As a measure towards boosting agriculture and food production in the state, the Bayelsa State Government has disbursed over N.6 billion as loans to 18 cooperative groups under the Root and Tuber Expansion Programme.
Speaking at the disbursement and presentation of cheques ceremony at the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) headquarters, Swali-Yenagoa, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Abel Ziniye, said government was committed to the promotion of agricultural activities in the state. Ziniye assured that government would re-vitalize the dwindling national economy by encouraging public-private sector initiative in agriculture.
According to him, the revamping of the agricultural sector would empower farmers and other large scale entrepreneurs to produce, process and market agricultural produce for consumption and industrial needs.
Ziniye noted that because of the importance government had attached to agriculture, the state government had paid N177 million as counterpart funding towards the tripartite funded programmes in agriculture such as the Root and Tuber Expansion Programme for Food Security (RTEP),the Fadama Development Programme and the community- based National Resources Management Programme.
The commissioner urged the benefiting farmers to make maximum use of the opportunity to increase the hectares of their farms to produce sufficient food for the state.
In his welcome address, the programme manager of the ADP, Mr. Francis Alagoa, noted that the overall objective of the RTEP was to achieve sustainable increase in root and tuber crops such as cassava, yam, cocoyam and sweet potatoes as well as their end products.
Alagoa said that the programme would also support activities bothering on agro-processing and marketing of the end products of root and tuber and appealed to the beneficiaries of the loan to justify the investment of the state government in the project.
Also speaking, the programme manager of RTEP, Alhaji Jimoh explained that the idea behind the RTEP was to generate federal and state governments' interest in supporting farmers for the production of root and tuber crops.
Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Asoye Igwe expressed appreciation to the state ADP for its commitment towards the development of agriculture in the state, adding that the farmers were encouraged by the gesture.
Friday, March 21, 2008
TWO FEARED DEAD IN NAVAL BOAT BLAST
An explosion at the Nigeria Navy Pathfinder shipyard at Rumuolumeni near Port Harcourt, Rivers State, is feared to have caused the death of no fewer than two naval personnel and the destruction of three gunboats and a barge.
Meanwhile, a prominent militant group in the Niger Delta, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has claimed responsibility for the blast. The spokesman for the Joint Task Force (JTF), comprising the Army, Air Force, Navy, Police and State Security Service, Lt. Colonel, Sagir Musa, has however dismissed MEND's claim, noting that the accident was caused by an electrical spark.
Spokesman for the militant group, Jomo Gbomo in an online message claimed that the accident was an act of sabotage targeted on two gunboats belonging to the Navy. He said the group's men inside the Navy carried out the sabotage to retaliate the killing of innocent civilians by the gunboat that crashed into a passenger ferry in Bayelsa State recently.
Meanwhile, a prominent militant group in the Niger Delta, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has claimed responsibility for the blast. The spokesman for the Joint Task Force (JTF), comprising the Army, Air Force, Navy, Police and State Security Service, Lt. Colonel, Sagir Musa, has however dismissed MEND's claim, noting that the accident was caused by an electrical spark.
Spokesman for the militant group, Jomo Gbomo in an online message claimed that the accident was an act of sabotage targeted on two gunboats belonging to the Navy. He said the group's men inside the Navy carried out the sabotage to retaliate the killing of innocent civilians by the gunboat that crashed into a passenger ferry in Bayelsa State recently.
IJAW COMMUNITY PROMISES TO COOPERATE WITH JTF TO CURB BUNKERING
The Kokodiagbene Community in Warri South West Local Government Area has pledged to cooperate with the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) to curb illegal bunkering at the Jones Creek flow station and its environs.
The Community's Secretary, Comrade Sheriff Mulade who spoke in Warri warned all those involved in illegal trades especially bunkering to move away from its vicinity with immediate effect as the community would no longer tolerate, support or accept illegal trades in its territory.
According to him, Kokodiagbene Town byelaws article 2 subsection V stipulates clearly that "anybody who is involved in state crime or aids and abets a state crime in the town shall be handed over to the law enforcement agents."
He thanked the state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, for his pragmatic approach towards beautification of the urban cities and appealed to him to extend government infrastructural development programmes of his administration to the riverine communities because teachers posted to these areas refuse to stay due to lack of amenities in the schools and communities.
Comrade Mulade, called on the state government to provide ferry boats to convene teachers to various centres in the riverine communities, stressing that Kokodiagbene people believed his administration was the only one that could salvage and elevate the riverine communities in the state.
He reminded Governor Uduaghan that, Kokodiagbene Community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Escravos was the most peaceful and law abiding community and host to over three flow stations but regretted that peaceful communities were currently languishing despite their huge contribution to the economic growth of the state and the nation in general.
The community called on DESOPADEC the state’s interventionist agency to recognise the town politically as the mother host community in Gbaramatu Kingdom.
The Community's Secretary, Comrade Sheriff Mulade who spoke in Warri warned all those involved in illegal trades especially bunkering to move away from its vicinity with immediate effect as the community would no longer tolerate, support or accept illegal trades in its territory.
According to him, Kokodiagbene Town byelaws article 2 subsection V stipulates clearly that "anybody who is involved in state crime or aids and abets a state crime in the town shall be handed over to the law enforcement agents."
He thanked the state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, for his pragmatic approach towards beautification of the urban cities and appealed to him to extend government infrastructural development programmes of his administration to the riverine communities because teachers posted to these areas refuse to stay due to lack of amenities in the schools and communities.
Comrade Mulade, called on the state government to provide ferry boats to convene teachers to various centres in the riverine communities, stressing that Kokodiagbene people believed his administration was the only one that could salvage and elevate the riverine communities in the state.
He reminded Governor Uduaghan that, Kokodiagbene Community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Escravos was the most peaceful and law abiding community and host to over three flow stations but regretted that peaceful communities were currently languishing despite their huge contribution to the economic growth of the state and the nation in general.
The community called on DESOPADEC the state’s interventionist agency to recognise the town politically as the mother host community in Gbaramatu Kingdom.
NANS GET NEW PRESIDENT
Bashir Babale of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), yesterday in Abuja emerged President-elect at the unity convention of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). Prior to the election, the association had broken into two factions necessitating moves to unify the members.
One of the factions was led by Yinka Dada of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, while Femi Osabinu, of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, led the other. At the end of the convention at the Old Parade Ground, Abuja, Babale polled 98 votes out of a total of 192 votes to become the new president.
Bashiru Maru of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, polled 71 votes to place second among 10 candidates who contested the election. Two candidates had earlier withdrawn from the presidential race. In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Babale thanked the delegates for their support and mandate to serve Nigerian students. He said having been elected on a unity platform; he would carry everybody along in the administration of the affairs of NANS.
Babale called on the losers to cooperate with him in the renewed drive to unite the students and restore dignity to students’ unionism under the umbrella of NANS.
``As a united body, we will command more respect from the government and stakeholders in the education sector,'' he said. Malam Bashir Baballe, the President-elect of NANS has called for a marshall plan to revamp the nation's education sector. Baballe made the call in an interview in Abuja shortly after his election.
He said such plan had become imperative in order to move the sector forward and redeem the nation's image. Baballe said that to realise the objective, government must inject more funds into education. ``Funds injected into education cannot be too much because the cost of ignorance to any nation cannot be estimated,'' he said.
``The political and socioeconomic development of any nation is tied to the educational development of that country,''he said. Baballe called for the provision of modern facilities in educational institutions to make their products more competitive. ``For us to get the education sector of our dreams, its managers should also give priority to planning. ``The plan must provide statistics/data on the required manpower and facilities to meet future enrolment needs.
``This would facilitate adequate budgetary allocation by the three tiers of government to take education to the next level,'' he said. He promised to sustain the unity achieved in the ``2008 NANS Unity Convention''. ``You will recall that before the convention, we had two factions of NANS and we came together for unity,'' he said. Baballe, a final year Education student of Bayero University, Kano, was elected today at the Abuja convention. Ten candidates contested for the position.
One of the factions was led by Yinka Dada of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, while Femi Osabinu, of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, led the other. At the end of the convention at the Old Parade Ground, Abuja, Babale polled 98 votes out of a total of 192 votes to become the new president.
Bashiru Maru of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, polled 71 votes to place second among 10 candidates who contested the election. Two candidates had earlier withdrawn from the presidential race. In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Babale thanked the delegates for their support and mandate to serve Nigerian students. He said having been elected on a unity platform; he would carry everybody along in the administration of the affairs of NANS.
Babale called on the losers to cooperate with him in the renewed drive to unite the students and restore dignity to students’ unionism under the umbrella of NANS.
``As a united body, we will command more respect from the government and stakeholders in the education sector,'' he said. Malam Bashir Baballe, the President-elect of NANS has called for a marshall plan to revamp the nation's education sector. Baballe made the call in an interview in Abuja shortly after his election.
He said such plan had become imperative in order to move the sector forward and redeem the nation's image. Baballe said that to realise the objective, government must inject more funds into education. ``Funds injected into education cannot be too much because the cost of ignorance to any nation cannot be estimated,'' he said.
``The political and socioeconomic development of any nation is tied to the educational development of that country,''he said. Baballe called for the provision of modern facilities in educational institutions to make their products more competitive. ``For us to get the education sector of our dreams, its managers should also give priority to planning. ``The plan must provide statistics/data on the required manpower and facilities to meet future enrolment needs.
``This would facilitate adequate budgetary allocation by the three tiers of government to take education to the next level,'' he said. He promised to sustain the unity achieved in the ``2008 NANS Unity Convention''. ``You will recall that before the convention, we had two factions of NANS and we came together for unity,'' he said. Baballe, a final year Education student of Bayero University, Kano, was elected today at the Abuja convention. Ten candidates contested for the position.
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