The Kogi Government, Northcentral Nigeria says it has taken proactive measures to curtail glut in cashew supplies and enhance its prices in 2019 to avert a recurrence of the current price crash.
Mr Emmanuel Idenyi, the Permanent Secretary of Kogi Ministry of Agriculture, said this on Thursday in Lokoja at the State Partnership for Agriculture (SPA) Core Delivery Team (CDT) meeting, organised by Synergos Nigeria.
He said that the state government’s decision to intervene in cashew production processes was due to the crash in the price of cashew products, which led to low sales in the current production year.
“We are going to tackle the issue of product adulteration head-on; we shall also forestall the migration of merchants in cashew products to other countries.
“Our state cannot afford to be blacklisted for failing to meet international standards,’’ he said.
Idenyi said that there was information on the influx of adulterated cashew nuts into Kogi from Nasarawa State, adding that although the ministry was not promptly informed about the development, the state government would resist the trend.
“In order for the state not to lose the status of producing the best cashew in Nigeria, by next year, we shall have labelled bags or sacks for our cashew produce and in the process, block produce from other states,” he said.
Besides, the commissioner said that over five hectares of land had been cleared in Lokoja for the cultivation of maize to boost the government’s school feeding programme, adding that the project would be replicated in other parts of the state.
In his remark, Mr Jeremiah Onugba, the Director of Agricultural Services in the ministry, warned that buyers who indulged in buying any grade of cashew nuts for merchants would be blacklisted, adding that such persons were not after quality but quantity.
Mr Oyekunle Agbana, the State Director of Produce, said that over 78,000 tonnes of cashew nuts were graded in the state this year, as against the 65,000 tonnes that were graded in 2017.
He noted that the quantity of the graded cashew nuts was more than half of what was produced this year, adding that not less than 40 per cent of this year’s produce were still warehoused by the farmers.
Agbana said that the poor quality of some cashew nuts could be attributed to the fact that some farmers engaged in “hasty harvesting, instead of hand-picking mature fruits and nuts that fell to the ground’’.
Mr Thomas Agene, the Secretary of CDT, said that pragmatic efforts should be made to sensitise cashew farmers the need to go after quality rather than quantity. (NAN)
Determined to ensure the acceptability of child spacing by Nigerians, an Islamic Cleric, Imam Musa Tanimu, has enjoined media practitioners and Civil Society Organizations CSOs, to rise to the occasion of educating people of its importance to the family.
Speaking at a Media quarterly meeting on child spacing in Kaduna, Imam Tanimu who is the Chief Imam of Ungwar Rimi Central Mosque emphasized that the right thing must be done to make Nigerians know its importance irrespective of religious beliefs.
He noted that it takes people who really understand the concept of child spacing to appreciate its importance to humanity especially women that stand to benefit more and make members of the family more healthy.
According to him, “It is only through child spacing that you will be able to enhance the health of your wife and that of the children and by extension, be able to cater for your family very well.
“The Prophet encourages his followers to marry and have children for him to be proud of on the day of judgment, parents should train their children not to allow them to be criminals.
“Children can only be a blessing to the parents if they are all trained, be of good character, developed and not a burden to the Society
Leaving children begging or depending on another people, he said, is unIslamic.
“If you are considering the number of children, don’t look at the economy but most importantly the health of the mother who is the first teacher to the children.
Imam Tanimu lamented that in some instances, men out of ignorance become selfish by trying to satisfy their sexual urge without minding the health of the woman and the children he is to take care of.
Earlier, Rev. Shekwolo Ayuba Kasuwa, Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Chikun local government, said Child Spacing or Family planning is Biblical pointing out God planned creation of heaven and earth and brought every creature to the world, hence the need for man to plan in order to be successful in life.
The cleric advised that one should not have a family that he can not carter saying that any one that fails to provide for the family, is worst than infidel.
“Whatever you want to do in life, you must plan, if family is healthy, the church is healthy, Rev Shikolo said.
He explained, that it was very essential for husband and wife to plan on how to give birth to children so that they would be able to take care of them very well.
In an address of welcome, the Coordinator, Africa Media Development Foundation, AMDF, organisers of forum, Sekyen Dadik noted that Nigerians must place value to life, especially the woman who bore children.
The meeting, attended by media practitioners, NGOs and CSOs was supported by Development Communications, DEVCOM and Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative, NURHI
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has charged journalists to consciously desist from promoting reports that will lead to hate speech.
He said while the press must be given all necessary freedom to carry out its functions, care must be taken to ensure that it is not abused.
Inaugurating the new executive members of the House of Representatives Press Corps in the National Assembly, Dogara also challenged journalists to always be objective and uphold the truth in discharging their functions and avoid disseminating fake news.
“The truth is that no institution that suffers from public scorn will be very effective. The endeavour from outside has been to portray to the National Assembly, this great institution of our democracy, as everything that is wrong with our democratic practice,” he said.
“You are taking leadership at a time that the truth is very scarce; the truth is a scarce commodity. This is an era that is known as the post truth era. As a matter of fact, any report that does not fit into certain narrative, that does not promote certain vested interest, is regarded as fake news. So, to be able to draw the line between fake news and real news these days is extremely difficult,” he charged them.
He added, “Democracy thrives on the culture of conflict and that is why nobody should be encouraged to embark on censorship. Whatever it is that we do as an arm of government should not be hidden from the public. They should know, so that people can scrutinise the activities of their representatives in government, ask questions and where they must disagree, they should be free to disagree because it is in the process of disagreeing that the truth is unveiled. Without the truth, everything loses its essence, as a matter of fact, we cannot make progress.
“Democracies that are noisy are healthy; but there is a distinction between noise that leads to hatred that incites people to violence and some kind of noise that leads to debate. One that incites people to violence is called hate speech and the one that encourages debate is called free speech. So, we must draw this line, this very, very thick line. When our society is charged on account of needless killings, violence, kidnapping and sundry acts of insecurity perpetuated, you must draw the distinction between hate speech and free speech. And even in your reportage, try to confine yourself to the service to democracy with speeches that encourage only debates, rather than propagate hatred.”
Going further, he urged them to promote the importance of the parliament in a democratic system of government such as Nigeria’s, saying while the press should not hide happenings in the parliament from the public, care must however be taken to also report the positive achievements of the parliament alongside the unpleasant in order not to create a negative image of the National Assembly to the public.
Speaker of the House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara has expressed sadness over the demise of foremost elder statesman, Malam Adamu Ciroma who died at the age of 84 describing him as “epitome of integrity”
The Speaker, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser, Media and Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan noted that the late elder statesman was an “icon of transparency and an epitome of integrity who lived an incorruptible life.”
The Speaker described the late Malam Adamu Ciroma as one of the nation’s shining stars and a frontline states man who demonstrated passion for the unity, progress and development of Nigeria.
“Indeed we lost a great man, a patriot, leader par excellence and a shining star. Malam Adamu Ciroma was one of the few surviving close associates of the late Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello and he remained a consistent advocate for the struggle to see Nigeria achieve the dreams of her founding fathers”.
“He was an intellectual genius and highly cosmopolitan public servant who exhibited high sense of patriotism, passion and enthusiasm for the progress and development of the country while serving as first indigenous Editor and Managing Director of New Nigerian Newspaper, CBN Governor and Minister of various portfolios in different administrations in Nigeria.
“He was indeed a rare Nigerian, accomplished administrator, uncommon patriot and distinguished elder statesman, who lived an eventful, exemplary and accomplished life worthy of emulation”.
“On behalf of the entire membership of the House of Representatives, I wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family, the government and people of Yobe state as well as to his associates and admirers all over the country on this great loss of an illustrious son”. the statement concludes.
Kaduna State Chairman, Reformed All Progressives Congress, RAPC, Col. A. D. Gora (rtd), has lamented that the emergence of the factional party is the failure of the ruling party, APC, to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
Briefing newsmen in Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria, Gora said, “You are all aware of the reasons informing the emergence of the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) from the All Progressives Congress (APC). You are equally aware of how different political platforms collapsed to form the APC prior to the 2015 general elections. Sadly, the yearnings and aspirations of our people have not come to fruition both at the national level and in our dear Kaduna State in particular.
“Our people entrusted power to the APC based on its promises and potentials. We were made to believe that we were dealing with democrats, and so we entrusted them with our votes, little did we know that we were casting our votes to unleash the worse form of dictatorship on the hapless people of Kaduna State. As far as the politics of the North is concerned, Kaduna remains the bastion of democracy.
“Today, those ideals of democracy which include the right to vote and be voted for in free, fair and credible elections have all been stultified. The votes of the electorates no longer matter as there is no compliance with the Electoral Act.
“The dictatorship and its cronics, apologies and sundry criminally minded characters have arrogated to themselves the power to sit wherever is convenient to them to draw up list of winners of elections which never took place. This was the case with the 3-Man non-elective delegates election, the Ward Congresses and the fraudulent Local Government polls. Fundamentally there can be no democracy without the people. Any politician worth his/her salt must go to the people to seek their votes; anything short of this is fraudulent.
“The schism in the old Progressives Congress began to manifest not long after the swearing-in ceremonies in 2015 when it became apparent that many of the people who invested their time, resources and good will were abandoned in a political wilderness.
“There were complains, petitions to the APC National Headquarters which were swept under the carpet or shredded sending a clear message that the petitioners/complainants were no longer required in the Party.
“As a result of disagreements within the Party, parallel congresses were held in not less than 24 States namely; Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross Rivers, Delta, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ondo, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto and Zamfara. These Congresses in Wards and Local Governments all over the Federation produced different sets of delegates. We therefore had a situation where the Party was seriously factionalized, in the 36 States and the FCT.
“Article 20(1) of the APC Constitution States, “unless otherwise provided for all Party posts prescribed or implied by this Constitution shall be filled by democratically conducted elections”. This was not the case in all the Party elections in the State.
“Even before these illegal exercises, which have alienated many members, there has been wide spread disenchantment with the manner the Party has ran particularly in Kaduna State.
“Perceived opponents of the State Government have been systematically been targeted as demonstrated by the demolition of properties of the then APC Vice Chairman North West Zone along Yakubu Avenue as well as No. 11B Sambo Road Kaduna.”
“The Government believes in intimidating its perceived opponents using rouged elements in the uniform of the security forces, and when it is expedient hired thugs under its pay-roll in this circumstances, who is safe in our State?
The Reformed All Progressive Congress in the state lamented that the government of El-Rufai seeks to blackmail critics by calling them names that are demeaning, adding that, “The government consistently being saying that the opponents are only seeking that the State funds be shared to them while also accusing them of being power seekers.
“While people oriented projects have been commissioned in other more focused States, there are no such projects which will impact positively on the lives of our people. The campaign slogan of making Kaduna State great again is therefore a huge fraud.”
With this development, RAPC observed, “Our followership are fore-warned of the possibilities of more harassment, intimidation and blackmail as a survival strategy by the Government but because we are focused we must therefore collectively stand together, so that we can wither the storm.
“The case of Kaduna State is particularly pathetic, given that prominent and founding members of the Party in the State including two Distinguished Senators were no longer found worthy of consultation in the Party and the Governance process. The worse form of arrogance has been on display since assumption of office of the present State Government. Worse of it all, the APC State Executive became an appendage of the State Government and therefore rendered ineffectual.
“Our revered traditional rulers have been shown complete contempt, our educational system is in complete chaos and the civil service which used to be the envy of other States is now lying prostrate. Thousands of civil servants sacked without their entitlements paid. The above exemplifies the recklessness of the present government of Kaduna State.”
He assured that the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) would work with like-minded political parties and platforms to offer good governance to the people come 2019.
“We will in concert with others offer real change to Kaduna State; we are done with this fake change which the APC has offered to our party, while we despire we are yet hopeful that with you (the people) behind us we shall salvage our Sate and make it truly Great Again,” he assured.
The Zamfara state Police Command, Northwest Nigeria on Thursday announced the promotion of 77 officers ranging from the rank of inspectors to Assist Commissioners of Police
The officers have already been decorated with their new ranks by the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Kenneth Ebrimson .
The officers include the Command’s spokesman, Shehu Mohammed now Superintendent of Police (SP).
Others are two Chief Superintendents of Police (CSP) to Assistant Commissioners of Police, (ACP), three Superintendents of Police (SP) to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).
12 Deputy Superintendents (DSP) promoted to Superintendents (SP) while 7 Assistant Superintendents (ASP) were promoted to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).
Others were 53 Police Inspectors to Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASP).
Performing the ceremony in Gusau, the State Capital, the Police Commissioner, Mr Ebrimson said the promotion was in line with the recommendation of the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
The Police Commissioner commended the IGP, Ibrahim Idris and Police Service Commission for the approval and release of the promotion of the officers.at the Command.
He therefore urged those e!evated to see the promotion as a morale booster to assist the command in fighting the insecurity facing the state, especially cattle rustling, kidnapping and banditry among others.
Responding on behalf of the promoted officers, CSP Abduljalal Rawayau, thanked the IGP and the Police Service Commission for approving their promotion.
He assured that they would use the opportunity to continue to give their best to support the command in the fight against insecurity.
A Civil Society Organisation, Women’s Situation Room Nigeria, WSRN, has expressed dismay with the tragic and inhuman killings of citizens and destruction of properties going on in the country.
National Coordinator of the CSO, Joy Onyesoh, in a press statement said, “The women of Nigeria and indeed most of the populace are shocked and saddened by the tragic and inhumane killings of citizens and destruction of properties across Nigeria.
“The upsurge of violence against Nigerian citizens with women and children bearing the brunt of the casualties and sufferings, has become a major source of concern that needs to be addressed in the immediate.
“WSRN in holding this Women for Peace Rally today in 20 States across all geopolitical zones stands together in peaceful solidarity in honor of victims, survivors and families of all violent and inhuman killings across Nigeria.
“Our heart goes out to the grieving and bereaved at this time. This continuous killings and unjust spilling of human blood must stop. We urge the Nigerian Government to live up to its responsibilities of protecting lives and properties.
“According to section 33 of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria “Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life”… we urge our leaders, security and law enforcement agencies to uphold and implement these laws and met out punishments to the perpetrators of these inhumane crimes.
“We all have a right to life, therefore religious ethnic, political or vocational affiliations should not change this! We stand together to strongly condemn these killings and bloodshed!
Women’s Situation Room Nigeria, WSRN, according to the statement, is made up of over 40 women focused organisations working at different levels.
“We are a women civil society led initiative that seeks to increase women’s substantive participation in conflict prevention and peace building processes.
“From the rural community to the national level, we are committed to the promotion of peace as a basic human right for all.
“It is on this premise that we gather today in solidarity with our sisters and brothers across communities experiencing armed conflict, wanton killings and other inhuman degradation,” the statement explained.
The group called on the Nigerian government to set up a commission to look into the armed herders killings with a view to proferring lasting and just solutions.
The group noted, “We urge the Government to provide holistic support to the families of victims and survivors.
“We call on all citizens of Nigeria to promote peace, shun armed violence and indeed violence in all its forms.
We appeal to all to use our voice and not arms to make demands and to hold our Government accountable to its responsibilities.
“We thank all that have heeded our call for a peaceful rally. God bless us all as we work towards building sustainable peace in Nigeria.”
The Ogun State Area Command, Nigeria Customs Service, Southwest of the country, said it generated a revenue of N2.6bn between January and June 2018.
The Controller of the command, Michael Agbara, stated this on Wednesday at its Idiroko border office.
He told newsmen that the command’s anti-smuggling strategy was quite effective, as its operatives also seized 215 units of smuggled vehicles popularly known as ‘Tokunbo’being ferried through illegal routes into the country.
“In the last six months, other seizures according to Agbara, include a total of 15,976 bags of foreign rice 50Kg each, 1,148 kegs of vegetable oil, 24 motorcycles, 161 compressed packs of Indian hemp among others”.
Agbara emphasized that the command within the last one month alone, generated N393.5m, seized 37 smuggled vehilces and 3,000 bags of foreign rice among others.
He disclosed that concerning the rice seizure, a particular truck intercepted around Mowe-Ibafo axis, conveyed 600 bags packaged in branded bags of a local producer of rice, in order to beat the Customs’ operatives.
He said, “Ninety-nine out of these 600 bags were the local brand of the rice producer, while 501 bags were smuggled foreign parboiled rice and re-bagged in the bags of the local producer.
“They did this just to beat our operatives but our operatives were vigilant and were able to detect this.”
He also said one drone camera, 244 kegs of vegetable oil, 208 pairs of used shoes, 4,220 cartons of tomato paste, and 115 kegs of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) among others were intercepted.
“Interestingly, we seized a drone at our parcel post when people think they can use it. If you want to buy drone and you bought it make sure you get an end user certificate, in this case there is nothing like that. Since a month ago, we gave the person that bought it a chance to bring the end user certificate, but since he’s yet to come I dont have any other choice than to seize it, that is the directive from the government.
“Equally, I want to inform you that all these efforts are achieved through hardworking of my officers who are on patrol day and night”, Agbara said.
The controller said the smugglers usually smuggled the PMS through the creeks.
Agbara warned smugglers to desist from the illegal venture, adding that the command would continue “to go after them whether in the creeks, bush or on the road. ”
He, however, said three suspects had been arrested concerning some of the seizures.
