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Vote 10% Annually For Agric, FG Told
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has called for the allocation of 10 per cent of the nation’s annual budget to agriculture.
Adesina made the suggestion while contributing to a discussion in Abuja yesterday at the 19th Nigeria Economic Summit on ways to sustain the nation’s agenda on agriculture.
He said that financing the growth and development of the agriculture sector should be significantly expanded for realistic growth.
“At the moment, we are not spending enough on agriculture. As we go forward, we have to restructure the modes of financing of the sector.
“We need to make at least 10 per cent of our budget to go to agriculture, if we want to sustain this particular agenda.
“The issue of getting financing from the private sector is key. Nobody is going to do agriculture and borrow money at 25 per cent interest rate and also make profit.
“So we need to find new institutions, new arrangements and new platforms that will allow us to get affordable financing as well as long-term financing.
“So we really cannot get far until we tackle this particular issue.’’
Adesina also said that adequate funding of research and development institutes that were geared toward innovative agriculture discoveries was important.
“I think it is very crucial for us to invest heavily in research and development because no nation in the world has been able to achieve this without spending money on innovative technologies.
“Talk about China, Brazil, Pakistan and India, all of them invested in innovative technologies.
“Right now we are spending less than one per cent on research and development and it is not enough. To be the global power we want to be, we must spend more on research.’’
He said that another factor stunting the growth of agriculture in the country was the issue of agricultural extension, diverse means of transportation of farm produce, among others.
The minister said that the way forward was for young and fresh minds to come into the business of agriculture.
Adesina said that this was the reason why the recently launched Nurturing the Successor Generation of Nigerian Farmers and Agriculture Enterprises by President Jonathan, was a welcome development.
The Chairman of Heir Holdings, Mr Tony Elumelu, said that there should be continuity in the transformation of the agriculture agenda, to achieve sustainability in the sector.
He said that the ultimate goal of the agriculture agenda would be achieved when policy reforms and incentives were put in place.
“We also need to think of how to make agriculture more lucrative. It employs a lot of people but in actual wealth, it doesn’t make a lot of them rich.
“So if we succeed in making it lucrative and people begin to make money, naturally others would want to join in,’’ he said.
The Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Mrs Sola Borha, said that for affordable lending for agriculture purposes, the sector needed to be attractive, to enable banks feel safe to advance loans.
“ NIRSAL funds provided by the Central Bank is a step in the right direction since it is aimed at sharing risk, this will result to bankers feeling more comfortable in advancing agricultural loans.
“ This would help to bring the lending rates to the agricultural sector down.
“A commodity exchange, plus warehousing system, is absolutely key in providing the appropriate structure to agric business,’’ she said.
The Minister of the National Planning Commission, Dr Shamsudeen Usman, said that an alternate funding of the agriculture system apart from the traditional funding by banks was necessary.
“ At the federal level more economic policies like the NIRSAL funds should be fashioned to cushion risks in agriculture funding.
“Diversifying the transport sector is also important, which is why a step in that direction is already being taken, through resurrecting the train routes of Kano to Lagos and Port Harcourt to Borno,’’ he said.
The Managing Director, PZ Industries Plc, Mr Christos Giannopolus, also harped on the importance of having the right transportation system in place to aid movement of goods and services.
“ However, time is costly, if it takes over a month to move goods from Port Harcourt to the north, that becomes a challenge.’’
Giannopolus also urged the government to create more road corridors in the country.
He noted that the cost of using a particular means of transport half way through a journey and having to change to another was not cost effective and that it affected prices in the long run.
The Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency (RSIPA) has unveiled measures to enthrone ease of doing business and win back the confidence of the business community.
The Director-General of the Agency, Dr Chamberlain Peterside, unveiled the plans at the Breakout Session of RSIPA at the ongoing 18th Port Harcourt International Trade Fair, at the Obi Wali International Cultural Centre, in Port Harcourt.
Dr. Peterside said the agency was poised to free the state from accumulation of wrong narratives that branded it over the years as unsafe for business.
He, however, admitted that many things had gone wrong in the past where regulators joined to make the business environment difficult for investors.
He announced that the agency was rather focused on actions, solutions, and results as adopted in the mission statement of the Board.
“Our task is no mean feat. We are dealing with the perception risk that over several years branded the state as unsafe. We are also faced with the challenges of dealing with the lack of cohesion amongst MDAs, policy inconsistencies, multiple taxation, incessant harassment by miscreants, red tape and delays in obtaining operating permits, high cost of operations and opaque public sector,” he said.
“It is about listening to the investors in the field and ensuring that MDAs are carried along, hence the imperative for the setting up of our One-Stop-Center”, he added.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Warisenibo Joe Johnson, who represented the state governor, said the Fubara administration was ready to listen to the business community to see ways of reducing impediments to investments.
He listed the stages of actions being undertaken by the governor as outlined in his 37-page blue print to revive the economy of Rivers State.
The Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, who was presented at the event as a star investor and promoter of Rivers State reputation, said for the plans of the investment promotion agency to materialize, an enabling law should replace the Executive Order that established the Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency.
He said this would insulate the agency from political instability and remove fear in the minds of investors about its sustainability.
According to him, protection precedes promotion and Local Direct Investment (LDIs) is what attracts and promotes Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs).
“It is the rat at home that reveals to the one in the bush that there is fish in the kitchen”, he added.
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?The Mayor of Housing who is also the CEO of the Alesa Highlands Sustainable Green Smart City said that Port Harcourt is like a business empire under lock and key because it is not protecting its own and also not promoting its own enough for investors to come in.
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?In the area of land documentation and inventory, China urged Rivers State Government to borrow a leaf from Abuja and adopt the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in dealing with land and property registration and documentation for ease of doing business.
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?He said Lagos understood the power of business information, adding “this creates the impression that if you are not doing it in Lagos, you are not doing it in Africa.
“We need to shout louder than Lagos, because we need more investments than Lagos and the structural integrity of Abuja. When you marry both, Rivers State would be wonderful and become green with investments,” he said.
In her speech, the President of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), Dr. Chinyere Nwoga, called on the state government to look into the menace of parked trucks now turning Trans-Amadi into a risk zone.
She outlined the activities of the PHCCIMA and invited investors and businesses to the Port Harcourt economic hub, saying peace has returned.
The Director, Investors Relations of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Mrs Lovina Kayode, urged Rivers State to make haste and catch up on Ease of Doing Business, saying the Council has come to help businesses in the state.
Mrs Kayode, who represented the Executive Secretary/CEO of NIPC, Aisha Rimi, commended the Mayor of Housing and his counterpart, Mr. Oliver Biedima of Rainbow Heritage Group, for their decision to invest in Rivers State, saying it is a proof that Rivers State is safe for investors and their investments.
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In his remarks, Oliver Biedemi of Rainbow Heritage Group urged government to give the private investors chance to develop the economy, saying ordinarily government does not have the funds to develop the economy.
Happy Birthday Chief Barr. Nyesom Ezenwo Wike CON
Honourable Minister Federal Capital Territory
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We’ll Drive Tinubu’s Vision in Rivers With Vigour – Fubara …Inaugurates Dualized Ahoada/Omoku Road ….Debunks Rift With RSHA
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has stated that he will lead Rivers people to galvanize support for President Bola Tinubu to drive the vision and objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda in the State with vigour.
The governor, who joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), on Tuesday, explained that his decision to join the APC was not for personal interest but for the overall benefit of Rivers State.
Fubara disclosed these while inaugurating the extension of the dualized Ahoada/ Omoku Express road in Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
He commended the contracting firm, Julius Berger, for timely delivery of the project, saying the project is a campaign promise fulfilled which will bring economic benefits to the people and tackle issues of insecurity associated with the route.
He said his administration has remained focused in delivering democratic dividends in the state despite facing glaring challenges.
The governor thanked the people of Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas for their continuous support, and urged his supporters to remain steadfast and also support President Tinubu who he said, has demonstrated love to Rivers State as a father.
Fubara denied having rift with the Rivers State House of Assembly, stating that his meeting with the lawmakers was stalled as a result of delay in the agreed meeting to be convened by former Governor Nyesom Wike and other stakeholders for him to meet with the state lawmakers.
“I have made every effort to meet with the Assembly members, but it is not within my leadership to initiate the meeting process.
“The arrangement was for my leader, Wike, and the elders led by Anabraba to call for a meeting with the the lawmakers.
“I’m a gentleman and principled. I can’t go behind to call them when we’ve already agreed. Whoever that tell them that I don’t want to meet with them, or I rejected proposal meant for them isn’t saying the truth,” Fubara said.
The Permanent Secretary of the Rivers State Ministry Works, Mr Austin Ezekiel-Hart, who gave the project description, said the delivery of the project was a fulfillment of long time dream by the people of Ahoada East and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas.
He said the road was previously a single lane and has now been dualised to 14.6 meters wide, complete with solar-powered streetlights with drainages.
He said the road significantly would reduce travel time between Ahoada and Omoku while improving economic activity in the region.
In his welcome address, Chairman of Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area, Hon. Chuku Shedrack Ogbogu, described the road as a symbol of unity, oneness, and development, thanking the governor for fulfilling his campaign promises.
On his part, the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Engr. Peer Lusbash, said the project was awarded to his company in 2023 with a completion period of 18 months which was achieved in best quality.
He added that Julius Berger enjoyed a good support from the Fubara administration, and assured to complete all ongoing projects being handled by Julius Berger on specification, especially the Ring Road project which is a legacy project.
