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Hardship: AfDB Plans $2.7bn Budget, Agric Loans For Nigeria …Approves $134m Fund For Emergency Food Production
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Board of Directors has approved $134million for Nigeria to implement an emergency food production plan, AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina has said.
According to him, talks are also ongoing for a $1.7billion economic and budget support loan as well as the launch of a $1bn agro-industrial processes in 28 states in Nigeria.
Adesina made the disclosures during an interview with journalists in Lagos on Monday.
The development came amid a biting food shortage that has led to hunger protests in Nigerian states and most recently attacks on grain warehouses in Abuja, Ogun, Niger and Kaduna states.
Last year’s fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification policy of the government have led to severe hardships with inflation now nearing 30 per cent amid a sharp depreciation of the naira.
Weak consumer purchasing power has affected businesses with the nation recording weak Gross Domestic Growth during the last quarter of the last year.
However, Adesina told journalists in Lagos that AfDB had pledged to support Nigeria through this period, disclosing that a number of agric initiatives should yield about five million metric tons of wheat, rice, cassava, maize this year for the country.
He exuded confidence that the development bank would work with Nigerian government to proffer solutions to the problems confronting Africa’s biggest economy.
He said, “I’m not used to complaining; I’m used to finding solutions. I did tell the President when I can last year that we would strongly support the Nigerian government in finding a solution to the challenges. As I speak to you today, we have approved $134m for Nigeria to implement an emergency food production plan. And that is not something that we are planning to do; it is what we are already doing.
“We have supported the cultivation of 118,000 hectares of wheat in Nigeria already this season. We will do 150, 000 hectares of maize production this march. By the rainy season, in May and June, we will support Nigeria to do 300,000 hectares of rice. We will also do 300,000 hectares of maize, 150,000 hectares of cassava and 50,000 hectares of soybean. So, that means that by the end of March, Nigeria would get out an additional one million metric tons of wheat; and by November, we will have an additional four million metric tons of rice, cassava, maize and soybeans.”
The AfDB chief, however, advised Nigeria to push for more food supply, pointing out that food inflation is a major component of the nation’s inflation figure.
Tackling inflation requires looking at some of the structural drivers, according to him.
“A big part of that (Nigeria’s) inflation is food price inflation. If you look at the Consumer Price Index, probably 65 per cent of it If not even 75 per cent of it now, is actually the price of food. And so, you don’t necessarily deal with food price inflation through your standard macroeconomic policy of tightening monetary supply. You deal with it by producing the food because that’s the thing that needs to be done. So I think it’s very important to be able to deal with that,” he said.
Adesina emphasised the need to enhance food production in the country.
On how the country could boost food production as quickly as possible, Adesina said, “But one thing that I would say is that the government needs to go back to the policy of electronic wallet system. Remember when I was minister, we did design a programme to get seeds and fertilizers to farmers directly via their mobile phones by electronic vouchers. We were able to reach 15 million farmers in four years; the whole place was booming with food. And I think that is what I will advise needs to be done and done very quickly. Because access to high performing yields, high performing seeds and fertilizers and farm inputs is very critical; otherwise you will not be able to do it.”
Nonetheless, the AfDB boss also pointed out the need for Nigeria to get low-interest concessionary financing to overcome its economic challenges.
He said issues around the exchange rate must be dealt with as an import dependent nation.
According to him, the AfDB is planning about $1.7bn economic and budget support loan for the country.
He said, “There needs to be a lot of support around Nigeria, given the tight fiscal space and the lack of forex, to make available a lot more concessional financing to the Nigerian economy. And that’s what we’re doing at African Development Bank. This year we expect to approve with our board because we always go to our board of directors for approval, but our plan is to be able to do $1.67bn of financing to Nigeria in different sectors, including considering a potential policy base operation of budget support to Nigeria. We are discussing with the Minister of Finance; that is part of a $1bn budget support operation that will go into two tranches. Again, I will say it has to be approved by the board, but these are all the things that we are hoping to be able to do.”
He spoke about other agric projects in the country.
Also, the AfDB is planning to launch this year a programme for a $1bn special agro-industrial processes are in 28 states, adding that “It this structural interventions that I will say would make agriculture more productive, efficient, and competitive.
“So those are the things that we are doing in Nigeria. In addition to that, we have a programme that we’ve already implemented, called Special Agro Industrial Processing zones. So these are new economic zones we are supporting Nigeria to develop. We provided $520m for that, ourselves, the African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural, currently working now in eight states. We expect that those things will start hitting the ground and start construction by June of this year,” he added.
The Rivers State Chief judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi has granted pardon to six inmates standing awaiting trial at the Port Harcourt maximum correctional center.
The six lucky inmates granted pardon on Tuesday by the state Chief Judge included Nwekeala Chizoba, Samuel Emmanuel, Aniete Kelvin, Ebube Fubara and Goddey Okpara who were on awaiting trial as murder suspects and have all spent between 10 years to seven years in the custody without a proper information filed against them in the court.
Justice Amadi during a special gaol delivery exercise last Tuesday at the Port Harcourt Maximum Correctional Centre opined that the special gaol delivery was part of activities lined up to commomerate the 2024/2025 legal year in the State and restated the commitment of the state judiciary in decongesting the correctional centre and ensuring that those inmates who are not supposed to be there are removed from the custody.
The state chief judge stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to build a society that supports rehabilitation and gives a second chance to anyone or group of people who have fallen short of the expectation of the law and have been punished accordingly.
He stressed that the National Judicial Council(NJC) encourages judges to pay more attention to criminal matters to enable them to decongests the correctional facilities, noting that since his assumption into office, his administration has been able to reduce the number of inmates in Nigerian Correctional Centres and the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre in particular, to less than 2,000 as against the over 4,000 inmates previously in the faculty.
According to him, “as they release the deserving inmates, they affirm their commitment to justice, compassion and rule of law but that they must not forget the fundamental principles of justice delivery system which is truth and fairness, integrity and equality before the law.”
I encourage you all the released inmates to return to your families and become better citizens. You must not engage in action that will return you all back to prison. Let me say that while the judges show empathy to you all, it does not absolved individuals from being held accountable for actions against individuals, corporate organisations and state which the law frowns at, ”he stated
The Chief Judge thereafter stood down the exercise to enable the DPP to intervene to case files following the fact that majority of the persons listed to benefit from the exercise are facing murder charges and adjourned to a date that will come before December.
Earlier in his goodwill message, the outgoing state Comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Felix Lawrence, who was recently promoted to the rank of Assistant Controller General, commended the state judiciary led by Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi for their continuous effort aimed at ensuring justice and decongesting the facilities.
Other activities lined up for the event included special church service at St Paul’s Cathedral , Anglican Communion, Rebisi Port Harcourt, inspection of guard of honour by the state Chief Judge mounted by officers of the Nigerian police and a special court session held at the ceremonial court hall.
By: AkujobiAmadi
The Director General of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement (RBoPP), Dr. Ine Briggs, has explained that the Sir Siminalayi Fubara administration plans to enforce transparency in governance through public procurement.
Speaking at a one-day Public Procurement Enlightenment workshop organised in collaboration with the State Local Government Service Commission for newly elected chairmen, vice chairmen, secretaries and leaders of legislative assemblies, Dr. Briggs said it is key for grassroot development.
She stated that the Sir. Fubara administration plans to reduce wastage and at same time infuse efficiency in public expenditure.
The RSoPP DG said the local government political office holders remain key drivers in the new vision hence the workshop is to arm them with knowledge on how to execute projects in tandem with needs of the people.
“ Your role in the prudent management of public resources is, therefore, not just administrative it’s the cornerstone of delivering the dividends of democracy. Every procurement decision you make must reflect a commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability” Dr. Briggs submitted.
One of the key goals of the administration she further reminded the participants was to use their offices to foster economic growth through public procurement.
She warned that the law establishing the agency empowers it to penalise defaulters, but that what is more important is voluntary compliance to the laws.
In addition to that, she said urged the local government council leaders that champion the practice and implementation of public procurement law.
On his part, Acting Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, Pastor GoodLife Ben Iduoku averred that the aim of the workshop is to arm key stakeholders in the local government system to generate new ideas, innovation and strategies in tandem with government policies and programmes.
The workshop dealt on various topics on procurement planning, methods, Understanding Bid Process, including types of Construction Contracts and law.
Some participants were awarded excellence and meritorious awards as part of the programme.
By: Kevin Nengia
The 19th anniversary of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Rivers State Chapter, recently ended in Port Harcourt in grand style, with participants from various schools including proprietors, the academia, civil society groups and top government functionaries charting the way forward for educational improvement.
The 19th NAPPS anniversary christened, ‘Innovation and Adaptation: Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities’ was held at Casoni Hotels, Port Harcourt.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the association, Dr. Jaja Adafe Sunday expressed gratitude to the members and executives for their untiring efforts towards the achievements of the body.
He sought the intervention of government on the lingering crisis on the economy as it is affecting the running of schools.
He decried high cost of things including fuel and raw materials which has adversely affected the running of schools and payment of teachers.
Dr. Sunday hinted that the current economic situation in the nation is biting hard on the operations of schools, saying inflation, removal of fuel subsidy, fuel scarcity, poor electricity supply, tariffs and lack of government grants are some of the challenges faced by schools, and urged the members to brace up to the challenges, as it is the panacea to building a brighter future.
Guest speakers from the health sector and the academia thrilled the gathering on the essence of basic education which they said is the key to national development.
Former Dean of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Professor Azuru and the Chief Medical Director of Meridian Hospitals, Dr. Odo Iyke were some notable guest speakers who delivered lectures at the occasion.
Some distinguished proprietors also got special recognitions and awards.
The 19th anniversary cake was cut by the Rivers State NAPPS Chairman with representatives of the state government assisting.