North: Governors' push to tackle poverty
From John Ogiji, Minna

DISTURBED by what they see as growing rate of poverty and unemployment in the North, the 19 governors of the region have vowed to halt the trend.

How to improve on the wellbeing of northerners were part of the issues that the governors dissected when they met in Kaduna last week under the umbrella of the Northern Governors Forum. Niger State Governor Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu chaired the parley.

The theme of the meeting: "Strengthening, Collaborations and Partnerships for the Socio-economic Development of our People" captured the challenges being faced by the region.

The incidence of poverty in the region is high. The average required calorie in-take recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) is 2,900 per person per day. About 56 per cent of northern population lives below the level.

Over the years some state governments and non-governmental organizations had been combating the challenges posed by poverty in the North and other parts of the country today with the aim of gradually reversing the ugly trend.

Experts are however of the opinion that for the fight against poverty to succeed especially in the North, state governments involvement must be expanded and sustained. They are also of the view that the Federal Government should design a policy that would compel banks and multinational corporations to fund the development of the agricultural sector.

Before the meeting of the governors, there was an agricultural summit where the North carried out self-appraisals and reality check, with a view to eradicating poverty, unemployment and general underdevelopment.

The need to realise the regions agricultural objectives and make the economy efficient, vibrant and robust were the driving force of the Northern Agricultural Summit organised by the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and Admiral Environmental Care Limited in partnership with Media Trust. With the theme "Agriculture: Policy and Finance Imperatives for vision 2020," the venue event took place at the Arewa House, Kaduna.

The Arewa, as the northern part of country is being referred to have continued to remain economically underdeveloped despite it vast resources in agriculture, solid minerals and human resources.

Before the advent of crude oil as a major foreign exchange earner, agricultural exports constituted the major source of foreign exchange for the nation and at the same time the most important source of government revenue.

The North was adjudged the food basket of the nation because of its dominant in the productions of some food crops like yam, millet, Irish potato, beans, groundnut and vegetables.

It would be recalled that cotton, groundnut, coffee and tea from the Mambila plateau, ginger and beniseed from Kaduna and Benue had in the past contributed immensely as a major source of foreign exchange earnings for the country and Nigeria was self-sufficient in grains and even livestock.

The North has about 30million hectares of fertile land out of the 79 million hectares of fertile land in the country but unfortunately only 10 million hectare, that is about 25 per cent of it are cultivated. This development has been a source of concern to all stakeholders in the agricultural sector.

Before the governors' meeting, speakers at different fora had proffered suggestions on how to tackle the economic problems of the region, especially on the urgent need to revamp the agricultural sector with little or no progress made.

It is on this score that much expectation is heralding the latest push from the governors.

Indeed, while declaring the meeting open, Aliyu told his colleagues that it was time they took their destiny in their hands and develop the agricultural and livestock sectors that he saw as the bedrock of the economic survival of any nation.

Aliyu admitted that the region had depended on other parts of the country for too long for survival. He urged northerners to act decisively in this direction since according to him the North has what it takes to banish poverty from the region if only they could come together.

To banish poverty, the governor said that the region must adopt a common approach and strategies that would put the states back on the path of socio-economic growth and development.

Apart from revitalizing agriculture and livestock development the governor said there was the need for them to embrace Federal Government's polices and programmes that are aimed at assisting the region in fast-tracking development.

Of particular importance, he said, was the need to buy in to and actively participate in small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) funded by the agencies of the Federal Government and other institutions to boost micro-finance at the grassroots level where majority of the people live.

He maintained that the North should be courageous and realistic enough to revisit certain policies with a view to making them amenable to northern peculiar circumstances and environments so as to be of benefit to the people. Some of these policies are in the area of educational, healthcare delivery and agriculture among others.

Aliyu said, as a geographical entity that the North with her potentials should in the 10 years be economically viable and self-sustaining. The objectives here, he pointed out should be to ensure food self-sufficiency, raise the internal and externally revenue and create employment opportunities and income levels.

The governor suggested that to achieve this, they must put a stop to petty rivalry and unhealthy competition since according him they all have the goal and aspiration of making life better for the people they are serving.

At the meeting, different reports on conferences organised by individuals and interest groups to reposition the north were received and adopted.

These included report of conference on de-industrialization of the North presented by General T.Y. Danjuma (rtd). It dwelt on issues such as agriculture, education and human development, finance and banking, position of women in the state and family. After an exhaustive deliberation, the forum agreed to do everything within it powers to implement the recommendations

na 2day? let them keep foolin themselves as usual!

Friday, November 21, 2008 punch

NDLEA arrests two pilgrims with 209 wraps of cocaine

By Oyetunji Abioye

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested two Saudi Arabia-bound pilgrims for drug trafficking at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

A statement from the Head, Public Affairs, NDLEA, Mr. Michel Ofoyeju, on Thursday, said that the arrests took place about 3am on Tuesday at the Hajj Camp during screening of pilgrims on Med-View Airline.

According to the statement, the suspects, Mufutau Abdul-Hakeem, 31, an automobile technician and Rahman Alamu Wahab, 35, a photographer tested positive to drug ingestion.

Ofoyeju said that as at 6 am on Thursday, Abdul-Hakeem had excreted 75 wraps while Wahab had excreted 72 wraps of substances that tested positive for cocaine.

Chairman, NDLEA, Mr. Ahmadu Giade, was said to have described their involvement as 'sad and unfortunate'.

Giade said that intelligence officers had been deployed to all screening points to ensure that no one went to the holy land with illicit drugs.

He said, "The screening exercise is to ensure that drug barons do not smuggle narcotics under the cover of pilgrimage. We have a duty to protect the image of this country. We are adequately prepared to identify any person infiltrating the holy process for selfish and sinister interest"

He was surprised that despite the death penalty for drug offences in Saudi Arabia, the suspects could make such attempts to traffic drugs there.

He said, "This is sacrilegious. It is very clear that they were not going as pilgrims." He, therefore, directed that the case be thoroughly investigated.

Meanwhile, the statement said that preliminary investigation conducted by the agency revealed that the suspects got the ingested drugs from one source.

Abdul-Hakeem and Alamu were said to be part of the Lagos Island batch of intending pilgrims who dared the Saudi authority's drug trafficking death penalty.

hmm me tribalist eyaaaaa ooo