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Why Agric Sector Is Functional – Wike
The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has stated that the nation’s agriculture sector is functional because of the background of the Ministers of Agriculture who were key members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before defecting to the ruling party.
Declaring open the 42nd Regular Meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development, Wike said that the foresight and national view being exhibited by Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, prove that they imbibed the culture of service while they were PDP members.
He said: “Agriculture is working because they have good ministers from a sound background. The Minister of Agriculture was a former national chairman of PDP, while the Minister of State for Agriculture was a senator under the PDP. Their background has helped them.
“You can see the kind of products that PDP has. We have sent them on Sabbatical to help other people. When children are productive, you ask who are their parents?
“We have products who received good upbringing. Their parents, the PDP, gave them quality parenting”.
On the development of agriculture in Rivers State, Wike said the Rivers State Government will take full advantage of the Federal Government’s agriculture initiatives, including the commercial agricultural credit scheme and the Anchor Borrowers Programme.
He said that his administration will galvanise the state into becoming a major player in the agriculture sector.
The governor stressed that his administration will review its agricultural policy for the development of the sector.
He said: “In Rivers State, government has, over the years, channelled enormous public funds into the development of agriculture without measurable outcomes.
“For this reason, we have decided to review our agricultural policies and programmes to ensure that efforts, funds and inputs are not wasted for the sake of political expediency, as it has been the case with the past.
“This having being said, it is important to emphasize that the agricultural potentials of Rivers State are clearly enormous. Furthermore, being the host to two of the largest fertilizer production plants in the African continent gives us additional horizontal advantages for the advancement of this sector in the state.”
In his address, Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, called for the expansion of research in the agriculture sector for the improvement of food production.
He said the Federal Government will ensure that farmers get the required credit for commercial farming.
Also speaking, Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, stated that the Federal Government was treating agriculture as a business through public enabled but private initiatives.
The Commissioners for Agriculture from the 36 States of the federation attended the 42nd Regular Meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development in Port Harcourt.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has stated that investments in agriculture will help the nation tackle youth unemployment, reduce violent crimes, and restore peace and ensure sustainable development of the country.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, at the Government House, Port Harcourt, last Wednesday, Wike said agriculture was essential to the revival of the nation’s economy.
He said: “If Nigeria must move to the next level, agriculture is key. To reduce unemployment, we must focus on agriculture”.
The governor lauded the Minister of Agriculture for displaying maturity by ensuring that the issues of food production are insulated from politics.
The governor said that his administration was developing a public private partnership model to enhance the development of agriculture.
He said, “we are developing a cassava factory to improve the commercial farming of the product. We are also working with a private company to revive our rubber factory”.
He informed that his administration was working with the Rivers State University to revive the College of Agriculture, in Onne, for the training of agricultural professionals.
Wike said that the state government will collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to improve key aspects of the state’s agricultural sector.
In his remarks, Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said unless the youth are reintroduced to agriculture, the country will always have security challenges as most urban youth are idle.
He advised that issues of agriculture must be placed above politics in the overall interest of the country.
The minister said that Rivers State has the potentials to be a major source of fish for the entire country.
The both Ministers of Agriculture and all the Commissioners of Agriculture are in Rivers State for the National Council of Agriculture.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.