Business
Asaba Summit: What Gain For BRACED States?
Today, Wednesday, April 25, 2012 will witness the opening of an august assembly of some eminent leaders and strategists from within and outside Nigeria at the Delta Convention Centre in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
The four-day gathering will mark the 2nd economic convention of states in the South South geopolitical zone. But, this time, it will be under the auspices of the BRACED Commission whose acronym derives from its member-states of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta.
The first economic summit of the zone was held at the Tinapa Business Resort in Calabar between April 22 and 25, 2009. And this was followed by the decision of the South South Governors Council to establish the BRACED Commission on October 31, 2010 with headquarters in Port Harcourt.
Part of the Commission’s mandate is to promote and foster closer economic ties and integration of states within the South South zone. And of particular interest are areas like Education, Human Capacity Development, Information and Communications Technology, Infrastructure Development, Agriculture and Investment.
Going by information available on its website, BRACED Commission’s education mandate as approved by the governors’ council was for it to partner with State Education Ministries in carrying out a comprehensive survey of education in its member-states, and advise on how best to sustain the various educational initiatives of the governors.
The Commission is also to identify the educational needs of some member-states with a view to preparing them for global competitiveness.
Also, BRACED was at its inauguration given two years within which to establish an effective mechanism for the re-certification of teachers in the region as part of efforts to encourage continuous teachers training and ensure improvement in the quality of education in the zone.
On human capacity development, it is said that the Commission has authorisation to organize retreats for the governors, state commissioners and permanent secretaries in order to acquaint them with its activities.
The governors’ council also reasoned that, as much as possible, similar training programmes should be organized for other senior civil servants and top members of the business community as part of the Commission’s contribution toward strengthening the capacities of these groups in order for them to be better equipped to achieve the mandates of their elected leaders.
In addition to all these, the state chief executives also think that the BRACED Commission should work with affiliate states to develop an ICT infrastructure that will not only benefit the citizens but also have the capacity to attract investments from major ICT firms into the region.
Going by its road map and the enthusiasm shown so far, there is no doubt that the six governors of the South South are hungry for a speedy and even development of the area.
What appears to be in doubt, however, is the determination of the BRACED Commission to live up to public expectation.
Coming from a region that is already ahead of its peers in terms of oil and gas endowments, agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure, mere co-ordination of activities in these vital areas should have made BRACED a household name by now.
In fact, apart from wearing a very fitting acronym and perhaps pushing one or two recommendations through the council of governors, whatever else the Commission may claim to have accomplished since inception will hardly be up to scratch.
This is exactly why the Asaba summit holds the prospect of jolting BRACED out of its apparent lethargy, especially as invited speakers are wont to draw examples from the successes achieved by similar bodies elsewhere across the globe.
Already, a delegation of the BRACED states, including the chairman of the governors council, Senator Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, and Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, his Delta State counterpart, , is reported to have met with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda preparatory to working out modalities for a possible cooperation that would enable the states tap from Rwanda’s experiences at tackling its security challenges while also solving the economic problems of the once volatile region.
“We believe we should have someone who has had experience and success in crisis management and post-crisis management in tackling our peculiar situation, hence the need to look in the direction of President Kagame and Rwanda,” Uduaghan told newsmen shortly after his delegation’s meeting with Kagame.
Like the Calabar summit before it, and a few individual state efforts such as Rivinfest 2011, the Asaba forum will serve to highlight the limitless investment opportunities in the South South zone. Moreso, it will afford states the chance of exhibiting products in which they have comparative advantage within the nation and for which they seek to attract investors.
Besides President Kagame, this year’s summit expects to have President Goodluck Jonathan and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, as keynote speakers. Expected lead speakers include Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s finance minister; Prof. John Lipsky, first deputy managing director of IMF; Admiral Mike Mullen, 17th chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff; Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York; Rtd. Gen. Andrew Azazi, national security adviser; and Senator David Mark, senate president; among several other renowned speakers.
Their discussions are to centre on Development, Investment and Growth, and Security within the South South geopolitical zone.
Ibelema Jumbo
Business
NASS Engages Agric Minister On Food Crisis
The National Assembly through its joint committee on Agriculture Production Services and Rural Development has engaged the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari on an urgent solution to food inflation bedeviling the country.
The committee chaired by Senator Saliu Mustapha (APC Kwara Central), at an interface with the Minister, interrogated him on plans being put in place to arrest high cost of food prices in the country and make it affordable and available to the poor masses.
In his response, the Minister said the Federal Government has commenced distribution of 42,000 metric tonnes of grains to some focal points of state capitals nationwide.
“We have received directive and approval from Mr. President to distribute for immediate impact 42,000 metric tons of assorted grains free of charge to the Nigerian population.
“This was received in mid-February, as we are speaking, we have a record of the distribution being carried out, but I will want to plead with the honorable house and distinguished senators that some of the movements can’t be made public but a lot of states have started receiving their grains.
“We are distributing to state capitals in the first instance as you all are aware of the risk involved in the vandalism of foodstuff so we are working with the office of the national security adviser and other national security agencies.
“Furthermore, 58,500 metric tonnes of milled rice from mega rice millers will also be released into the market for stabilisation”, he said.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the interactive session, Senator Mustapha expressed satisfaction with the steps being taken by the federal government.
He said: “From our interactive session, we are on the other side of the parliament; we are fully in the picture of what is happening, we are convinced that the steps being taken by the federal government are in the right direction.
“All we did again is to further emphasise on the need for certain things to be done on time, I think from this collaborative approach by the grace of God, Nigerians will have a better feel of the government policy on food security”.
Business
Obj Harps On Cheap Credit, Policy Consistency For Food Production
Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has called on the government to provide cheap credit and ensure policy consistency to enable farmers increase food production in the country.
The former President made the call as food inflation and nutrition security concerns grow in Africa’s most populous country.
Obasanjo’s made the call at the 9th Agrofood & Plastprintpack conference in Lagos recently, where he said farmers in the country were yearning for consistency in policy and single-digit interest loans to drive growth in the sector and attain food security.
“Policy sustainability and predictability is what farmers want. It helps them to plan. Availability of finance is also what farmers want. They cannot survive on the double digital interest rate”, Obasanjo, who is also a farmer, said at the conference.
According to him, food and nutrition security start with availability, then affordability by ensuring that everyone who needs food can get it.
He noted that food was one of the major imperatives in life, adding that “there cannot be food without agriculture and agribusiness”.
Obasanjo further stressed the importance of agriculture in changing the fortunes of the economy, with attendant exponential gains by way of earnings, employment, food security and other spin-offs.
He noted that agriculture must be made attractive to the country’s teeming youth population, saying this would address the rising unemployment, worsening insecurity and youth migration through the Mediterranean.
“We have to make agriculture attractive to the youths. We have to think within and outside the box to make it attractive to the youths so they are willing to get their hands dirty and feet wet”, he advised.
He continued that “Part of the security issue is owing to our inability to get them engaged. The need for agro-food and agribusiness is for food security, employment, wealth creation and income generation, particularly foreign exchange”.
Speaking also, Wouter Plom, the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said his country had faced challenges similar to those Nigeria confronts – feeding a growing population with limited resources.
He said as partners with a joint vision, the Netherlands and Nigeria recognise that the agricultural sector was one of the prominent drivers for economic growth.
He noted that the Netherlands has further strengthened its partnership with Nigeria to boost the agriculture sector in three main areas- economic growth, improved diets and youth employment.
The ambassador noted that all the challenges in driving growth through the sector, improving diets and tackling unemployment can be addressed when food production is efficient.
Paul Maerz, Managing Director of Fairtrade Messe, said with more investment in agro-food & plastprintpack solutions, products and technologies, brighter days were ahead for Nigeria’s agriculture.
Business
Abuja Farmers, Others Lose N12bn To Ginger Disease
The Federal Government, has confirmed the outbreak of ginger blight epidemic in four States in Nigeria, saying ginger farmers have lost over N12 billion due to the disease.
The government disclosed this at the inauguration of the National Ginger Blight Epidemic Control Taskforce in Abuja, revealing that the fungal disease had inflicted significant damage on ginger farms in Kaduna, Nassarawa Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi, said the blight had caused billions of naira in losses, impacting not only the livelihoods of farmers, but also Nigeria’s position as the world’s second-largest ginger producer.
“Our preliminary estimates suggested that affected farmers in southern Kaduna lost over N12bn.
“Furthermore, considering that over 85 per cent of Nigeria’s ginger cultivation occurs in this region, we can safely assume a substantial loss of cultivated land, potentially exceeding 70 per cent of total land”, he stated.
Abdullahi, however, stated that the Federal Government through the National Agricultural Development Fund would launch a N1.6bn recovery package for affected farmers in ginger-producing areas.
He said the ginger blight epidemic served as a stark reminder of the importance of preparedness in safeguarding agricultural resources, adding that by investing in research, extension services and farmer support systems, “we can build a more sustainable future for our agricultural sector”.
On his part, the Chairman of the task force committee, Abubakar Abdullahi, said there was no doubt that the blight on ginger had negatively affected the Gross Domestic Product earnings from this subsector.
“It is of necessity and great urgency that various subcommittees are put in place to forestall these negative effects”, he stated.
Abdullahi assured the minister of the commitment of the team to salvage the situation, as he pleaded with the minister to give the committee the power to co-opt members that would add value to the task force to discharge their duties efficiently and effectively.
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