News
Agric Experts Say Tinubu’s Broadcast Raises Hope, Requires Proper Implementation
Some agricultural experts say President Bola Tinubu’s national broadcast is full of hope and many fruitful expectations but requires proper implementation.
They charged the President to set up mechanisms for proper planning and smooth implementation of his administration’s agricultural policies.
The experts disclosed this in seperate interviews with The Tide source yesterday while reacting to the President’s national broadcast.
Prof. Ayo Olalusi, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Technology Akure, said the president broadcast, particularly his plan on agriculture, was a welcome development.
Olalusi said the implementation of the food security plan should be strictly supervised and monitored by the presidency.
“It is full of hope and many fruitful expectations.
“However, it should be noted that this is not the first time the nation will be listening a well-articulated speech and good proposals from our leaders.
“Most of the time, the implementation is usually the major challenge,”Olalusi said.
He said the implementation of the state of emergency declared on food production should be strictly supervised and monitored by the presidency.
Olalusi stressed that the implementation should not be hijacked by the political parties.
“Another challenge that hinders implementation is the problem of the ‘deceptive data base ‘ of farmers.
“The presidency should find a way of purging those who are not true farmers from the data base being paraded by the Ministry of Agriculture.
“Most of the time, the inputs go to the hand of those who will resell it to the farmers at high cost.
“The government should map out innovative ways of reaching the real farmers without passing through the middle men,” he said.
On his own part, Prof. Femi Ajayi, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Extension, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, urged the president not to make the food security plan another white elephant project.
Ajayi, who doubted the workability of all the president’s proposal said there were many questions begging for answers in the broadcast.
He called on the government to work with committed people that would think through the process to make the proposals achievable.
Ajayi urged the Federal Government to desist from dealing with political associations or farmers in order not to truncate the process.
“Honestly, we need eggheads that will be able to think through with the government and make these proposals achievable.
“I am only saying as a professor of agriculture how are all these proposals workable?
“In agriculture, there’s something we call planning, implementation and evaluation. The president’s plan is supposed to go in that circle but does not appear so.
“We want to bring down the price of food but it is not only grain that we consume in Nigeria, government need to focus on all agricultural produce, grains, tubers , vegetables, fruits and others.
“Don’t focus only on rice, maize and wheat.
“How will the grains be distributed among the 36 states and FCT? Are we sure the process will not be hijacked by political or party faithful?
“There are many questions that are begging answers.
“If we solve our immediate problems what will happen in the long run. The strategy will not address the present food security confronting the nation because many people will hoard it.
“The distribution of grains may not amount to food on the table of average Nigerians,” he said.
Ajayi said the president broadcast had not really changed the situation on ground.
He the government need to give all these strategies a thought and see how they are going to lay it out and bring out a very strong strategic planning and break it down to cycles.
“Let me say that I don’t know of anybody that is jubilating over the broadcast, everything is like putting or postponing something.
“Don’t let it be another type of talk to hail agriculture because of the problem we have at hand.
“Where is the land to cultivate all these crops? Have they acquired the land? Have they allocated the land to people that will manage them? Or is it going to be another white elephant project?, Ajayi asked.
He urged the government to work with universities of agriculture and research institutes to find lasting solutions to mirage of problem confronting the nation’s food security.
“We have universities of agriculture, but it is as if they are not useful. We have faculty of agriculture and colleges of agriculture but it is as if they are not useful.
“Poultry farmers are crying and government has not been able to find a lasting solution to the sector.
“We cannot do it at a shot like this, the government is just two months old in office.
“By so doing, maybe we will get some where.
He urged the Federal Government to address the nation’s food security, make farms safe and attract young people to agriculture.
“I believe that the government can still do better with time,” he said.
News
Let’s Approach Regional Development Issues Differently – Fubara …As S’South Govs Host Fubara To 50th Birthday Celebration
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has sued for a change in the current approach adopted by South South Governors in their pursuit to achieve holistic regional development and economic prosperity.
The governor insisted on de-emphasis in vested individuals’ political interests while looking at the bigger picture of achieving enduring regional integration that will strengthen unity of purpose to change the trajectory of development in the region.
Fubara made the appeal during the meeting of Governors of South-South States, under the auspices of BRACED Commission, at the Bayelsa State Government House in Yanagoa on Tuesday.
This was contained in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Nelson Chukwudi.
BRACED is an acronym for Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta.
He said: “I want to appeal that if we have to succeed in this drive, we need to keep our political differences aside and understand that the struggle, as at today, is for posterity, for the development of our region.
“It is really sad that in Niger Delta that is the economic base of this country, the construction of a road that you tagged ‘East-West Road’ could be an issue, that we need to beg, protest, and complain to get it fixed. I don’t think it is proper.”
Governor Fubara stated that it is not that the federal authorities do not understand that Niger Delta needs the road but quickly added that they have seen that even the people of the region do not take themselves seriously.
The governor said the moment Niger Delta people stopped playing to the gallery, and place value on themselves, outsiders will have no option than to accord the region and its people due regard.
Fubara said: “On my part, I want to say this: This is not the first time we are meeting. For me, I followed the course of the region meeting in a forum that we tagged “BRACED Commission.”
“BRACED Commission is also one of the bodies that was constituted at that time to support and work out development strategies for this region. But what I am seeing today is just limiting this meeting to only BRACED COMMISSION.
“We need to widen the scope where other leaders of the region should be part of the discussion of the development of the region, and I think this is the direction that will help the region.”
Reading the Communique of the meeting, the new Chairman of the Forum of Governors of South-South States, and Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, said they support the Federal Government Tax Reform Bills, and urged President Bola Tinubu to extend the Value Added Tax (VAT) sharing percentages to oil and gas derivation.
He stated the Forum’s request to the Federal Government to urge relevant stakeholders and agencies to extend remediation of polluted environment ongoing in Ogoni land to other impacted communities and States in the region.
Governor Diri also said that the Forum resolved to establish a structural regional security network to enhance safety and security, foster stable Niger Delta region conducive for economic growth and prosperity.
Highlight of the event was the hosting of Governor Fubara to a surprise 50th Birthday celebration by the Governors of South-South States at the Government House in Yenagoa.
News
Fubara Lauds Tinubu For Setting Up Education Load Fund … Vows To Ensure Rivers Benefit Maximally From Scheme
The Rivers State Government has applauded President Ahmed Bola Tinubu for conceiving the idea of setting up the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) which has opened up opportunities for youths to acquire tertiary education irrespective of their financial status.
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, gave the commendation while playing host to a delegation from NELFUND who came on an advocacy visit to the Government House in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Represented by his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Nma Odu, Governor Fubara said in developed countries it is common for people to go through school with loans which they sometimes pay all throughout their lives, noting that “for us, it is more accessible and more friendly because you would be required to pay back the loan two years after your National Youth Service.
“It is a win-win situation; it is a situation where the youths in Nigeria should not say because my parents are poor or passed away I cannot improve on my educational growth. This offers them a golden opportunity and I am glad you came for this advocacy.”
The governor urged NELFUND to intensify its advocacy to let the people know how they can benefit from it, adding that it is more important when talking about vocational institutions.
“If you look at the developed countries it is people that went to the vocational schools that make so much money, because it is pricey to get somebody to do anything, we need to instil this into our people, our youths, because people sometimes tend to look down on people that went to vocational schools, it should not be,” he said.
Fubara expressed delight with the NELFUND programme and assured that the State Government would do whatever it can to ensure Rivers State benefits maximally from the scheme.
In his remarks, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of NELFUND, Dr. Akintunde Sawyer, informed the governor that they were in Rivers State to seek the support of the State Government towards the loan, stressing that President Tinubu has directed them to ensure no Nigerian student who has the ability and desire to get educated at tertiary level is denied the opportunity due to lack of funding.
He explained that the scheme provides interest-free loans to students who apply, adding that these loans are not repayable until two years after their Youth Service when they must have gotten a job.
A British-Nigerian politician, Florence Eshalomi, has been appointed as the United Kingdom’s trade envoy to Nigeria.
Her appointment makes Eshalomi the second Nigerian to hold the position.
Confirming her appointment on X on Tuesday, she wrote: “It is an honour to have been appointed as the United Kingdom’s Trade Envoy to Nigeria.
“I’m looking forward to building on my close ties with Nigeria to promote a strong and flourishing economic relationship between our two great nations.
“I am looking forward to strengthening the UK’s relationship with Nigeria to explore shared growth and opportunities for both countries.”
Announcing the appointment in a statement on Tuesday, Jonathan Reynolds, the UK’s Business and Trade Secretary, said the decision was aimed at attracting investment into the UK and boosting economic growth.
“I’ve launched a new team of trade envoys who will use their experience, expertise, and knowledge to unlock new markets around the world for British businesses, attract investment into the UK, and ultimately drive economic growth,” Reynolds said.
Eshalomi, 44, is an MP representing the Vauxhall and Camberwell Green constituency.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Political and International Studies with Law from Middlesex University.