Domestic Rice Production Has Increased—Buhari

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By Adedapo Adesanya

The federal government says the recently commissioned large-scale Integrated Rice Mill will expand domestic rice production as well as achieve self-sufficiency in the country.

The event, which took place at Sheda, Kwali Area Council, Abuja recently, was in line with the federal government's mandate to achieve food sufficiency, security and income generation.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar, revealed that for the past eight years, the government has intensively promoted and supported agricultural development in the country through the Anchor Borrower's Programme, the Grain Aggregation Centers amongst others.

He noted that these programmes demonstrate the federal government's commitment to addressing critical infrastructural projects and in keeping with the ideals of the Change Agenda, which is geared towards economic diversification from oil and gas to agricultural sectors.

President Buhari pointed out that "we have witnessed the rapid increase in domestic rice production from the incentives given to farmers and processors over the period as a resolution of leveraging our potentials, producing what we consume and patronising locally made products".

Speaking further, he emphasized that the country's paddy yield per hectare has significantly increased to the extent of being adequate for raw material production.

He, therefore, encouraged Nigerian farmers to invest in any aspect of agricultural value chains by using the available incentives, and undertake agribusiness to aid food production in the country.

In his remarks, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Mustapha Baba Shehuri, emphasized that the plant mill commissioned was one of the 10 Integrated Rice Mills that President Buhari approved under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model based on the "build, operate and own".

The Minister commended Messr. Ocean Glory (Development partner) for their full support to ensure the successful delivery of the mill, adding that the successful execution had acted as a catalyst for the speedy delivery of the remaining mills located in Adamawa, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Niger and Ogun States.

He expressed optimism that the remaining nine Rice Mills would be commissioned soon.

In his goodwill message, the representative of the FCT Minister, the Secretary for Agric and Rural Development, Mr Abubakar Ibrahim, pointed out that the occasion marked a momentous step towards achieving the goal of self-sufficiency in rice production and transforming the Agricultural land scale for a great nation.

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Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

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Several Nigerian farmers’ groups have come together to call on the new administration of President Bola Tinubu to use the billions of Naira in savings from fuel subsidy removal to develop the nation's agriculture sector.

They proposed the disbursement of these funds through the National Agriculture Development Fund (NADF).

The coalition's position was contained in a statement signed by the President of the Young Farmers Network (YFN), Mr Abubakar Bamai, and a host of others on Thursday.

The group stated that investing the subsidy funds in the agriculture sector would enhance productivity and end food insecurity in the country.

"Recognising the critical role that agriculture plays in our nation's economy, it is imperative that we invest in it for long-term sustainability.

"The diversion of the fuel subsidy payments to the National Agricultural Development Fund will enhance agricultural productivity, promote technological advancement and improve the livelihoods of farmers across the country," Mr Bamai said.

The YFN president further suggested the areas to which the funds could be channelled to include research and development, farmers’ support programmes, infrastructural development, agricultural extension services and agribusiness development.

According to him, there should be support for agribusiness through access to credit facilities, training and market linkages, fostering entrepreneurship and creating employment opportunities in the agricultural value chain.

Mr Bamai, however, said that the call was not in any way aimed at undermining the need to address the concerns and welfare of Nigerians in the wake of the fuel price increase.

The statement also quoted the President of the Women Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (WFAN), Mrs Amina Kabir, as saying that NADF would address some lapses encountered in the Central Bank of Nigeria's Anchor Borrowers Scheme.

She said this was achievable, particularly as the agency would be dealing directly with the farmers and not through the Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

"With National Agricultural Development Fund, I don't think we will have a problem with PFI because we have another channel, the one that knows the importance of agriculture and is there for agriculture, to give us lasting solutions," Mrs Kabir said.

On his part, the President of the Dates Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (DFAN), Mr Usaini Dikko, said that NADF, like Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), would go a long way in transforming the agriculture sector.

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The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has inaugurated modern control towers for the Lagos and Tin Can Island Port complexes that will help get better and more accurate vessel data and tracking.

Speaking during the inauguration on Thursday, the Managing Director/CEO of NPA, Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko, said that safety and security constitute critical operational preconditions towards actualising the regional hub status.

He stated that the commissioning of the control tower "signposts our unwavering commitment towards improving operational efficiency through aggressive infrastructure and equipment renewal.

"The multiplicity of functions such as Vessel Traffic Management, Navigation Assistance, Advance Visibility, Safety and Security, Emergency Response, Communication, Resource Management and Disaster Risk Mitigation amongst other crucial functions which a control tower enables, are the reasons why we placed the equipping of this facility on top priority as the management team.

"As most of us are aware, safety and security constitute critical operational preconditions necessary for the actualization of our strategic intent of becoming the maritime logistics hub for sustainable port services in Africa, which is why we placed a high priority on putting in place a modern control tower of this nature in order enhance our domain awareness capability."

According to him: "The commissioning of this communication and data-generating facility, which enhances our capacity to collate, organize and distribute vessel data with relevant stakeholders in a consistent format, is timely as it is coming at a time when the series of efforts geared towards having a Port Community System (PCS) necessary to make our ports more competitive and thus attractive of greater vessel traffic is beginning to crystallize.

"Given the decrepit and non-functional state we met this facility, the decision to invest so much towards making it the state-of-the-art and well-equipped edifice was made taking cognizance of the need to equip our highly cherished and well-trained marine talents with the right tools and comfort required to deliver efficient services to our stakeholders.

"Sustainably providing efficient port service in a safe, secure, and customer-friendly environment requires that we ensure and assure that we are up to date in terms of skill and equipment, and I would like to assure you that beyond this commissioning today, we are resolved to continually equip and re-equip this facility whilst training and re-training its users to be best-in-class.

"Let me seize this opportunity to implore all users of this facility to make the best use of this facility, and I expect that we begin to realize commensurate value for money spent.’’

On the need for sustainable operational efficiency, Mr Bello-Koko said the NPA is partnering with the Nigerian Navy for the rehabilitation, re-equipping and locating of its signal stations near the naval base for improved communication.

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The joint military task force operating in the Niger Delta region with the codename Operation Delta Safe has affirmed its commitment to eliminate crude oil theft, illegal refining and illegal oil bunkering activities in the country, in line with the directive of President Bola Tinubu.

The Commander of Operation Delta Safe, Rear Admiral Olusegun Ferreira, affirmed this in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday, during his maiden visit and familiarization tour to units under OPDS.

Mr Ferreira said the visit was imperative to assess the operational tempo of the joint task force in line with its mandate from the Defence Headquarters to protect oil and gas infrastructure within the Niger Delta region, geared towards ensuring the continuous thriving of economic activities in the country.

According to him, OPDS has attained a very high level of operational success, and the environment has largely been sanitized, as the soot pollution.

He said, "If you recall back in the day, you will find black soot in Port Harcourt and environs but that has gone down. Naturally, these criminal elements will try to sustain their criminal acts all geared towards illicit sources of funds, but they have forgotten that the environment is our common heritage which we all must get to protect.

"Nonetheless, OPDS will continue to pursue and implement all necessary operations that will continue to eliminate these acts of these criminals.

"We will leave no stone unturned; we will continue to detect their actions as much as possible.

"We are going to ride on the directive of the President to eliminate complete destruction of illegal refineries and eliminate crude oil theft in general."

The OPDS boss further urged perpetrators of oil theft to desist forthwith, warning that Operation will not rest on its oars in eliminating all forms of criminalities and oil theft in the country.

"The onus is on them (oil thieves) to desist from this crime and turn away from their nefarious ways and embrace the non-kinetic opportunities which the government has emplaced so that we rid this environment of oil theft."

During his first week of office (Thursday, June 1), President Tinubu directed Service Chiefs and heads of security and intelligence agencies to "crush" perpetrators of oil theft, saying his administration would not tolerate the menace.

Mr Tinubu also said on his watch insecurity would not bring Nigeria to her knees while other countries record achievements in key sectors of their economies.

The President gave the directive during his maiden official meeting with Service Chiefs and intelligence heads, led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.