Food security: Kaduna, Niger state ministry of agriculture holds joint sector coordination meeting for agricultural stakeholders
By Sani Idris
The Kaduna and Niger State ministry of Agriculture, had held a joint sector coordination meeting to improve agriculture and strengthen capacity of stakeholders towards achieving food security in the various state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the joint meeting which was both virtual and physical was supported by Synergos and funded by Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
The Parmanent Secretary of Kaduna State Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), Sabi'u Sani, said the essence of the meeting was to review the progress made so far in the implementation of one of the AGRA projects which is capacity building.
"The meeting is also to strengthening evaluation and monetary framework for the MOA in Kaduna and Niger State" he said.
He added that the collaboration for the capacity building was meant to make the Government understand that its responsibilities were to create enabling environment for agriculture to strive.
"This is why we work tirelessly to improve the enabling environment for agriculture to strive and the reason why we are building the capacity of policy makers in the sector to understand the needs of the operators.
Sani explained that the meeting which comprised of various stakeholders and agricultural practitioners whom data bases had earlier been generated for, would also understand environmental constraints in terms of access to technology, inputs and storage facilities.
"We will also give recognition as to which roles and responsibilities we will further play in order to further create enabling environment for successful agricultural activities",Sani said.
He thanked AGRA and its implementing partners, Synergos and other relevant agricultural stakeholders for their support in moving the agricultural sector in the states forward.
Also speaking, Mr. Godswill Aguiyi of AGRA from Niger state, said the meeting was part of their support to the Kaduna and Niger State Ministry of Agriculture in strengthening capacity to implement projects funded by AGRA.
He urged the stakeholders to critically look at challenges which would inform the government and private sector on ways to improving them.
He lauded the government for the effort in improving agriculture, ensuring food security and programmes towards ensure farmers had access to inputs and improved practices.
Dr. Esther Ibrahim, the Kaduna State programme officer of AGRA, in her remarks via virtual conferencing, said they were working in Kaduna and Niger State to strengthen the states ministry of agriculture in the area of capacity building, planning, budgeting, accountability, monitoring and evaluation.
She explained that the aim was to put together all the agriculture activities happening in the various states to enhance productivity and ensure food security.
She urged the ministries to consolidate, put their findings together after the meeting which would be used to inform the government on plans and how they could fund and make the agriculture sector better.
The regional officer of AGRA, Dorcas Mawakoi, talked about the lessons created as resulted from partnership of AGRA and agricultural stakeholders which according to her would be a guiding path for all the partners to improve.
"I will like to see a good reflection on how far the partners have gone and how do they intend to move forward.
Mawakoi pointed out how government played critical role in agricultural interaction and how to bring all stakeholders together.
Also speaking at the meeting, Dr Makinde who stated that 2021 would be a critical year, said the country which had entered into recession had brought about scarcity.
He also stated that "we should get ready to apply activities to a new strategies and those whose project are closing should tidy up and lets know those who are in need of a no cost extension to request for it on time.
One of the stakeholder, Mr Emmanuel of SEEDCO who talked about the Demo plots they had carried out in both Kaduna and Niger State, also said they organized field days where they sold seeds through CBA which enabled them both generate income.
" There were also a lot of monitoring and evaluation activities both in Kaduna and Niger state", he said.
Yusuf Goje, another stakeholder, appreciated the Ministry of Agriculture and AGRA for their contributions, support for the policy development activity and also talked about how the engagement had increased their agricultural activities.
NAN report that the meeting also talked about the stability of activities and how capabilities built could be maintained.
The role of AGRA was also talked about and how it has been appreciated and ways forward on how to stabilise projects to justify the support of the partners.
NAN also report that, questions asked and discussed during the meeting included: the differences seen in AGRA’s investment and the lost which would be made in the absence ofcordination, among others.
Stakeholders in attendance of the meeting were the National Agricultural Extension and Research and Liaison Services (NAERLS) and Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN).
Others were the the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), seed companies, FMARD, donor projects from Niger, farmers group from Niger, among others. (NAN)
The Kaduna State Government has disclosed that gunmen suspected to be bandits have abducted Primary School students and teachers in LEA Primary School in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of the state.
This was disclosed by Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, in a statement on Monday. He added that the true figure of those kidnapped is not known yet.
“The Kaduna State Government is receiving security reports of kidnapping of some pupils and teachers in a primary school located in Rema, Birnin Gwari local government area,” he said
“According to preliminary reports, the incident occurred at an LEA Primary School in the LGA.
“The Kaduna State Government is currently obtaining details on the actual number of pupils and teachers reported to have been kidnapped and will issue a comprehensive statement as soon as possible,” he added.
Kaduna State is the new epicentre for school kidnappings in the North by bandits. Bandits abducted 39 students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Mando, Kaduna State and attempted to kidnap over 300 students of Government Science Secondary School, Ikara.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has insisted that it is still in charge of stamp duties collection, reacting to reports that NIPOST has reclaimed stamp duty collection from FIRS.
This was disclosed in a statement by FIRS Director, Communications and Liaison, Mr Abdullahi Ahmad in Abuja on Tuesday.
FIRS said that the Minister of Communication was misquoted when he said NIPOST has reclaimed Stamp Duty collection from FIRS.
“The attention of FIRS has been drawn to false publications in some newspapers and electronic as well as social media platforms misquoting a recent speech by the Minister for Communications and Digital Economy on the administration of Stamp Duties in the country.
“For the avoidance of confusion arising from such publications, the FIRS hereby informs the general public, especially taxpayers, that the Minister was misquoted as saying that the administration of Stamp Duty was granted to NIPOST by the Finance Act 2020.
“For the record, the Honourable Minister merely stated that NIPOST would henceforth produce the ADHESIVE STAMPS required by FIRS to denote Stamp Duties.
“This position is in line with Section 2 of the Stamp Duties Act (as amended by Section 46 of the Finance Act 2020),” the revenue collecting agency said.
FIRS urged taxpayers, tax practitioners and the general public to ignore the “unfortunate attempt to cause confusion by twisting the Minister’s words”, as it remains the only federal agency permitted by law to collect Stamp Duties on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami disclosed last week that Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) has reclaimed the collection of stamp duty charges from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
It can be recalled the disagreement between NIPOST and the FIRS over who should control the collection of stamp duty became public after the latter reacted to claims by NIPOST that it is operating an illegal stamp duty account.
NIPOST, however, denied the accusation saying that the statement is false and was made to misinform and mislead members of the public.
Pantami had earlier thrown his weight behind NIPOST, when he faulted the decision of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to collect stamp duty which he insisted is the sole responsibility of NIPOST.
The Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris had earlier stated that the issues between NIPOST and FIRS, related to stamp duties have not been completely settled and that the AGF’s office will broker peace between the two organizations.
The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has called for the delisting of the mineral resource ownership and development from the exclusive list, through a review of the 1999 Constitution in a bid to grant States more economic control through restructuring.
The Governor disclosed this in a meeting with the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Dr, Uchechukwu Ogah, during the 56th Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS) in Ibadan on Tuesday.
“Mineral development and exploration are currently placed on the exclusive list of the Nigerian Constitution.
“This has retarded the development of the sector and eliminated direct state and local people’s participation,” Makinde said.
He added that the exclusive list means States have to wait for development from the Centre to maximise their natural resources and called for delisting of Mineral Resources from the exclusive list.
“We know what this means in real terms: the state and the people have to wait to get a share of their natural resources instead of being the ones to share them.
“Well, the good news is that recently, Zamfara State was allowed to mine and own its gold deposits. It signals that it is time to again push for resource control for all states. As a matter of fact and urgency, here in Oyo State, we call for the delisting of the mineral resource ownership and development from the exclusive list,” he added.
At the conference, the Governor added that Oyo State is looking towards utilising comparative advantage to diversify the state’s economy. He added that Oyo State also has a framework for its Mineral development which would attract FDI to the state.
“Oyo State is blessed. The diversification of our economy is also broken into three broad areas based on the comparative advantage that we have in Oyo State. We are looking at agriculture and agro-processing simply because Oyo State has a landmass of about 29,000square kilometres.
“Also, we believe that if we have to move away from oil, solid mineral development is an area that should assist us to wean us from just waiting for oil money to come from Abuja.”
“For the mining sector, we have a framework for the systematic development of our mineral potentials. It is designed to make our state a mining destination, attractive to local and foreign investors,” Makinde added.
Recall Nairametrics reported on December 2020, that Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State said that it’s time for Nigeria to begin the process of restructuring.
He argued that in order for states not to suffer a tyranny of unfunded mandate, Nigeria should reduce the items of the exclusive list to Defence, National Security and Customs operations.
The Governor of Sokoto State and Former House of Reps Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal stated that any plan to restructure Nigeria and the Constitution must pass through legal due process from the National Assembly
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