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Tag: Adesina

  • Balogun, Okonjo-Iweala hail Adesina’s emergence as 2017 World Food Prize Laureate

    Nigeria’s Chargé d’Affaires to the U.S. Hakeem Balogun and a former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, have lauded the emergence of Dr Akinwumi Adesina as the 2017 World Food Prize Laureate.

    Balogun and Okonjo-Iweala told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent in the U.S. that Adesina’s selection for the prestigious prize was a great honour for Nigeria.

    Adesina, who is the current President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), was Minister of Agriculture under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

    He was named winner of the 250,000-dollar World Food Prize, regarded as the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for Agriculture, at a ceremony on Monday at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C.

    Balogun described Adesina’s emergence as a great honour to our country.

    “It is a manifestation of government’s efforts, past and present, at eradicating poverty and placing food on the tables of all Nigerians.

    “Dr Adesina is another show of the numerous Nigerians that are shining examples and who are excelling in their various professions all over the world.

    “You will recall that Dr Adesina, while serving as Minister of Agriculture was known as the ‘Farmer’s Minister.”

    The Nigerian envoy said Adesina’s policies while serving as Minister, expanded Nigeria’s food production and attracted over five billion dollars in private sector investments in agriculture.

    “His (Adesina’s) food policies resulted in close to, if not more than, 20 million metric tonnes.

    “For us in the Embassy of Nigeria, we are glad that this is a Nigerian to showcase. I congratulate Dr Akinwumi Adesina,” Balogun said.

    On her part, Okonjo-Iweala, who served alongside Adesina, hailed the achievement of her former colleague.

    “A proud day for Nigeria; President Akin Adesina, President of the AfDB, is announced as the recipient of the 2017 World Food Prize,” she said.

    According to Okonjo-Iweala, Adesina’s feat as the new Laureate is an example and a testimony that about 99 per cent of our citizens are law-abiding and good natured.

    Adesina is the 46th person and the sixth African to win the World Food Prize.

    NAN reports that he midwifed the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) under which the E-Wallet system of distribution of agricultural inputs, the first of its kind, was introduced.

    For the first time in the history of agriculture in Nigeria, farmers received alerts on their phones to collect their allocation of inputs.

    He will be presented with the prize money and Laureate sculpture at a ceremony at the Iowa State Capitol on Oct. 19.

    The event in Washington, D.C. was presided over by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue and attended by some U.S. Congressmen, Ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps. (NAN)

  • Create greater economic opportunities for African youths, Adesina tells G7 leaders

    President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has called on African leaders to create greater economic opportunities for its youth to stay home and live a meaningful life.

    Adesina disclosed this at the G7 Summit in Taormina, Italy, stressing that the future of African youth does not lie in migration to Europe, but in a prosperous Africa.

    He said, “The future of Africa’s youth does not lie in migration to Europe; it should not be at the bottom of the Mediterranean; it lies in a prosperous Africa. We must create greater economic opportunities for our youth right at home in Africa. That’s why the African Development Bank has launched the Jobs for Youth in Africa initiative, with the goal of creating 25 million jobs within 10 years, with a focus on agriculture and ICT.

    “We must turn rural areas from zones of economic misery to zones of economic prosperity. This requires new agricultural innovations and transforming agriculture into a sector for creating wealth. We must make agriculture a really cool choice for young people. The future millionaires and billionaires of Africa will come initially from agriculture,” he added.

    According to the AfDB Chief, the new spring in the bank’s step for Africa’s development comes from its high five priorities — Light up and power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialize Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa. He stated that these high five would help to achieve 90 percent of the Sustainable Development Goals for Africa and 90 percent of Agenda 2063.

    “Africa needs innovation. This is crucial for access to energy, because 645 million Africans do not have access to electricity. Africa cannot develop in the dark; Africa needs an energy revolution,” he said.

    That is why the Bank is investing $12 billion over the next five years in the energy sector as well as to leverage up to $50 billion, to address this challenge.

    “We are investing in unlocking Africa’s renewable energy potential, especially innovations on solar power. Our goal is to connect 130 million households to grids and 75 million households to off-grid solar systems within ten years. To light up and power Africa is the biggest deal of the century. Even insects migrate from where it is dark to where there is light. No wonder Africa’s youth – our assets – take huge risks migrating to Europe, looking for a better life.”

    He further explained that the AfDB is investing in skills development in computer sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics to prepare the youths for the jobs of the future, adding that the Africa as a continent must also avoid what is called the ‘triangle of disaster’ – a deadly combination of extreme rural poverty, high youth unemployment and environmental climate degradation.

    Adesina also explained that consumer spending in Africa is projected to reach $1.4 trillion in the next three years and business-to-business spending to reach $3.5 trillion in the next eight years.

    While urging the G7 nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to look at Africa as a huge investment opportunity, he noted that the continent is reforming, making itself open for business, adding that it accounted for 30 percent of global business and regulatory reforms in 2016.

     

  • Buhari calls Adesina, thanks him for dealing with ‘mischief makers’

    Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on Saturday said he spoke on phone with the president who is on medical vacation in London.

    Adesina said the president specially thanked him for dealing effectively with ‘mischief makers’.

    The presidential spokesperson revealed this through series of tweets on his twitter handle.

    He wrote: “Spoke with PMB a short while ago. Glad to hear his voice. Told me he was resting, but no cause for worry. Said I should greet my family.

    “Thanks for holding out against mischief makers, PMB tells me during a phone call today. Said he would call again soon. Gave him best wishes.”

     

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that President Muhammadu Buhari is currently on an indefinite medical vacation in London, United Kingdom since January 19.

  • Adesina should resign if he’s tired of his job – APC National Youth leader

    National Youth leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Ismaeel Ahmed, has asked Femi Adesina, media adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, to resign.

    Ahmed, who made his feelings known, via his Twitter handle advised the presidential aide to resign if “he doesn’t want the job”.

    Ahmed warned Adesina not to via his utterances destroy “what we have spent a decade and half building”.

    The APC chieftain’s reaction followed comment by Adesina on why Buhari has not commented on the killings in Kaduna state.

    Adesina had in an interview with Channels Television said the president “cannot talk on everything”.

    In his words: “You don’t have to hear from the president on that matter.

    “You see, when it pays us, we talk about federalism and true federalism, yet you want the president and presidency to talk about everything.”