The Federal Government says it plans to expand the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) to the 36 states of the federation.
National Project Coordinator of RAAMP, Mr Aminu Mohammed, disclosed this during the agency’s annual retreat and training of staff in Calabar, which took place from January 11 to 13.
The Tide’s source reports that the aim of RAAMP is to provide access roads in rural areas to boost agricultural marketing.
Mohammed said RAAMP was poised at making remarkable impact across the country, hence the need to extend the project to all states.
He expressed delight over the increase in the number of participating states to 20, noting that the successes recorded from the project’s commencement in 2008 in Cross River and Kaduna paved the way for its growth.
He urged participating states to be more active in implementing the project, which would enable them to access more funds to expand their rural road infrastructure.
“Some of the state project coordinators are doing very well; all hands must be on deck to achieve the goals of the project because there will be more funding if we are able to do the job well.
“We are looking at making the project multi-phased and also introducing technology in its implementation because we believe that we will achieve more using technology,” he said.
While declaring the event open, Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, called on the staff of the project to put national interest above their ethnic, religious and political inclinations in the discharge of their assignment.
The Governor, who was represented by the State Commissioner for International Donor Cooperation, Dr. Inyang Asibong, described RAAMP as a multi-dimensional project capable of positively changing lives, especially those of rural dwellers.
He promised to keep supporting the vision of RAAMP in its aim to make life more meaningful to rural dwellers across the country.
On his part, the World Bank Tasks Team Leader, Mr Olatunji Ahmed, also allayed fears of the challenges that might hinder the smooth running of the project.
He assured the staff of the readiness of the bank to ensure a seamless implementation process.
The Tide source reports that the staff were trained on project management, team building in service delivery and Systemic Tracking of Exchanges in Procurement (STEP), amongst others.