Lawmaker advocates agri-business for revenue, agricultural exports

NaijaAgroNet:

Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, representing Remo Federal Constituency, Ogun State, in the House of Representatives, has advocated urgent adoption of wholesale, agri-business as a strategy to earn revenue from processed agricultural exports, NaijaAgroNet reports.

  

Adebutu said, “Nigeria must now as a matter of urgency, adopt wholesale agri-business as a strategy to earn revenue from processed agricultural exports. Agriculture could serve us in several beneficial ways: Apart from becoming the ‘new oil’ and swelling the nation’s coffers, it would generate employment. The non-oil sector of the economy has the potential to serve as a springboard for industrialisation.”  

He added also that the Land Use Act must be amended to cater for small land owners and farmers who because of lack of documentation are unable to access bank and government intervention facilities to raise capital and inputs for their farming. Many economic lands, NaijaAgroNet learnt, are not properly utilised because of the documentary restriction imposed by the Land Use Act. He stated that a holistic reform of the land tenure system will unleash the great potential of the agri-business and reduce the massive unemployment plaguing the nation with its attendant security implications.

Speaking to the media, Hon. Adebutu stated that against the background of the recent Job Creation Report for the second quarter of 2015 released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which said job creation in Nigeria has slumped by 70 per cent, he called for a strategic framework to be designed for the agriculture sector which will help transform it into a true platform for urgently creating jobs, directly and indirectly for Nigeria's youths, NaijaAgroNet also reports.

“Nigeria is blessed with swathes of arable land and human resources to pursue sustained local food production as a way of engaging the youth. We should utilise our youth demographics to boost agricultural production and reduce unemployment.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE. 

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Ogun, Lagos communities send SOS to govt over 7-day demolition ultimatum

NaijaAgroNet:

The elders and community leaders of Akute, Baale Akin-Osin and Oke-Aro communities in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State have sent a Save-Our-Souls (SOS) to the Ogun and Lagos State governments over a seven-day demolition ultimatum, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The ultimatum issued to landlords and occupants of estimated 60,000 houses, include mosques, churches and public schools within the Water Pipeline area, affected the building housing the headquarters of News Express.

According to the News Express reports, shock arising from the sudden notice by the Ogun State Urban and Regional Planning Board has claimed two landlords while several others have taken ill.

A press conference held Thursday in Akute, the elders under the aegis of joint Community Development Councils (CDCs), who also claimed dual citizens of Lagos and Ogun states, under the All Progressives Congress (APC), wondered if the ultimatum was a way of paying them back for tremendously voting for APC in the last general elections.

As law-abiding citizens, the community leaders and elders say they are not against the Adiyan Water Project by the Lagos and Ogun State governments which is designed to benefit the public. According to a grand patron of the CDCs, Alhaji Ganiyu Busari, they want the Ogun State government agency to re-consider the measure of the specified area to be demolished: rather than the expansive 50-metre “set-back”, this could conveniently be reduced to 20 metres “set-back,” so that less houses would be affected.

“We wish to intimate the government that most of the affected house owners are aged and retirees who have no steady means of livelihood. Pulling down their homes will further aggravate their predicament. We also wish to call the attention of the government to the fact that any meaningful project should be people-driven,” Busari said.

*Isaac Oyima with additional report from News Express

 

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Pix: Govs Amosun of Ogun and Fashola of Lagos

Fish importation policy review to benefit Nigeria’s youths

NaijaAgroNet

The on-going review of fish importation policy by the Federal Government would immensely benefit youths in the South Western part of the Nigeria, reports NaijaAgroNet.

According to NaijaAgroNet reports, Lagos and Ogun State are the key beneficiaries from the production capacity boost as Premium Aquaculture Limited (PAL) revealed its plans to generate over 500 jobs from two large fish farms already set up in Nigeria.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the two large fish farms located in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital and Epe suburb in Lagos State are expected to produce 4,500 metric tonnes of catfish per annum with focus on breeding two species of fishes.

The development came as a result of the decision by the PAL to invest in local fish farming in support the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina in his efforts through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop fish production in Nigeria and reduce the country's dependence on imported fish.

The Project Manager, Premium Aquaculture Limited, Sarvesh Pandey said the company will center on breeding only catfish and tilapia, explaining that the Epe fishpond is ready for production while Abeokuta farm will commence operations in April, 2015.

"A lot of research has been carried out on what area of fish to invest in and where to start the production. We will be committing an investment worth about $1 million on the production of tilapia fish to be produced in Abeokuta farm.

"Investment in catfish will be lesser than tilapia because catfish is like in-house (Nigerian owned fish), we are doing case culture on tilapia and case culture is more expensive. We are going to import from china and 1kg, will cost us around $4000 at the capacity of 5 metric tonnes per circle. If you do two circles in a year, you can get 10 metric tonnes in one cage."

 
Chidozie Anibueze/GEE
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Ogun clears 50 hectares of land for cashew plantation

      

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The Ministry of Agriculture in Ogun State has commenced the clearing of a large expanse of land in Afon, Imeko - Afon Local Government Area of the state where it intends to establish a 50 hectare cashew plantation.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Ronke Sokefun while conducting newsmen round the site, said the project is another effort by government to make the state self-sustaining in agriculture and transform it into another food basket of the nation

NaijaAgroNet  gathered from Sokefun that a ground breaking and planting ceremony to flag off the cashew plantation would soon hold, while the project when fully operational  would serve the immediate needs of cashew processing factories in the country and increase the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
 

She further hosted team of Chinese businessmen in her office who were in the state to explore investment opportunities in the project and ensured them of the state government commitment to partner with reputable international organizations in its bid to improve the state agricultural and industrial sectors.

NaijaAgroNet 

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pix: Ogun State Gov.Abekunle Amosun