DRY SEASON FARMING: ADAS-P CONCLUDES COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN ADAMAWA

Dry Season Farming: ADAS-P Concludes Community Engagements In Adamawa

The Adamawa State Agribusiness Support  Programme, ADAS-P, has concluded its four-day community engagements across the eleven selected local government areas of Adamawa state as part of preparations to kick start the 2024 dry season farming initiative.

The team C Engagement of ADAS-P has visited Demsa, Numan, Lamurde and Shelleng. 

At Shelleng local government area, the leader of the team Dr. Tasi'u Idi who is the head of Value Chain Development and Climate Smart Agriculture of ADAS-P said the programme will not only boost food production and security but will provide enabling environment for investors from within and outside the country.

Dr Idi added that the aim of the community engagements is identification of community irrigation sites, cluster formation, suitability analysis, farmers database establishment, development of digital farmer identify numbers and formation of community development  associations within the local government area. 

Speaking on behalf of the traditional institutions, the district head of Shelleng, Alh. Abdurrahman Isa Dason who described the programme as timely, urged ADAS-P to justify the confidence reposed in them by the state government and avoid the mistakes of other agric programmes that failed.

While in Mayo-Belwa and Fufore local government areas, the administrative secretary of ADAS-P implementation committee, Mrs Joy Tarfa explained that the engagement is also part of preparations to kick start the 2024 Adamawa Sustainable Dry Season Agribusiness Project aimed at complementing Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri's efforts to ensuring food security in Adamawa. 

In his remarks, the Executive Chairman Mayo-Belwa local government area council, Hon. Umar Nashon Gubi said the programme is inline with his administration's efforts to boost farming and   reaffirms his  commitment to give necessary support and cooperation to this initiative.

Giving a clear view of the financial requirements for this initiative, the representative of NIRSAL Microfinance Bank Pls, Aliyu Baba Inna said beneficiaries must belong to cooperative society before being incorporated into the programme. 

The programme will be carried out  by ADAS-P, office of the state Surveyor General, NIRSAL MFB PLC,  District Scribes/Heads, local government Directors of agric and natural resources among stakeholders.

Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) to Collaborate with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in Improving the Nation’s Investor Attractiveness Ranking and the Investment Rating of Nigeria.

Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) to Collaborate with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in Improving the Nation’s Investor Attractiveness Ranking and the Investment Rating of Nigeria.

In the Authority’s efforts to collaborate with relevant sister government agencies towards improving the transparency level of activities in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Free Zones and to further attract more value investors into Nigeria, the Managing Director/CEO of Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, Bamanga Usman Jada and some members of his management visited the Director/CEO of Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Hajiya Hafsat Abubakar Bakari at her office in Abuja on 13th August, 2024.

NFIU is the central coordinating body responsible for receiving, requesting, analyzing and disseminating financial intelligence reports on money laundering, terrorism financing and other relevant information to law enforcement, security, intelligence and related authorities in Nigeria.

The level of determination, intelligence, drive and commitment to ensure that Nigeria does not become a safe haven for global money laundering and terrorism financing networks, already indicates that the NFIU will record much more achievements under the able leadership of Hajiya Hafsat Abubakar Bakari.

So far, the Unit has worked very hard to improve the Investor Attractiveness Ranking and Investment Rating of Nigeria by blocking revenue leakages which resulted in a significant increase in the country’s revenue, improvement in Nigeria’s image internationally, and the restoration of global investor confidence in Nigeria’s economic reforms and the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Government.

This success story of the NFIU has minimized money laundering activities through their Crime Record Information System (CRIMS) and has therefore led to a boost in government revenue at the federal level and across 18 States of the federation.

Speaking during the visit, the OGFZA boss, Jada congratulated Hajiya Bakari on her well-deserved appointment as Director/CEO of NFIU, expressing strong optimism on her ability to transform the Unit to an enviable position in the International Financial Intelligence circles.

Assuring of the Authority’s readiness and unwavering commitment to support the NFIU in achieving its mandate, Jada stated that OGFZA is a regulatory agency of government saddled with the responsibility to administer, regulate and manage activities of businesses within the nation’s oil and gas free zones.

The NFIU boss pledged to work closely with the Authority to ensure the effective implementation and verification of relevant critical regulations. The collaboration will include joint sensitization and training exercises by both Agencies aimed at strengthening anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) measures.

In conclusion, NFIU boss noted that the Authority’s involvement in AML/CFT will contribute in safeguarding the integrity of the oil and gas sector activities within Nigeria’s free zones, thereby ensuring that the Oil and Gas Free Zones are not exploited for illicit financial activities.

Signed

Golda Opuine Ukomadu

DGM/Head Corporate Communications

Office of the MD/CEO

OGFZA