Yobe state project coordinator led staff on a 5-day meeting on wetland zones

By: Yahaya Wakili

Yobe State Project Coordinator Agro-climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) has led a delegation of stakeholders and staff to a 5-day Stakeholders Engagement for the Development of Strategic Catchment Management Plan in Riparian/Wetland Zones of Northern Nigeria.

In a statement issued by the communication officer, Malam Ibrahim Baba Saleh, the event was aimed at engaging stakeholders on the best way to develop a strategic catchment management plan around the basin.

The Chairman of the Riparian States, Mr. Shehu Mohammed, highlighted the efforts made by his team within the period under review.

He buttressed some of the interventions made by ACReSAL, particularly the dredging of Nguru wetland targeted to benefit over 5000 direct farmers.

The meeting had in attendance the ACReSAL National Project Coordinator, Mr. Abdulhamid Umar, consultants and resource persons, and staff from the Federal Project Management Unit (FPMU).

Yobe state project coordinator led staff on a 5-day meeting on wetland zones

PDP National Chairman commiserates with Buni over Mafa killings and floods in some parts of Yobe

By: Yahaya Wakili

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), National Chairman Ambassador Umaru Iliya Damagum led members of the National Working Committee and Board of Trustees of the party on a sympathy visit to Governor Mai Mala Buni over the Mafa attack and flood in some parts of the state.

Ambassador Iliya commended Governor Buni for giving every citizen of the state a sense of belonging irrespective of political differences.

“I must appreciate you for giving everyone a sense of belonging and fulfillment, despite our political differences,” he said.

The National Chairman said PDP shares the pain and trauma suffered by the people over the senseless killing of innocent people and the hardship caused by the flood.

Similarly, the former Senate President of the Ninth Senate, Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, Ph.D., GCON, Sardaunan Bade, Yobe North Senatorial District, paid a sympathy visit to the governor.

Senator Lawan prayed for the repose of the souls of the victims of the Mafa attack and the floods.

He also prayed to Allah (SWT) to grant the departed souls Aljannatul Firdaus and to console their families.

PDP National Chairman commiserates with Buni over Mafa killings and floods in some parts of Yobe

FG launches agric empowerment programme in Delta

By: Michael Mike

The Federal Government has successfully concluded its agricultural empowerment programme across six south-south states with a grand launch of Project “Earn From The Soil” in Delta State.

Mrs Gift Johnbull, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, South-South, made this known in a statement signed by her and made available to journalists in Abuja on Friday.

According to her, the launch in Warri, Delta State follows the successful rollout of the project across Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Edo, culminating in Delta State with this grand occasion.

Johnbull added that the government was now set to proceed with the full implementation of the project, which aimed to revolutionise agriculture and enhance food security in the region by promoting cooperative formation and commodity-based clustering.

She explained that the initiative aligned with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, focusing on food security, agricultural growth, and economic empowerment for women.

She said: “As a daughter of the soil, it is with great pleasure and a deep sense of responsibility that today we begin the domestication of the Women Economic Empowerment Policy (WEE) in Delta State and launch Project ‘Earn From The Soil.

“This significant event marks a critical step forward in our collective effort to economically empower women in Delta State and the wider South-South region,”Johnbull stated.

She noted that the Federal Government’s target was to reach over 500,000 smallholder farmers, agribusinesses, and fisherfolk, with a particular focus on empowering women.

“As we embark on this journey together, let us harness our resources, our fertile lands, and our people’s ingenuity to build a prosperous, food-secure, and equitable Delta State,”.

The goals of the project, as outlined by Johnbull, include: Promotion of sustainable farming practices that increase agricultural productivity, Enhancing value addition to agricultural and aquacultural products, focusing on processing and packaging,

Developing robust market linkages to ensure women farmers access both local and international markets, Fostering cluster projects that promote entrepreneurship in agribusiness and create opportunities along the agricultural value chain.

Mr Emakpor Odogu, Executive Assistant to the Governor on Community Development in Delta State, commended the timeliness of the project.

“When you are hungry and you have a means to get on and you have a deliberate course of action, it then means you have hope,” he said.

Odogu highlighted the women’s economic empowerment policy as a key component of this federal initiative, describing it as a “deliberate course of action” being put in place to alleviate hunger.

“The launch of the WEE Policy and the “Earn From is Soil” project is expected to position Delta State as a leader in agricultural development, setting a benchmark for sustainable economic growth through women’s empowerment in the South-South region,”he said.

He noted that this aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of zero tolerance for hunger and expressed gratitude to the federal government for bringing such initiative to Delta State.

The project allowed to tailor its support to the specific needs of farmers, with implementing partners like Nexim Bank, Zenith Bank, REA, UN Women, the Niger Delta, Albright Stonebridge and others offering targeted assistance based on the commodities produced by local farmers.

FG launches agric empowerment programme in Delta