From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that only science and technology-based agricultural practise would add value to the nation’s economic development.
The minister emphasised that President Muhammadu Buhari fully appreciates the fact that sustainable development through modern agricultural methods was the current trend globally, hence the administration’s commitment to diversifying the economy through science and technology.
Onu stated this when he played host to a delegation of the reigning Queen of Aso Nigeria (Tourism), Miss Linda Ifesinachi, who briefed him on her upcoming pet project, an agriculture and empowerment summit aimed at developing agriculture through science and technology.
According to the minister, science and technology would be deployed to improve food security, provide high-yield, disease-resistant seedlings, pest control and mechanisation.
“If we don’t mechanise the process of faming, we can never get young people to farm because I cannot see any young person who will go and use the machete that our great-grandfathers used,” he said.
The beauty queen, in her remarks, explained that the summit was targeted at women and the vulnerable and she needs the support and collaboration of the ministry of science and technology.
AGRIC: Cross River seeks FG’s help to tackle cocoa pest
From Magnus Eze, Abuja
The Cross River State government has appealed to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to assist it in tackling a destructive pest called leaf miners that recently attacked cocoa farms in the state.
Though the attack, the first of its kind in the state, has been contained, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Prof. Egrinya Eneji, told Daily Sun in Abuja that the magnitude of devastation of cocoa plantations was too much for the state to bear.
Eneji, who disclosed that he quickly alerted the ministry when the incident occurred, said efforts were underway to select crop species that are resistant to army worm, adding that the state also solicited the ministry’s help in containing the pest ravaging maize farms.
The commissioner said that cocoa from the state has been rated the best in the country for years because the state government, in collaboration with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Counci, has, over the years, organised training for farmers in the use of chemicals every November.
On the recent ban of Nigerian agro exports by the European Union, he warned against indiscriminate use of pesticides in farming, especially cocoa, as they often remain as residues in the beans and affect their quality in the international market.
Works: Fashola advocates movement of cargo by rail
Minster of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has called for the movement of cargo across the country by rail in order to save the nation’s roads.
Fielding questions from newsmen after the inspection of the rehabilitation of access road to Apapa/Tin Can Island Port project, which included the construction of a new bridge running parallel to the existing one from Liverpool Roundabout across Port Novo Creek, Fashola expressed dismay at the rate the roads and bridges are collapsing as a result of stress of cargoes on them by the tankers and trailers. He warned that unless the trend was reversed, the transportation business would be adversely affected.
The minister said there was need for all the stakeholders, including government and all those in the transportation business, especially those in the trailer and tanker business moving cargo across the country, to agree on reverting to the rail transportation as means of moving heavy cargo in order to save the roads.
“In the past, I told all the tanker drivers that if they could move from rail transport to tanker and container transport on roads and we have seen the damage we have done, there is no reason we cannot move back,” the minister said.
He added that although it may take time, but there must be a common agreement to move off the roads “because if the roads fail, the transport business dies.”
Fashola suggested that instead of building and reconstructing the rail-lines, the same containers and tankers could be configured to run on tracks, adding that the present administration was now moving cattle by rail from the North to Lagos and that, according to him, this is how it should go to save the roads.
Saying that rehabilitation project was an emergency intervention, the minister added: “This is why Ijora-Apapa Bridge failed because it was just over burdened with cargo for a very long time and after sometime it could not hold it anymore.”
Earlier, while conducting the minister round the project, the Acting Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Engr. (Mrs) Osareme Osakue, said the contract, whose scope of work included the construction of an ultra-modern truck terminal with offices and police posts, construction of new carriageway between Liverpool Bridge and Tin Can Second Gate, among other facilities, was first awarded on November 18, 2009 but had not been completed due to lack of budgetary provision to pay for executed works.
EDUCATION: NAL backs new JAMB registrar to succeed
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Nigeria Academy of Letters (NAL) has expressed confidence in the capacity of the new Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, to transform tertiary institutions’ admission process.
The institute challenged him to maximise the opportunity provided by information and communication technology (ICT) to sanitise the system and regain the confidence of Nigerian students seeking admissions into tertiary institutions.
NAL, which is the umbrella body of renowned academics, most of whom are professors emeritus, however, promised to support the new JAMB helmsman for him to succeed.
President of NAL, Prof. Olu Obafemi, who made the pledge when he led other NAL members to the headquarters of JAMB in Abuja, said the essence of the visit was to renew their support for Oloyede, with a view to ensuring that he excelled in his new appointment.
Obafemi described NAL, of which Oloyede is a fellow and a committed member, as an intellectual organisation whose sole mandate is to promote research and scholarship at the highest level in all branches of humanities.
The academy further described him as a extremely gifted and hardworking Nigerian who would surprise all with his outstanding performance before the end of his tenure.
