Business

IFAD To Support Nigeria’s Cassava Initiative

Published

14 years ago

March 5, 2012

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has pledged to support Nigeria to realise the 40 per cent Cassava Flour Inclusion in Bread Initiative.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, told our correspondent on Sunday in Abuja that he had held intensive discussion on the importance initiative with the IFAD President Kanayo Nwanze during the 35th session of the IFAD Governing Council in February in Rome.

Adesina said that IFAD had promised to assist Nigeria to secure a four-million-dollar grant for a joint training programme of the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on the cassava initiative.

He said that the grant had become imperative to enable the IITA to provide vital support to the initiative, especially in the areas of further research, modern technology, training and demonstration for bakers across the country.

He said government was also negotiating with other institutions to obtain the required grant.

Adesina said the Federal Government was exploring various strategies for the smooth implementation of the initiative.

To this end, he said that a technical group comprising nutritionists, food scientists, researchers, master bakers and flour millers had been set up to standardise the recipe.

“The Ministry has just finalised a plan with IITA for massive training of all the small bakers that make up more than 80 per cent of the bakers in the country.

According to him, master bakers have pledged to ensure that cassava bread reached the market on a large scale as soon as the required flour was available.

Adesina said that an international organisation had also completed the audit of 137 small and medium scale enterprises involved in processing flour.

He said the audit was aimed at upgrading and empowering moribund enterprises to return to business.

According to Adesina, some countries have indicated interest to key into the 40 per cent composite cassava flour initiative.

“After my presentation at the IFAD session, several Ministers of Agriculture from a number of countries, including Ghana, Cote d’ivoire, and Kenya, approached me to say they will go into the cassava flour initiative in their various countries.”

He noted that Nigeria was not only focusing on the domestic market for the initiative, but would also explore export.

Adesina said that the government had concluded an agreement with the Chinese government for the acquisition of 18 high quality cassava flour processing plants that would process 1.3 million tonnes of the commodity.

He said government would encourage the acquisition of mills by the private sector, by allowing them access low interest concessionary financing, with a repayment period of 10 years to 20 years and at 2.5 per cent interest rate.

Adesina added that under the initiative, cassava production would be expanded from the present 34 million tonnes to 51 million tonnes by 2015 by doubling the yields from 12.5 tonnes per hectare to 25 tonnes per hectare.

“If well implemented, it will create jobs for over 1.3 million Nigerians annually as more than 1.7 million tonnes of cassava will be required to produce 400,000 tonnes of 10 per cent composite cassava flour.

“The import bill of N63 billion annually on wheat will be used on meaningful projects.”

Business

Boat Mishap Kills Pastor, Wife And Church Members In Brass Water

Published

10 hours ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

A boat accident in Bayelsa state has killed a serving Pastor, Wife and other church members along Brass waterways

The sad incident happened at Odioama in Brass local government area of Bayelsa State when the Pastor, wife and members of his church were in a programme.

?Tide confirmed that the lifeless body of the Pastor’s wife has been found and deposited in a mortuary while the remains of her husband ,the Pastor is yet to be recovered

as search party are still ongoing.

Although the real cause of the boat Mishap is not yet known as at the time of this report, our Correspondent gathered that the identities of the Pastor, wife and church members were not disclosed to the public.

The mishap, Tide gathered occurred on Friday morning when the church members were on a boat transit

The Bayelsa State government and the state police command are yet to issue official statement’s on the sad accident

By: CHINEDU WOSU

Business

Rivers Workers Seek Scrapping Of Contributory Pension Scheme

Published

10 hours ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

The Rivers State Council of Nigeria Civil Service Union has called on the State Government to urgently scrap the contributory pension scheme, describing it as unfavourable to long-serving civil servants in the state.

Chairman of the union, Chukwuka Osuma, said this in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, recently.

Osuma said the current pension structure has continued to worsen post-retirement hardship for workers.

He noted that the contributory pension scheme had failed to provide adequate retirement security for workers who had spent many years in service, especially those approaching retirement age.

According to him, civil servants who had served for more than 20 years were among the worst affected under the scheme, insisting that many retirees could no longer cope with prevailing economic realities.

He also informed that the Union has made moves to showcase their concerns, pleading with Governor Siminalayi Fubara to abolish the pension policy and introduce a more favourable arrangement for affected workers.

“The union was not opposed to pension reforms, the contributory scheme should only apply to newly employed workers or those with fewer years in service”, he said.

Osuma explained that workers who had already spent decades in the civil service ought to remain under a more secure pension structure capable of guaranteeing stability after retirement.

The labour leader further noted that inflation and the rising cost of living had continued to erode the value of retirement savings, thereby increasing the suffering of pensioners across the country.

He also appealed to the state government to consider extending the years of service in the civil service from 35 to 40 years and the retirement age from 60 to 65 years.

Osuma argued that such adjustment had become necessary in view of present-day economic realities and changing conditions in the workplace.

The unionist also reviewed that similar policies had already been adopted in some sectors and jurisdictions, expressing optimism that the State could also implement the reforms for the benefit of workers.

He however, commended Governor Fubara for approving an N85,000 minimum wage for workers in the state, noting that the amount was above the national benchmark of N70,000.

Osuma also acknowledged the government’s efforts in the area of workers’ promotions and bonuses, but insisted that pension reforms and extension of years of service remained critical to the long-term welfare and stability of civil servants in Rivers State.

By: King Onunwor

Business

FG Begins South-West Tour To Promote New Cooperative Bank

Published

6 days ago

May 13, 2026

The Tide

The Federal Government has launched the South-West zonal engagement and ministerial advocacy tour on the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria share capital mobilisation, sensitisation and cooperative sector digitalisation.

Reports say the initiative was launched through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

According to reports, the advocacy tour, organised by the ministry’s Federal Department of Cooperatives, began on Monday in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, said the initiative was part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Abdullahi described the exercise as a strategic effort to reposition the cooperative sector as a key driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity.

“Today represents a defining moment in our collective determination to reposition the cooperative sector as a major driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity,” he said.

The minister noted the modern cooperative movement in Nigeria originated in the South-West following the 1934 Strickland Report, which led to the enactment of the Cooperative Societies Ordinance of 1935.

According to him, the decision to commence the sensitisation and share capital mobilisation tour in the region is symbolic, as it marks a return to the roots of cooperative development in the country.

Abdullahi said the advocacy tour was a direct outcome of resolutions reached at the 8th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Cooperative Affairs held in Abuja in March 2026.

He said the council approved the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme, a comprehensive framework designed to strengthen the cooperative sector and align it with the administration’s goal of building a one-trillion-dollar economy.

“The reform programme focuses on seven strategic pillars, including governance reforms, cooperative financing and the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria, digitalisation, capacity building, value chain development, inclusion of youths, women and persons with disabilities, and strategic partnerships,” he said.

He said the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria and the digitalisation of the cooperative sector were the two major transformational initiatives under the programme.

“The Cooperative Bank of Nigeria is aimed at rebuilding a strong cooperative financial system capable of supporting cooperators, farmers, artisans, traders, SMEs, youths, women and persons with disabilities with accessible and affordable financial services,” he said.

Abdullahi emphasised that the proposed bank would be government-enabled but not government-funded.

“Government is not establishing the bank as an owner, nor will it rely on Treasury Single Account funds.

“The role of government through the FMAFS is to provide policy support, stakeholder coordination, regulatory facilitation and an enabling environment under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme,” he said.

Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Mrs Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to cooperative sector transformation.

She described cooperatives as critical tools for promoting inclusive growth, grassroots productivity, food security, financial inclusion and community wealth creation.

Ambrose-Medebem said Lagos State would continue to support reforms and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (2025–2030).

“Together, let us build a cooperative ecosystem that is modern, transparent, digitally enabled, financially inclusive and globally competitive.

“Let us build cooperatives that not only mobilise savings, but also mobilise prosperity,” she said.