make promises they do not intend to keep. They do not plan before getting into power. It is after they get into office that they understand the situation of things, and when they are reminded of their promises, they either deny or begin to explain things that need no explanation.

    These conmen in power have made our education nothing to write home about. Universities are no longer great. Students are no longer tutored and mentored by star local and foreign lecturers. Hostels are now bedbug-invested. Our primary, secondary and tertiary health institutions are no longer world-class. Twenty years of democracy has not been able to reverse the brain drain. Only on Monday, a group of friends feted a psychiatrist turned poet who has just been poached to work in the United Kingdom! Until he got the juicy offer, he was working at the popular ‘Yaba left’, where doctors have been abandoned by the government and have been on strike for weeks.

    The conmen in the banking halls are those bankers who steal depositors’ money, do insider trading and other sharp practices. There are instances where some bankers have been known to target accounts of dead individuals and they ensure their survivors do not get their savings. I have seen a case of a man whose document was forged by a banker and a fraudster all in a bid to steal his property. The matter is still in court and I hope justice is served.

    The next set of conmen belongs to my beloved profession. These guys are blackmailers, pure and simple. When they have a negative story against a popular person, they contact the person and demand payment to kill the story. There are even cases when they do not have any strong evidence to back their allegations but they still insist on being paid or they go to press with a report that cannot be substantiated.

    You may wonder what I mean by conmen in deeds. Well, these are men and women who will make you feel special all because they want to keep you on a particular spot, but when chances for growth occur, they work to stifle your development. It is even worse when they now label you over-ambitious among other mundane allegations.

    The conmen in the markets are traders who lie for profit sake. They make you believe the goods they are selling to you are at the best price possible. Meanwhile, they have ripped you off. But, they also have categories – the worst of these men and women are the ones who sell counterfeit products as genuine goods, the ones who clean off expiry dates on goods. They are murderers. Only God knows how many people they have killed with expired products. They also remind me of another set of conmen who deserve to be shot. These guys sell chalk as drugs, they sell bad water as pure water, they sell nonsense as herbal medicine and they all smile to the banks.

    The agents who collect rent from people and never give them apartments are also conmen. The employer who makes money but denies employees of their salaries and emoluments are shameless conmen. As far as I am concerned, people who wrote books and claimed Mungo Park discovered River Niger were conmen. All those balderdash about some Caucasians discovering places in Africa when our forebears had lived there for centuries were products of fraudulent minds. They wanted to con us into believing we were nobodies. Fools!

    My final take: In Ayobami Adebayo’s 9Mobile Literature Prize-winning novel Stay With Me, Yejide says “a mother does not do what she wants, she does what is best for her child”. Nigeria is the mother of these conmen and what is best for them is that she must use the law to clip their wings and turn them on the right path. If they are left to always have their way, they will continue to bring shame to their mother. This also reminds me of a statement by a character played by the great Adebayo Faleti of blessed memory in a movie. The character says: “Sermons alone won’t stop robbers. Only force can curb their activities…It is strenuous rowing and paddling that can get us there.”

    There are, however, two sets of conmen the law cannot deal with. They are those who say A and change to B when it matters most and politicians who make empty promises to get votes. With them, watch your back!

     

  • Sigh, sigh west

    The challenge of insecurity in the Southwest region of Nigeria assumed alarming dimensions, particularly between April and July, this year. From intermittent incidents of crime associated with most parts of the country, acts of armed robbery, kidnapping for ransom and murderous banditry became almost daily occurrences on various inter-town and inter-state roads across the region. Its vast forest reserves reportedly became the haven from where elements foreign to the region invaded the highways to kidnap, rob, rape, maim and commit other barbarities before retreating into their hideouts.

    Leading traditional rulers from the region cried out while their representatives met with President Muhammadu Buhari to apprise him of the situation and seek urgent action. Restive youth groups in the region threatened to resort to self-help while some partisan elements sought to exploit the situation politically and further fracture the country’s already fragile cohesion.

    It is thus heartwarming that the pledge by the Federal Government to deal decisively with the situation has been no mere words after all. In recent weeks, the situation has been somewhat stabilised and normalcy is noticeably being restored to the region. There have been concerted and coordinated efforts on the part of all stakeholders to arrest what amounted to a descent to anarchy in the Southwest. The presence of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Adamu, in the Southwest throughout this week underscores the seriousness of the police in rising to the challenge.

    Addressing a security summit attended by Southwest governors, traditional rulers and other critical groups in Ibadan on Monday, the IGP gave details of actions taken by the police to combat insecurity in the region. These include the deployment of Special Forces in the Southwest, particularly to take the battle to the criminals in the forests and other hideouts, intensive aerial surveillance of the region, the impending launching of the ‘Safer Highway’ Motorized Patrol Scheme across the Southwest as well as the ‘Safer City’ Scheme, which will involve the deployment of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) in the most critical and vulnerable locations.

    The IGP further revealed that the Special Forces will be under the command of a Commissioner of Police and will be equipped with all necessary facilities, including technology. They will work closely with designated Community Police Officers (CPOs) to be drawn from the various communities and representing diverse interest groups such as artisans, road transport unions, traders’ associations, academic associations, religious bodies, women and youth groups as well as vigilante groups such as the Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC). The CPOs will support the efforts of the police through the performance of functions considered critical but non-sensitive and with low-risk.

    While we commend this kind of fresh and creative thinking, it is important that these CPOs be well trained and properly monitored and supervised so that they don’t themselves become threats to the security of the communities in which they will operate. No less laudable is the action of the Southwest governors in not only convening two security summits but also coming up with a coordinated security arrangement for the region, to which they are committed to pulling resources together to achieve.

    It is also noteworthy that the traditional rulers in the Southwest have been at the forefront of participating actively in safeguarding the security of lives and property in their respective domains. This shows that the traditional institution is still very relevant to ensuring security and other aspects of good governance in the region. With the seriousness demonstrated by respective stakeholders in tackling insecurity in the Southwest, the reflexive tendency in some quarters to engage in divisive ethnic stigmatisation as a result of the rampant criminality has happily abated. This is certainly the way to go for all parts of the country.

  • 100 days: Abiodun vs Amosun

    Governor Dapo Abiodun is the quintessential gentleman. Otherwise he would have turned up the heat on his predecessor, Ibikunle Amosun, now a senator representing Ogun Central. Abiodun has largely ignored the distractions and tantrums being thrown by the ex-governor, through his former commissioners and adopted party, the Allied Peoples Movement. But not all the distractions can be ignored especially when they are targeted at pulling the wool over the eyes of the public and setting up the new government for public ridicule and discontent. APM should halt the penchant for maliciously false information and choose to be a responsible opposition by providing alternative views based on facts, not fiction.

    Not a few citizens were taken in by the decision of the former governor to remain in the All Progressives Congress (APC) while asking his loyalists seeking elective offices to move en mass to the newly formed Allied Peoples Movement (APM). The reason given by Amosun was that he needed to assist President Buhari to win his re-election! What a ruse! Just as I wrote then in the media, a general should lead his men in battle. The fact is, Amosun was not prepared to risk his own election in the new party, the APM. He was not prepared to take the gamble. Buhari’s re-election was only used as smokescreen. Indeed, Buhari’s case would have been better served if the former governor had led his men to the APM. All APC supporters would have voted for Buhari while all APM supporters would have voted for Buhari. But the singular action of Amosun to float and fund APM while he remained in APC caused considerable confusion, which reduced the anticipated total votes of Buhari in the presidential election, especially when the opposition Peoples Democratic Party was completely in disarray in Ogun State. Make no mistake about it, most of the non literate APM voters would have voted APC all the way in the National Assembly elections and Amosun would have lost his senatorial bid had he decamped to APM!

    In effect, ex-governor Amosun pulled a fast one on his own loyalists in order to return to the senate. Today, most of his loyalists who left for APM are languishing in the wilderness while Amosun is enjoying himself in Abuja. As observed in the previous intervention, the overwhelming majority of Amosun’s political office holders suffered untold financial hardship. Some of them confirmed that the ex-governor denied them the most basic of their entitlements. Undenied reports in the social media have it that contrary to the widely circulated rumours that the Amosun government paid the severance of all the political office holders that served between 2015 and 2019, his own special assistants and senior special advisers were not paid and have appealed to the Abiodun government to offset the severance in order to encourage sacrificial service by public office holders.

    Just as I predicted in my widely circulated article ahead of the 2019 general elections, the APM candidates returned from the polls virtually empty-handed. Had Amosun gone to APM, he would have lost his election. Had his Chief of Staff Tolu Odebiyi, the son of a frontline Awoist, Chief JAO Odebiyi, scorned his progressive pedigree and jumped to APM, as demanded by Amosun, he would not be in the senate today. Amosun deployed all the machinery of governance and state resources to the governorship election of the APM candidate but God proved that He is greater than man. Abiodun won his election fair and square.

    After the victory of Abiodun in the March 9 governorship poll, I warned the APC to be proactive as the sources of revenue of the state would be sabotaged by the departing governor in order to set up the new government for public discontent. A proof of that was shown in the 100 per cent upfront payment by the ex-governor to a few contractors for contracts awarded on the eve of his departure from office in order to ensure no money was inherited by the Abiodun government. Indeed by its own admission, as stated recently in the press release by the former Commissioner for Finance, Wale Oshinowo, the Amosun government left in Ogun State’s treasury just a paltry N2.5 billion from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). It is ludicrous if not inane for Amosun to claim that the monthly share from the federation account, which was not even available in May, was part of what he handed over to Abiodun. Even more preposterous was the claim by the former government that the refund for Pay As You Earn  from federal workers in Ogun State, which was released long after Abiodun became governor, was part of the money inherited by the new government!

    The fact is Amosun deliberately EMPTIED the treasury by paying  some selected contractors ahead for projects not yet executed in order to set up Abiodun  for public discontent and for personal reasons which only a judicial probe can reveal. It would have even made sense if the departing government had used the money to offset the entitlements of civil servants, staffs of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Tai Solarin College of Education and the political office holders, so that the new government would not have to confront backlog of unpaid entitlements.

    Is it not surprising it is the same Amosun administration, which left nothing in the treasury but humongous debts in the neighborhood of N200 billion  that is accusing the new government, through APM, of not doing anything in its 100 days in office? The new governor may need to draw from the experiences of the former political office holders in order to free the different sources of IGR and further deliver the dividends of democracy to its people.

    For now, the Abiodun government has started off on a good note by reopening MAPOLY after three years of comatose orchestrated by Amosun’s thoughtless policy, reducing the social tension generated across the state by the sudden appointment of 75 Obas  without due process and setting up committees to review the litany of projects started and abandoned by Amosun as well as last-minute employment and promotions in the civil service that have affected the morale of many senior civil servants.

    The Abiodun government is paying salaries as and when due, constructing roads and buildings, and carrying out palliative works on most of Amosun’s abandoned projects in order to ameliorate the stress, trauma and agonies of residents. On this score, one must commend the maturity of the governor for not stopping altogether all the projects started by his predecessor. The money spent and being spent on the projects belongs to Ogun State. The Amosun government ended on May 28, and the Abiodun government has the power to stop altogether or renegotiate the terms of the projects. It is Abiodun that is now in charge and takes responsibility for the ongoing projects across the state. It is therefore myopic and crude for APM to suggest that Abiodun has not done anything in 100 days. Indeed, he has surpassed the achievements of the previous administration within the same period.

    • Barr Oladele, public policy commentator, writes from Akute, Ogun State.

  • Improving access to fertiliser key to food security, enterprise development

    Achieving sustainable agricultural growth in Nigeria will depend on more farmers getting timely access to affordable fertilisers and improved farming methods. This was the view of stakeholders and experts at the just-concluded African Farming Second Edition Agribusiness Summit in Abuja. DANIEL ESSIET writes.

    Farmers in Nigeria are confronted with the continuous challenges of raising their productivity to boost food security due to limited access and low use of fertiliser.

    This was the view of experts at the just-concluded African Farming Second Edition Agribusiness Summit in Abuja.

    To them, the neglected but critical input can double yields in a single cropping season. They agreed that Nigeria’s enormous agricultural potential, if tapped, could feed the country and spur socio-economic growth. That means strengthening small-scale farmers and giving them access to improved soil that will increase yields, fertiliser and markets to enhance their incomes and well-being.

    They advised the government to empower smallholder farmers to sustainably and profitably produce more food and achieve a food-secure Nigeria.

    One of them, the Country Manager, OCP Africa, Caleb Usoh said in addition to inputs, such as better seed, and farming practices, fertiliser could be a game changer in food security among smallholder farmers battling falling harvests and unproductive soils.

    Usoh said the government should pay attention to the fertiliser industry to raise the level of “ease of doing business, as the future growth of agriculture lay in efficient utilisation of plant nutrients.

    For Nigeria to grow more food from shrinking agriculture land, Usoh said fertiliser was one of the key inputs to increase per hectare productivity.

    He said OCP plays a major part in assisting Nigeria and other countries on the continent to feed themselves, by ensuring that smallholder farmers are able to use fertiliser optimally to boost their yields.

    By using more fertiliser correctly, he said farmers could grow more nutritious food, achieve household food security, create jobs, increase incomes and boost rural development.

    Through its Agribooster Offer, aimed at boosting food production in the country, Usoh said the company provides farmers with support for every aspect of the agricultural value chain.

    He said farmers are connected to financing, working with extension agents on proper fertiliser use, collaborating with other providers to ensure they have the right fertiliser and other inputs.

    He said his organisation was working with the Federal Government to build fertiliser plants in Southsouth and Southwest areas of the country, which will use local raw materials.

    While the industry imports phosphate, he said OCP fertiliser plant in Nigeria will utilise the ammonia found locally to produce fertiliser.

    With the availability of natural gas in the southern part of the country, Usoh said the company intended to take advantage of it to power the plant which will be located in a free zone  He said his organisation has developed international capacities for running plants in the most cost-effective and timely manner, adding that it is working with other African governments to empower manpower in fertiliser production.

    Usoh said the company is supporting the Federal Government’s efforts to increase food security and improve nutrition across the country.

    According to him, there is a need to expose farmers to fast-changing agricultural and food systems and inputs to help them not only in terms of productivity enhancement, but also in enabling them to be excellent stewards of their land.

    He said OCP welcomed an enhanced partnership with the industry to further close still existing yield gaps and promote efficient fertiliser use.

    He said the organisation supports greater outreach to farmers and innovation in the field of plant nutrition solutions and engaging in dialogue and partnerships with stakeholders.

    He said his organisation supported the summit to ensure food security and drive economic growth.

    In addition to developing specialty fertiliser, the company is looking at digital agriculture and how the industry can use data-driven information to provide better fertiliser recommendations.

    The Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Federal University of Technology, Akure(FUTA),Ondo State, Prof Samuel Agele said increasing food production to meet the challenge of the growing population requires using new technology and intensifying production.

    He said smallholder farmers were applying fertiliser randomly because they lack knowledge on their correct usage.

    Professor of plant protection and improvement, Department of Crop Science and Biotechnology, Imo State University, Onuachumba Martin noted that issue of soil health is critical in view of ever-declining arable land soil. Hence, there was a need for utmost attention to be paid to improvement of soil health by all stakeholders including governments, farmers, input suppliers and all those involved in the development of agriculture .

    He explained that inadequate and imbalanced use of fertiliser has resulted in deterioration of soilhealth,adding that a massive awareness campaign is needed to enlighten farmers on the importance of soils for healthy life.

    According to him, scaling up improved soil analysis and nutrient best management practices,will help farmers to increase the efficiency and productivity of their farms.

    He noted that increasing fertiliser use must go hand-in-hand with more soil and crop specific plant nutrition and be framed in a broader set of efforts promoting soil health.

    The Head of Events, Alain Charles Publishing, Martyn Diamond Black, said the summit was to provide a platform for agri trade and investment opportunities.