World Bank grants Nigeria $900 million to boost agriculture

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, Thursday said the World Bank had granted a $900 million facility to Nigeria as part of its assistance towards food security in the country.

Adesina, who made this disclosure in Abuja while briefing the media on the outcome of the just-concluded Nigeria Forum in the United States of America, also said Agco, one of the largest tractor companies in the US, had agreed to establish a tractor assembly plants in Rivers and Kaduna States.

The minister said both the $900 million facility and the engineers from Agco would make their presence known in the country within two weeks.

He expressed the optimism that with the number of participants at the show, which he said included Nigerians in Diaspora, the country would not only be food self sufficient, but that the teeming unemployed youths would get employed within the shortest period of time.

He added that Cardol, a US-based food processing company, is set to invest in cassava production in the country within the shortest period of time.

He, however, regretted that despite the fact that Nigeria needed over 300,000 tractors for mechanised farming, only about 20,000 were currently available.

In his words: “The present day farmers are ageing and the onus is on us here in the ministry to encourage our teeming unemployed youths to be interested in agriculture. But the major problem is that none of them would want to farm with cutlass and hoe. That is why we are getting modern day equipment readily available for them to farm.”

While enjoining the unemployed youths to grab this opportunity by getting involved in mechanised farming, the minister called on both state and local governments to assist them to get land and other necessary incentives for them

He said: “Agriculture accounts for about 44 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and responsible for over 70 per cent employment. The time has come -- and I know it is now - for every Nigerian to contribute his own quota in ensuring that the sector booms. Nobody drinks oil, but we all eat at one point or the other. We should join hands in ensuring that agriculture moves from peasant farming to mechanised one. The state and local governments should ensure that there is abundance of incentives for the business to thrive in their jurisdiction.

“One of the good news is that Nigerians in the Diaspora are interested in the sector, as well as foreigners. We at home should do everything possible to ensure that the business thrives. Our message on agriculture is ringing louder in the international community.”

This Day

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Video - Documentary on the women of the Niger Delta who use threat of stripping naked to protest unaccountability of oil companies

Fueled by the determination for a better future, grassroots women in Nigeria's Niger Delta use the threat of stripping naked in public, a serious cultural taboo, in their deadly struggle to hold the oil companies accountable to the communities in which they operate.  The women, at the risk of being raped, beaten or killed, are trained and armed, but not with anything you can see.  Through the leadership of the courageous, charismatic, and inexhaustible Emem J. Okon, these women are taking over where men have failed, peacefully transforming their ‘naked power’ into 21st century political action and mobilization.  THE NAKED OPTION: A LAST RESORT celebrates the perseverance and power of an organized group of women!

“Our weapon is our nakedness.”  Through the personal stories of Mama Bata, Aret Obobo and Lucky Ogodo, residents of Ugborodo and Amukpe, communities where oil giants Chevron and Shell operate, THE NAKED OPTION reveals the strength, the power, and the drive of the women to fight environmental ruin, loss of livelihoods, brutality, and corruption perpetrated by these corporate giants. Living in the only militarized zone in Nigeria and cemented firmly on the bottom rung of an already impoverished social and economic ladder, these women constantly struggle to maintain healthy, equitable, and self-sustaining livelihoods. We witness the hurdles that drive them to risk their lives taking over major oil-producing flow stations.

“We are the women who decided to take over the Chevron yard,” states 70-year-old Mama Bata, of  Ugborodo.   “We’ll go naked.  We’ll do our naked.  Shell wants us to suffer and we’re not taking it. Fear will come”, threatens Lucky Ogodo of Amukpe.  Fed up with the oil giants dismissing their demands to clean up the environmental destruction and to provide jobs for their husbands, the women were pushed to the wall. With nothing to lose they decided to risk everything and fight back using the lessons taught by their female ancestors. Stripping naked in public, a sacred weapon of last resort, has given them unprecedented power over both government and oil through landmark moments in Nigerian history. Their anger erupted July 8, 2002 when for ten days, 600 rural peasant women, ages 20 – 90, took over Chevron, the largest oil producing facility in Nigeria, which is the third largest oil supplier to the United States. Unarmed, they held 700 male workers hostage.  The women blocked the flow of a half million barrels of oil a day by threatening to strip naked in public. Actual footage of events combines with first-hand accounts from Mama Bata, Lucky, and Aret who, in the summer of 2002, joined the wave of women’s uprisings that swept the Niger Delta.  We discover how Emem Okon plays a crucial role in the women’s ability to negotiate with Chevron.
“Education doesn’t reduce the risks but it provides women with the skills and knowledge to confront that risk.  It makes them bolder. In my organization, we don’t promote that option (of stripping naked) but if it gets to the point where stripping naked is the only way they can get government attention, we will not stop them.” Emem, founder of Kebetkache Women’s Development and Resource Centre is championing a new vision for women and a safer way for their voices to be heard. Reaching across ethnic divides, she fights injustice with education, mobilization, and perseverance. Set against this backdrop, where government sends paramilitary soldiers to protect multinational oil companies from protesters, THE NAKED OPTION shows Emem as she travels to rural communities where women are prepared to use their weapon of last resort. Encouraging women to step up to decision making positions in government, she spearheads democracy and peace building trainings, teaches negotiating skills, and continually challenges the nexus of power created by the collusion of ‘Big Oil’ and a brutal Nigerian government through non-violence.

"Now, today a woman can be president.  Before these workshops we had no thoughts. The only thing we knew was every morning carry your cassava, every morning go to your farm…but today with ‘the awareness’ in us most families are training their children,” says Stella Fyneface, Emem’s protégé. Dedicated leadership, a passion for women’s rights, and new opportunities merge in THE NAKED OPTION as Emem passes the baton to hundreds of rural women, inspiring and mobilizing them to take charge of their futures, to stand up against injustice, and to become leaders.

Snag Films

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President Goodluck Jonathan makes it into TIME 2012 list of most influential people in the world

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan exemplifies the African political renaissance at a time when the people of the continent are starting to reap the fruit of their resources and their hard work. President Jonathan, 54, possesses the qualities needed at this moment of great challenges, having come to power at a crucial moment in the history of Nigeria. The country has grown out of its past of corruption, mismanagement and brutality, but the foundation of good governance is still fragile.

In two short years, President Jonathan has shown the same dexterity he demonstrated as governor of Bayelsa, the same ability to find the remedies to the many complexities of running a nascent democracy. He has spearheaded the fight against corruption and turned Nigeria into an example of good governance. He has also made a significant impact on consolidating peace and security in West Africa. From the onset of our own crisis, Liberia has benefitted from the support of Nigeria. President Jonathan not only upheld the trend but added to it. With leaders like President Jonathan, Africa is sure to move toward prosperity, freedom and dignity for all of its people.

TIME

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US warns of Boko Haram attacks coming to Abuja

The US embassy in Nigeria warned on Wednesday that Islamist group Boko Haram may be planning attacks in the capital Abuja, including against hotels frequented by Westerners.

“The US embassy has received information that Boko Haram may be planning attacks in Abuja, Nigeria, including against hotels frequently visited by Westerners,” an emergency message to US citizens on its website said.

“The US government has no additional information regarding the timing of these possible attacks. The Nigerian government is aware of the threat and is actively implementing security measures.”

It gave no further information on the threats.

A police spokesman told AFP “we are not aware of any special threat of attacks by Boko Haram or any individual or group.”

“However, police are ever ready and prepared to deal with any situation and security threat to Nigerians and foreigners living in Abuja or any other parts of the country,” said Olusola Amore.

The US issued a similar message in November that drew harsh criticism in Nigeria. No attacks occurred in Abuja in the wake of the November warning.

A US diplomat at the time however said the warning was based on specific and credible information, adding that the embassy had no choice but to warn American citizens.

Boko Haram has carried out scores of attacks, mainly in Nigeria’s predominately Muslim north, that have killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009.

It claimed responsibility for the August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in Abuja which claimed at least 25 lives.

The group’s deadliest attack yet occurred in the northern city of Kano in January, when coordinated bombings and shootings left at least 185 people dead.

Despite heavy-handed raids and a number of high-profile arrests, Nigerian authorities have appeared unable to stop the attacks.

An attempt to hold indirect talks between Boko Haram and the government in March collapsed after a mediator quit over leaks to the media and the Islamists said they could not trust government officials.

Authorities blamed the deaths of a British and an Italian hostage in northwestern Nigeria in March on a faction of Boko Haram. A spokesman for what is believed to be the main branch of the group however denied any involvement.

US Ambassador to Nigeria Terence McCulley recently urged Nigeria to focus on development in its impoverished north as well as security to bring an end to an onslaught of deadly attacks blamed on Boko Haram.

Analysts say poverty and frustration in the north have pushed young people toward extremism.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer with some 160 million people, is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

The oil-producing south is wealthier and more educated, stoking resentment in the north.

Vanguard

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