Television Nigerian

The Oyo chapter of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) has assured Nigerians of their commitment to increasing rice production in order to reduce the commodity’s high cost.

Mr Samuel Akande, Chairman of Oyo RIFAN, gave the assurance yesterday in Ibadan.

Akande stated that the farmers’ goal for years has been to bring high-quality rice to the table on a consistent basis and at a lower price than it is now.

He noted that the association encouraged members to engage in commercial agriculture of the commodity on suitable land in order to accomplish its objectives. “In Oyo State, the problem is not a lack of farmers willing to plant rice, but a lack of enabling facilities.

“We are still waiting to see what the government has in store for us in terms of land, land clearing, and tractors; up until now, it has been entirely up to the farmers here,” he explained.

Akande stated that the RIFAN/CBN/United Bank Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) was the state’s only certain hope for rice farmers.

He stated that the ABP package included all necessary inputs for smallholder farmers, based on the farmer’s assumed capacity. “Rice pyramids are making a comeback across Nigeria. On a more serious note, RIFAN has been selling rice paddy to millers in order to bring the price of rice down.
“Farmers are truly fearful of working at full capacity to produce food on a daily basis because they are being attacked and their rice fields are being grazed unhindered.

“Where land clearing equipment and irrigation systems are available, they are not maintained.

“Another area of difficulty is farmers’ inability to control flood/drought experiences without a well-planned and managed irrigation system, which smallholder farmers cannot implement without government intervention.

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“To increase rice production, what we, the farmers, can do and have been doing is to recruit and train more people to plant rice. With farmers on the ground, any willing government will find it simple to identify and locate the right farmers to support,” he explained.

According to him, RIFAN has received input loans for fertiliser, water pumps, hoses, sprayers, herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides.

Akande stated that in order to bring the market price of rice down, governments at all levels must make deliberate efforts in that direction.

“Because farmers can only produce for the market, and because our middlemen buy low and sell high, only the government has the wherewithal to maintain a desirable price level.

“We also encourage Nigerians to embrace the culture of eating locally produced foods in order to ensure the project’s continued existence. We can expect perfection only if we continue for an extended period of time,” he stated.

Mr. Yomi Alliyu, the lawyer for Yoruba nation agitator Chief Sunday Adeyemo, alias Sunday Igboho, has stated that his client is being treated inhumanely while being held in police custody in Cotonou, Benin.

The lawyer claimed in a statement released on Tuesday that Igboho is being treated like an animal in police custody and may appear before a court today for an extradition order.

“I received a call from a reliable source in the Republic of Benin just about three minutes ago informing me that Sunday Igboho has been placed in a very dehumanizing condition in a police cell in Cotonou,” he said.

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“The source informed me that they are under instruction from above to chain Igboho like an animal awaiting slaughter. He informed me that Igboho was shackled to the floor and was in excruciating pain.

“While I was on the phone with the source, I could hear our client sobbing and pleading for the chains to be removed, stating that he was in pain. However, I can hear one officer telling him that they are unable to remove the chains because they are following orders.

Alliyu, however, stated that the Nigerian authorities’ request for extradition is unlikely to be granted, given Igboho’s status as a political offender.

According to him, “I am aware that our client, Chief Sunday Adeyemo (a.k.a. Sunday Igboho Oosa), will appear in court tomorrow [today] in Cotonou, the capital of the Republic of Benin.”

“The Nigerian authorities and security operatives who arrested him will seek an extradition order to return Sunday Igboho to Nigeria.

“However, it is improbable that the extradition order sought would be granted. This is due to our client’s status as a political prisoner who is immune from extradition. As I stated earlier today in a press release, even his arrest by security operatives was contrary to the political nature of his offense.

“An ex-tradition treaty exists between four West African countries – Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, and Benin Republic – that protects Igbo people from extradition to the Republic of Benin.

“The 1984 Extradition Treaty between Togo, Nigeria, Ghana, and the Republic of Benin prohibited the extradition of political fugitives. Additionally, it states that if the fugitive will not receive justice as a result of discrimination and/or undue delay in prosecution, the host country should refrain from releasing him.

“Article 20 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, to which the four countries are signatories, made agitation for self-determination a fundamental right that all countries must protect,” he explained.

President Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) voiced regret on Tuesday over the country’s limited amount of arable land being farmed, while encouraging more Nigerians to take up farming.

The President made the remarks Tuesday at his country residence in Daura, Katsina State, after Eid-el-Kabir prayers.

This was included in a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, headlined ‘I Was Surprised to Hear Only 2.5 Percent Of Arable Land In Nigeria Is Being Cultivated, Says President Buhari.’

According to him, the Presidential Economic Advisory Council informed him that just 2.5 percent of the country’s fertile land had been cultivated.

He also recognized that the country’s poor agricultural land utilization is inextricably connected to a wave of instability in different regions.

As a result, he ordered security firms to collaborate more with communities to create a more hospitable atmosphere for farmers. He directed security services to be more tenacious in preserving the country’s peace and to foster a more amicable connection with communities in order to gather information.

Read also: 49 Yoruba Nation agitators on Monday, and a Lagos State Magistrate Court in Yaba granted them bail

Buhari observed that the security situation in the North East and South-South has improved significantly, and measures are on to guarantee the same in the North Central and North West.

He promised Nigerians that further efforts would be made to apprehend those who have been disrupting the nation’s and citizens’ tranquility.

Additionally, at the prayer field, the Emir of Daura, Faruk Faruk, urged people to increase their support for the President in order for him to carry out his goal of enhancing security and strengthening the economy.

“Since the President took office, the nation has witnessed some good improvements.

“May God continue to bless the President with good health and the bravery necessary to lead the nation to peace. God would not allow Nigeria to suffer humiliation,” he said.

President Muhammadu Buhari expressed amazement at the bandit attack on a Nigerian Air Force Alpha Jet in Zamfara on Tuesday, but expressed relief that the pilot had survived.

In a statement released on Monday, Air Force spokesman Edward Gabkwet said a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Alpha Jet aircraft was shot down by bandits on July 18. Flight Lieutenant Abayomi Dairo, on the other hand, “lucky” survived the bombed plane.

“Fortunately, the aircraft’s brave pilot, Flight Lieutenant Abayomi Dairo, was able to successfully evacuate from the plane. The pilot, who came under heavy ground fire from the robbers, used his survival skills to elude them and seek refuge in neighbouring settlements until sunset,” Mr Gabkwet added.

Mr Buhari said the news was sad but he was relieved by the pilot’s escape in a statement sent by his spokesperson Garba Shehu on Tuesday.

“I was shocked to learn of the tragic news of the plane accident, but I was relieved to learn of the pilot’s successful ejection and subsequent rescue,” Mr Buhari said.

Read also: 49 Yoruba Nation agitators on Monday, and a Lagos State Magistrate Court in Yaba granted them bail

Mr Buhari prayed for Mr Dairo’s rapid recovery, saying, “May the injured pilot recover as soon as possible.”

The bombing of the NAF Alpha Jet by bandits occurs as over 134 students abducted in Tegina, Niger State, remain in a state of captivity.

The Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, on Tuesday, challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy the same energy against promoters of separatists groups to bandits in the country.

The Afenifere made the call in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi.

The group was reacting to the arrest of the self-professed Yoruba freedom fighter, Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho, in Cotonou, Benin Republic, on Monday night.

Afenifere insisted that the county’s insecurity would have ended if Buhari’s administration treated bandits and terrorists the way it has been treating Igboho; and leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who was arrested by security agents on June 27.

Read also: Sunday Igboho has been arrested in Benin Republic.

The statement read: “If half of the energy deployed to apprehend the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, and Sunday Igboho had been deployed to the menace of terrorists and bandits who kill, rape, rob, and kidnap people, we would not have been in the unfortunate security mess that we are presently.”