Gbolahan Salman Sokoto
In its bid to ensure progressive narch towards sustainable economic development, Sokoto State government has set up the largest date palm plantation in Nigeria.
Planned and conceived as the Date Palm Waqf Initiative, the project is targeted at “reducing the incidence of absolute poverty by 25% before 2025.”
A statement signed by the special adviser on media and publicity to the Governor, Muhammad Bello, it is prelude to the take-off of a 5,000 hectares of land for the National Date Palm Plantation that would be flagged off shortly.
Bello futher said Heov. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal disclosed these Tuesday at the first national summit of the Association of Date Farmers Processors and Marketers of Nigeria (ADAFPAM) held in Dange-Shuni local government area of the state.
According to the statement, the governor, who was represented by the state Commissioner for Environment, Mal. Sagir Bafarawa, the plantation is just a pilot scheme that will culminate in the establishment of “similar plantations in all the 87 districts of the state.”
“We have also set up a youth volunteer scheme in all our secondary schools to establish at least one hectare of date palm orchard in each school,” stated the governor, who said the aim is to nurture a generation equipped to manage such venture “and hopefully position Sokoto state as the leading hub in date palm farming, processing and marketing in Nigeria and the sub-region.”
“Our hope,” posited the governor, “is to improve the income of our state, provide business opportunities as well as mitigate the scourge of environmental degradation for the overall wellbeing of our people.”
In his remarks, the Chairman of Sokoto State Zakat and Waqf Commission (SOZECOM), Alhaji Lawal Maidoki said the mega orchard will be used to sponsor the education of poor orphans and less privileged, provide medicare for the same category of people and stem the tide of hunger in the local government as well as the state in general.
Similarly, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, who was also represented, observed that Nigeria as the 10th largest consumer of dates which global trade is put at $1.6 billion, produces only about 20 per cent of its annual demand, thus stressing that ADAFPAM initiative is timely and “there is no reason for delay any longer.”
The occasion was attended by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar and former governor of Adamawa State, Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako.
Incredible story there. What occurred after? Thanks!
My developer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP.
I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses.
But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on numerous websites for about a
year and am concerned about switching to another platform.
I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into
it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!
Outstanding quest there. What occurred after?
Thanks!
Hi there, just became aware of your blog through Google,
and found that it is truly informative. I’m going to watch out for brussels.
I will appreciate if you continue this in future.
Lots of people will be benefited from your writing.
Cheers!
Ahaa, its pleasant dialogue on the topic of this article
at this place at this blog, I have read all that, so now me
also commenting here.
I need to to thank you for this great read!! I certainly enjoyed
every bit of it. I’ve got you bookmarked to check out new
things you post…
I just like the valuable information you supply
in your articles. I’ll bookmark your blog and test once more right here regularly.
I am fairly certain I will learn many new stuff proper here!
Best of luck for the following!
Hi, after reading this amazing paragraph i am also happy to
share my knowledge here with friends.
This is very interesting, You are a very skilled blogger.
I’ve joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your fantastic post.
Also, I’ve shared your website in my social networks!
I’m extremely impressed with your writing abilities as neatly
as with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or
did you modify it your self? Anyway stay up the excellent high quality writing, it is uncommon to peer a nice blog like
this one nowadays..
I don’t know if it’s just me or if perhaps everybody else experiencing issues with your blog.
It appears like some of the text within your content are running off the screen. Can someone else
please comment and let me know if this is happening to them too?
This may be a problem with my browser because I’ve had this happen previously.
Kudos