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‘Research, Indispensable Tool For Sustainable Agric Dev’

Published

9 years ago

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As a result of inad
equate attention to research in Nigeria, many of the nation’s research findings are gathering dust on the shelves of various universities, polytechnics and over 17 research centres in different parts of the country.
Commercializing the results of research institutes could translate to industrialization of the country.
Over the years, it has been argued with merit that the goal of diversification of the economy can only be achieved when agricultural produce and other mineral resources are harnessed into industries for the creation of value added products for both domestic and industrial use.
For example, if a fish farmer ventures into such a business without proper recourse to research on the specie of fish with a view to having a fore knowledge of its breeding process, you find out that at the end, such ventures fail.
For example, taking a look at catfish farming and its products , we can talk about the foreign claris and its stages through the juveniles and fingerlings.
Their growth rate ranges from 5 to 6 months and 3 to 4 months respectively with their weight standing at 1 kilogramme and above.
For tilapia, popularly known as “bony fish”, its stages also in fingerlings and juveniles stands at 6 to 8 months and 4 months respectively with weight standing around 1 kilogramme.
The croaker fish or salt water fish as most people know it stages from fingerlings and juvenile 6 and 4 months respectively with weight standing at 1 kilogramme and above.
The question now arises of the possibility of any interested person starting a fish farm business with a minimal amount of money without research knowledge as to how and where to site the farm. However, the important aspect of this discourse is looking into the commercialization of research findings.
The research institutes in this regard have a lot to contribute to the nation’s economic diversification.
In this context, it is expected that entrepreneurs use research findings to invest and make profit while at the same time benefit from the processes.
Unfortunately, due to the fear of the unknown, many business people do not realize the positive aspect of research in the success of any business venture.
Specifically, some experts have segregated research in various fields ranging from agro, fishing and animal husbandry, amongst others.
Unfortunaely entrepreneurs have not come into reality with the fact that their success or failure lies in how they have used research findings to properly commercialise such research findings for profit making.
The crux of the matter is that the entrepreneur should recognise this singular fact.
If a fish farmer rears a specie of fish that cannot grow and at the same time the farmer has invested a lot in feeding, watering and security amongst others with proper research, such venture is bound to fail.
But with proper research guide, a farmer can predict the growth rate up to harvest time and even know the weight and price his or her fish would be sold.
It is interesting to note that consumers have nothing to do with research but the entrepreneurs do.
For any nation to develop, research should not be toyed with as it is the bedrock of production because every idea is being proved at that level.
Another aspect of agricultural development that the nation can harness to its advantage is cassava farming.
The fact remains that Nigeria is the world’s largest cassava producer, and one wonders why it has failed to maximize her comparative advantage and begin to service the increasing world demand for industrial and modified starch, pellet, chips, fortified cassava flour, ethanol fuel, adhesives and other cassava derivatives.
According to the Executive Director, Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Development (CSAD), Agbor Ndoma, there exist huge and untapped opportunities and market in the cassava sub sector in Nigeria which if properly addressed will help catapult economic growth and sustainable development in Nigeria.
Ndoma expressed the belief that cassava can help unlock a diverse range of opportunities which will impact positively on economic activities in the country as well as the standard of living of the citizenry.
“The proposed National Cassava Development and Industrial Agency similar to the Thailand TTDI and the Brazilian EMBRAPA should be government’s major and urgent response towards the development of the sub-sector and a platform for lifting us out of this economic recession or better still, depression,” he said.
Ndoma further opined that the Federal Government should set up a body similar to the Thailand and Brazilian ones, whose mandate should be on the research, development, production, processing, marketing, utilizing and exportation of cassava and cassava derivatives.
It is important to note that through research, Brazil was able to produce ethanol fuel from cassava and today the country is the largest producer of Ethanol fuel, even as it has a long term economic stability and growth.
According to reports, the impact of this in a future Brazilian economy is still difficult to estimate but can be imagined considering the new worlds tilt towards ethanol for powering the automobiles.
Again, Ndoma reminds us that agriculture and indeed cassava remains the sure pillar on which Nigeria vision 2025 can be built and must be built.
According to him, without rapid development of the cassava sub-sector, the country’s dream of being among the 20 leading economies in the world by the date will be a mirage.
A cassava-driven economic development programme with a sustained research is the best possible path to true national wealth creation and economic repositioning on the long term.
It is not out of place for President Mohammadu Buhari to uphold the enthronement of an enabling environment for the development of cassava in the country.
Cassava by every standard is a critical crop for bolstering the economic wellbeing of Nigeria on a sustainable basis.
Believed to be the sector with the highest employment potential, the commercialization of cassava remains the most effective way to generate employment and economic reliability.
No doubt the adequate development of the cassava sub sector will in many ways serve as panacea to the militancy in the Niger Delta, and can reduce poverty, lack and suffering that is associated with the rural dwellers of the region.
This is the time Nigeria should wake up and provide the world with the much needed starch products as the leading producer of cassava, for according to Ndoma, the world is waiting for Nigeria to make the move and save the over 7 billion world population while Nigeria is wasting in the delusion of an oil-rich country which is now faced with reality.

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

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6 days ago

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May 18, 2026

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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.
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?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
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Rivers Workers Seek Scrapping Of Contributory Pension Scheme

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6 days ago

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May 18, 2026

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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
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FG Begins South-West Tour To Promote New Cooperative Bank

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2 weeks ago

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May 13, 2026

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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.
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