READ AND SEE WHAT JONATHANS ADMINISTRATION HAS ACHIEVED AGRICULTURE • In 2012 14 new rice mills with capacity to process 240 metric tons of rice were set up by the private sector while in addition, a sum of 1.2 billion dollars was secured by the Federal Government to install 100 large scale rice processing mills to produce 2.1 million metric tons of rice annually. •This and other initiatives of government in 2012 resulted in the creation of about two million new jobs among rural dwellers. In 2013, the Federal Government will implement a Young Graduates Commercial Farmers Scheme, which will absorb 780,000 graduates in its first phase and provide an estimated four million jobs in the agricultural sector in the first year. •Today, Nigeria has reached an unprecedented 60 per cent sufficiency in rice production, a feat, which the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) recently described as capable of raising world rice output to a record high in the next 12 next months. •The Federal Ministry of Agriculture has set a clear goal to make the country self-sufficient in rice production by 2015 and end the N 356 Billion currently spent on importing rice annually, as well as replace up to 40% of the wheat imports for which the country spends over N 635 Billion annually, by 2015. • The Nigeria Agricultural Bank is being restructured and recapitalized to provide loans to peasant farmers at single digit interest rates. This will be the most remarkable fund injection initiative ever undertaken by any government to empower rural peasant farmers and create wealth for rural dwellers. •Export of dried cassava chips began in July 2012 and this represented the first time that Nigeria will achieve commercial scale export of dried chips, which will earn the country $136 million annually in foreign exchange. •The Jonathan administration is resuscitating the production of Cotton particularly in the Northeast and Northwest zones of Nigeria through the provision of improved cotton seedlings, which have been given free of charge to farmers. This will definitely result in the resuscitation of the upstream and downstream cotton/textile subsector before the end of 2013. •Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world with 34 million MT produced per annum •In the last one year following the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture under the Agriculture Transformation Agenda of the Jonathan administration, around $8 billion in private investments have been attracted to agricbusiness, crop production, processing and other forms of value addition. •The Jonathan administration cleansed the rot in the fertilizer distribution system. Under the previous system, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development procured and distributed fertilizers to farmers. The system undermined the private sector and only about 11 percent of the farmers received fertilizers. The rest were sold to friends and `political farmers’ whom exported them. President Jonathan’s intervention dismantled in 60m days, this corrupt system, which had existed for over 40 years and fertilizers are now sold directly to farmers and not to government. • The Ministry launched a Growth Enhancement Scheme, where farmers receive 50% subsidy on fertilizers, for a maximum of two bags, through the use of their mobile phones or what we call Electronic-wallet system (or E-wallet). In 120 days, over 1.2 million farmers bought their subsidized fertilizers using the E-wallet system. Over 1.5 million farmers will be reached by the end of the dry season. A total of 138,802.7 metric tons of fertilizer and 10,974.78 metric tons of seeds in 517 active redemption centres out of all the 804 centres spread across all states of the federation. The E-wallet system is the first of its kind in Africa and already several African countries have indicated they want to implement the Nigerian system. • Multilateral and bilateral agencies are providing donor-related investment support and have shown enthusiasm for the major reforms on-going in Nigeria’s agriculture by committing more $1 billion towards Nigeria’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda. The World Bank Group is providing $500 million. African Development Bank (AfDB) has committed $250 million. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has selected Nigeria as a priority country for its investment in agriculture. The International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) has put up $80 million. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed $60 million. The UK Government, through DFID has committed £37 million. The Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ford Foundation and UNDP are providing significant technical support facilities. ROADS •A total of 651km of roads was paved in bituminous layers in 2012. •A total of 32 Highway projects were completed in 2012. •Following the recent effects of floods in some parts of the country, the administration intervened by constructing new bridges and re-instating washed out embankments. •The Ministry of Works on the order of President Jonathan unveiled Operation Safe Passage, a programme aimed at recovering deplorable sections of major roads in the country to ameliorate the sufferings usually experienced by road users during festive seasons. Under this programme, key roads in the six geo-political zones of the country, were rehabilitated. •80 projects prioritized in 2012 two have been completed, three are over 90 percent completed, five are over 80 percent completed, eighteen are between 50-79 percent complete while the rest are in different stages of completion. •The radical intervention by the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme SURE-P in the road sector in 2012 resulted in accelerated work on the rehabilitation of the following projects: Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja; Benin-Ore-Sagamu dual carriageway; Onitsha-Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriageway; Kaduna-Maiduguri dual carriageway; East-West Road The Second Niger Bridge for which a sum of five billion naira has been set aside. These roads cover a distance of 1,664 kilometres and are at various stages of completion. Most of these projects are due for completion and commissioning in this year.. •As a major turnaround Federal Government also terminated the concessioning agreement with Bi Courtney company on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. The road rehabilitation work is currently been handled by two construction firms and will be completed this year. •The Jonathan administration has entered into collaboration with multi-lateral agencies under the Road Sector Development Team (RSDT) scheme. •Under this framework, the RSDT is currently implementing road rehabilitation, upgrading and maintenance, institutional strengthening and policy reform, and road safety improvements with the credit from the World Bank; and additional funding from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB). •The RSDT in collaboration with multi-lateral agencies rehabilitated/ maintained a total of 257 kilometres of road length in 2012. Two projects under the scheme, the Mokwa-Bida Road and the Akure-Ilesha Road will have their contracts awarded in June. •Also, the Ministry of Works is currently working out modalities for the execution of the dualisation of the Keffi-Lafia-Makurdi-Enugu (9th Mile) roads in Nasarawa, Benue and Enugu States with funds from the Export-Import Bank of China. AVIATION •The administration at the end of 2011 earmarked 22 airports for rehabilitation and reconstruction and by the end of October 2012, over 50 percent had been commissioned for public use with. The remaining eleven would be completed in 2013. • In addition to remodeling, the Jonathan administration has approved the sum of N106 billion for the construction of five new airport terminals in Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Abuja and Enugu as well as six cargo terminals to be managed under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Scheme TRANSPORTATION •The Jonathan administration inaugurated the Lagos-Kano train service, which had been moribund for almost a decade. This is a major feat considering the long years of decay in the rail transportation sector. •The Eastern rail line from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri is being rehabilitated as well as the fixing of the Zaria/Kaura Namoda rail route . •The Abuja to Kaduna 187 kilometre rail line is about more than 30 per cent completed. •the Ajaokuta-Warri Standard Gauge Rail line will be completed any time now. This will provide a less than four-hour journey between the Middlebelt and the South South. •The Lagos-Ibadan new gauge rail line, which was also initiated last year is on course. •The Federal Government has completed three feasibility studies and commissioned three others to open new railway corridors, which will be concessioned to local and foreign investors. An unprecedented investment of 200 billion dollars will flow into the Nigerian economy through these concessions in 2013 and 2014 with over 10 million new jobs of skilled and unskilled laborers (engineers, technicians, machinists, accountants) created in the next two years.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 16:06:07 +0000
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