Business
ECOWAS, Others Pledge Food Security In West Africa
The ECOWAS, EU and In
ternational Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), have assured that they will ensure sustained food supply in the West African sub-region.
The organisations pledged their commitments at a two-day Closing and Capitalisation Workshop of the EU Food Facility Programme in Abuja.
The EU launched a Food Facility Programme in December 2008, and made available 1 billion Euros to respond rapidly to food crises in developing countries over a three-year period.
Under this initiative, the regional IFAD-EU-ECOWAS Food Facility programme was established with a budget of 20 million Euros.
The regional programme covered five countries including Benin, Mali, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.
The regional programme designed strategies to increase production of strategic crops (rice, cassava, yams and groundnuts and mineral fertilisers) to enhance food security.
Speaking with newsmen on the sidelines of the workshop, Mr Alan Munday, EU Head of Section, National and Regional Development Cooperation, said the regional programme was a success.
He said 96 per cent of the programme had been implemented.
Munday said the workshop was aimed at reviewing the Facility Programme and building on the successes and lesson learnt.
He said that stakeholders had the responsibility of ensuring that such lessons would be sustained throughout the sub-region and implemented in the different national policies.
“So far the success of the programme has been quite satisfactory given what it was meant to address, a crisis, given the size and given the differences across the region.
“The use of the resources made available to 96 per cent is quite a high level of use indeed which shows that much is being done.
“What we have to do, and this is the subject of this workshop, is ensure that that spending has delivered outputs which are sustainable for the region, for the individual member states within the member states who were beneficiaries from this programme.
“And from there see how this can be further built on, sustained throughout the region, through the regional organisation and the national authorities responsible and thereafter to expand it to those member states within the region who were not beneficiaries in this first phase.’’
He said the EU had made available instruments to address “spontaneous new serious crisis of food insufficiency” if the need be through its EU intervention office.
Munday said that with the next phase of the programme, the EU was committed to ensuring that the sub-region is “more self-reliant and self-resilient”.
He said: “the EU will make further funding available, and has already recruited a team of experts to work on design of a phase two in support of the regional objectives to take us further.”
Also speaking, IFAD Programme Coordinator, Adriane Del Torto, lauded the success of the Facility Programme, saying that IFAD was committed to implementing benefits of the project through its existing structures in member states.
“We have approximately 96 per cent of total implementation, we are quite proud of the results that we have achieved. IFAD will be basically implementing the project through its existing structures in member countries.
“IFAD’s main partner in development have been the grassroots organisations in all the 15 member countries; they are our main target group.’’
Dr Marc Atouga, ECOWAS Commissioner for Agriculture, said the EU Food facility Programme had created unique opportunities for the commission to address food security challenges in the sub-region.
Atouga said that the ECOWAS Commission was committed to “addressing the structural causes of food insecurity in the shortest possible time”.
“It is my resolve to ensure that we will continue to implement practical initiatives that will move West Africa from a food deficient region to a food sufficient region.”
He said that the commission would embark on the second phase of the of facility programme by 2013 which would include all 15 member states.
“One was a project on ECOWAS Agricultural Information System, executed by the ECOWAS Commission; the second was a programme on the promotion of good quality varieties of sorghum and millet done by ICRISAT, and the third one was done by five member states promoting good quality seed of groundnuts, maize, millet and also root and tuber crops.
“These projects have ended so we are meeting together to share experiences, lessons learnt, so that we can replicate them, use the lessons learnt to help influence policies and programmes in the region.
“There is going to be a successor project, which will start next year and consultants are on ground trying to put the next project together.
“For the next phase we are going to include all the 15-member states.’’
The ECOWAS Commissioner also called on participants at the meeting to critically review how to collectively address the challenges of food insecurity and poverty reduction in a practical and sustainable manner.
He said: “we must translate political decisions and directives into practical and action oriented activities that will continue to food security, enhance livelihood, and increase employment and income generating opportunities for our teeming population.”
Participants at the two-day workshop include representatives of EU, IFAD, ECOWAS and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.
For officers and men of the Western Marine Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the battle is not over until smuggling is over.
In the wake of Wednesday May, 8, 2024, the ever vigilant officers, acting on a tip-off, intercepted 177 sacks and 61 kegs of 25 litres containing petroleum products, valued at about N8.750,000million.
The items were intercepted along Isalu Creek, Badagry Waterway en-route Benin Republic.
While briefing newsmen, the Command’s Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Paul Bamisaiye, said: “This seizure is most economically significant to the Command at this period of scarcity of Petroleum Products, especially Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in our cities, and shows the anticipatory posture in our response to economic saboteurs.
“At about 2:330hrs on Wednesday 8th May 2024, while on joint patrol by teams in the Command, credible intelligence was received of the movement of 2 boats laden with what was suspected to be petroleum products concealed in sacks. Upon receipt of the information, the team moved into Isalu creeks, Badagry waterway.
“On sighting the approach of the Officers, the smugglers took to their heels through the shore of the Creek. The loaded boats were then towed to the station at Badagry where preliminary examination was conducted and transferred to Western Marine Command Headquarters, Ibafon, Apapa, Lagos.
“Careful examination at the Command Headquarters revealed that the arrest was found to contain One Hundred and Seventy Seven (177) Sacks and Sixty One (61) Kegs of 25 Litres Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) containing Twelve Thousand Five Hundred (12,500) Liters with a total Duty Paid Value standing at Eight Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N8,750,000) only”.
Bamisaiye noted that the action of the smugglers is a contravention of Section 245 & 254 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 which the service, through Western Marine Command, is responsible for enforcing.
“The Command, under the leadership of Compt. PK Bamisaiye, is poised more than ever to rid the waterways of all acts of smuggling and economy sabotage for the benefit of the growth of economy of Nigeria”, he said
Bamisaiye said so far, no suspect was arrested in the Command’s anti-smuggling operations.
Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
Petroleum products being sought by motorists have disappeared from virtually all filling stations within Lagos and its environs, but are now booming in business in retail outlets.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that while the product could not be got at some of the petrol service stations, activities are in top gear in the local retail outlets where the price has gone beyond the reach of users.
It was also gathered that in some filling stations supplied with the products, preference are often given to retail outlet operators by petrol attendants against the consuming public.
A source, directly involved in the business, said some petrol dealers are cashing on the irregular supply to divert the products to retail outlets where they could easily make their gains.
It was also gathered that some sales representatives in the service of major oil marketing firms indulged in the diversion exercise because of their personal interest.
At the retail outlets a liter goes for N950,00 against the normal N760,to N800 at some stations.
Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
The Nigeria Customs Service Board (NCSB) has confirmed the appointment of five Deputy Comptroller-Generals (DCGs) and eight Assistant Comptrollers-General (ACGs) of Customs during its 59th regular meeting.
The meeting, chaired by the Honorable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, was held at the Nigeria Customs Service Headquarters in Abuja last Tuesday.
National Public Relations Officer of the Service, Chief Superintendent of Customs, Abdullahi Maiwada, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, gave details of the confirmed appointments as: O.O. Peters (DCG /Commander, Training and Doctrine Command (rtd); B.M. Jibo (DCG Enforcement Inspection & Investigation); and B.U. Nwanfor (DCG Excise, Free Trade Zone & Industrial Incentives).
Others are: S.A. Bomia (DCG, Commander Training and Doctrine Command); and C.K. Niagwan (DCG, Tariff & Trade).
The Assistant Comptrollers General (ACGs) are: B. Imam (ACG Board); A.A.S. Oloyede (ACG, Trade & Tariff); S.K. Dangaldima (ACG/Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘B’); A. Abdul Azeez (ACG/Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘D’); S.A. Yusuf (ACG, Human Resource Development); N.P. Umoh (ACG, Training and Doctrine Command); C.O. Obih (ACG/Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘C’); and S. Chiroma (ACG, Strategic Research and Policy).
The new appointments, according to the statement, were made to fill the vacancies created by some senior officers who recently retired from the Service, noting that the principles of federal character, seniority and merit guided the appointments approved by the board.
“These appointments are a testament to the officers’ exemplary services and dedication to the Nigeria Customs Service. The NCSB remains committed to providing strategic leadership to ensure effective and efficient service delivery for optimum performance”, he said.
While thanking the retired members of the management for their meritorious services, the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, congratulated the newly confirmed officers and charged them to redouble their efforts to ensure the service attains greater heights in its mandates of revenue generation, suppression of smuggling, and trade facilitation amongst others.
Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
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