Blog

Don urges support for `Change Begins With Me Campaign’

NAN-H-20

Campaign

By Monday Ijeh

Abuja, Sept. 9, 2016 (NAN) Prof. Abdulhameed Ujo of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Abuja, has urged Nigerians to embrace the “Change Begins With Me Campaign’’ of the Federal Government.

Ujo, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday, said that the campaign was designed to mobilise Nigerians to address the challenges facing the country.

“I am of the feeling that what they are trying to do is to experiment the various approaches to address the problems.

“It is a philosophy of the government aimed at mobilising Nigerians and that must start with the individual.

“I have the feeling that it is a good approach because since we are in crisis, it is good we open all doors so that when one door does not open, we can try another.

“Addressing this problem from the individual level will help to rebuild the family, the community and the larger society.”

The don urged the Federal Government to ensure that Nigerians with the necessary intellectual discipline were engaged in the implementation of the campaign.

Ujo, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to support the present administration in its efforts to address the challenges confronting the country, adding that complaints and criticism would only compound the problems.

“To me, everybody has to support this administration to succeed and stop complaining because we are in a critical situation.

“The problem of the country is so big that they cannot be solved overnight; so, we must wake up to offer whatever we can to support the programme of government.

“It is not enough for us to sit down in our houses and continue to complain that we are dying,” he added. (NAN)

IMC/MO/NKO

Edited by Morayo Omolade/Nkechi Okoronkwo

NAN-HE-1
Food
By Aisha Ahmed
Kano Sept. 7, 2016 (NAN) Prices of food items have begun to come down in markets in Kano following the arrival of newly harvested farm produce, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Checks by NAN at some markets in the state revealed that the prices of some grains had drastically reduced but rice, still in high demand, was still costly.
NAN observed that a bag of maize is now selling for N10,000 as against N13, 000 it sold last month, while a measure now costs N357, down from between N470 and N500 previously.
The price of a measure of millet had equally dropped from N360 to about N250.
Also, a bag of rice, which sold for N19,000, is now selling for N17,500 while a measure now costs N700.
Some consumers told NAN that they were optimistic that the prices of food items would crash further before the year ends.
Malam Sani Usman, a consumer, said that the current economic hardship would end with massive food production.
He said that when people did not produce but consumed more “there is bound to be food shortage and the economy will become weak’’.
Another customer, Ibrahim Asim, appealed to traders to desist from hoarding food in an attempt to make more gains. (NAN)
AAA/AIB/PAD

[Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde, controlled by Peter Dada]
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NAN-H-5
Pest
By Chidinma Ewunonu-Aluko
Ibadan, Sept. 9, 2016 (NAN) An agricultural expert, Dr Folake Akinbode, on Friday advised the Federal Government to reactivate all its pest control agencies to stem the menace of farm wastage.
Akinbode, Head of the Maize Improvement Programme at the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan.
She said that such agencies would help monitor the outbreak of pests and diseases in the country.
She also advised the government to establish an insurance policy that would be farmers’ friendly.
Akinbode said that for the country to obtain effective economy diversification through agriculture, the farmers must be given special attention.
“We have issues of climate change, making cropping system not safe, nobody can predict when to plant; one of the effects of the change is the insurgence of army-worm.
“Farmers have lost a lot of things, they rarely make profits from their farms these days, and pests consume a large proportion of the produce.
“So, the insurance will help the farmers to be insured in times as this,” she said.
The researcher advised government to always carry along stakeholders in agriculture in policy decision makings.
“The government should always fund research institutes because it is the outcome of research activities that farmers will need,’’ she said.
She also advised farmers to carry out good agronomic practices as and when do.
“For example, before they plant maize, they should leave the land for two weeks so that pest will not attack the maize seeds.
“They need to always plant improved seeds, not the preserved ones from previous harvest.
“The preserved seeds could have lost some features along the line of cultivation,’’ she said.
She said that the IAR&T was working on low Nitrogen tolerant varieties of maize, which could adapt to South-Western agro-ecologies.
“We are working on the yellow and white colours.
“The variety is also high in carotene and very soon, we will release them to the farmers,’’ she assured. (NAN)
CC/AIB/PAD

Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde/controlled by Peter Dada]
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