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IITA-ACAI to train 30,000 farmers in Abia, Benue, Oyo, Osun, Ogun
About 30,000 farmers from Abia, Benue, Oyo, Ogun and Osun states will benefit from the training on the Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management & Best Planting Practices, says Godwin Atser, ACAI Digital Extension & Advisory Services Specialist today.
The trainings are aimed at empowering farmers with the knowledge to boost cassava and maize productivity and yield per hectare. This will subsequently increase farmers’ incomes, better their livelihoods, and create jobs for more people.
The trainings are being done in close collaboration with state Agricultural Development Programs (ADPs) and other extension service providers.
To ensure a seamless and successful dissemination of the Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management and Best Planting Practices tool, the team has developed videos and translated same into local languages – Igbo, Yoruba, and Tiv, targeting the respective zones.
The ACAI team has also procured mini-projectors and mobile phones to empower extension service providers in the participating states.
The Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management was first developed by the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project. The tool has since integrated the best planting practices of ACAI. Farmers who use the toolkit have more than doubled their cassava yield from the national average of 9 tonnes per ha to more than 20 tonnes per ha.
“It is amazing to see how the Six Steps to Cassava Weed Management & Best Planting Practices Decision Support Tool is changing the face of cassava farmers,” Atser added.
Dr Alfred Dixon, IITA Director for Development & Delivery described the toolkit as an innovation that combines a set of agronomic recommendations and plant protection products to control weeds and increase the productivity of cassava.
Beyond Nigeria, several other countries have requested for the toolkit with ACAI team training partners in Liberia, Tanzania, Burundi, and Zambia.
Apart from the use of videos, the ACAI team has put up the recommendations from the Six Steps on Cassava Weed Management and Best Planting Practices on the 3-2-1 service of Airtel where subscribers in Nigeria can dial 3-2-1 and get information on cassava weed management and other agronomic practices free of charge up to 10 times in a month.
“The idea is to get the recommendations to thousands of farmers across Nigeria and Tanzania so they can get better yield from cassava farming,” Dr Dixon added.
The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has declared that the era of armed and bank robberies in Lagos State is a thing of the past, attributing the success to the collaborative efforts between the police and the state government.
Egbetokun made this statement on Thursday during the 18th Annual Town Hall Meeting on Security organized by the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF). He noted that since 2007, only one bank robbery had been successfully executed in the state, which occurred in 2014.
“There was a time when armed robbery and bank robbery were common in Lagos. However, I can confidently say that since 2007, only one bank robbery succeeded, and that was as far back as 2014. The days of armed robbery and bank robbery are gone,” he said.
The IGP commended the Lagos State Government for its consistent support, emphasizing the critical role it has played in maintaining security in the bustling economic hub of the nation. He highlighted the challenges posed by the state’s continuous internal migration, with thousands of people moving into Lagos daily, creating additional security demands.
“What we are doing here today is the usual assistance the state government has been giving to the police. Without this, we would have been overwhelmed with insecurity in Lagos State,” Egbetokun added.
At the event, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu further demonstrated his administration’s commitment to security by donating over 250 brand-new patrol vehicles, along with hardware, communication gadgets, and protective gear to the police.
In his address, Sanwo-Olu outlined the government’s efforts to scale up the use of technology and data for improved security and traffic monitoring. He revealed plans to deploy drone technology for surveillance of waterways and densely populated areas.
“The EGIS component of our mapping and digitalization has almost been completed. Lagos is now properly mapped, and drone technology will be deployed to enhance monitoring, crowd management, and traffic assessment. This will ensure real-time responses to incidents,” the governor explained.
Chad announced Thursday that it was ending military cooperation with former colonial power France, just hours after a visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
“The government of the Republic of Chad informs national and international opinion of its decision to end the accord in the field of defence signed with the French Republic,” foreign minister Abderaman Koulamallah said in a statement on Facebook.
Chad is a key link in France’s military presence in Africa, constituting Paris’s last foothold in the Sahel after the forced withdrawal of its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
“This is not a break with France like Niger or elsewhere,” Koulamallah, whose country still hosts around a thousand French troops, told AFP.
At a press briefing after a meeting between President Mahamat Idriss Deby and Barrot, Koulamallah called France “an essential partner” but added it “must now also consider that Chad has grown up, matured and is a sovereign state that is very jealous of its sovereignty”.
Barrot, who arrived in Ethiopia on Thursday evening, could not immediately be reached for comment.
– ‘Historic turning point’-
Chad is the last Sahel country to host French troops.
It has been led by Deby since 2021, when his father Idriss Deby Itno was killed by rebels after 30 years in power.
The elder Deby frequently relied on French military support to fend off rebel offensives, including in 2008 and 2019.
It borders the Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya and Niger, all of which host Russian paramilitary forces from the Wagner group.
Deby has sought closer ties with Moscow in recent months, but talks to strengthen economic cooperation with Russia have yet to bear concrete results.
Koulamallah called the decision to end military cooperation a “historic turning point”, adding it was made after “in-depth analysis”.
“Chad, in accordance with the provisions of the agreement, undertakes to respect the terms laid down for its termination, including the notice period”, he said in the statement, which did not give a date for the withdrawal of French troops.
The announcement comes just days after Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye indicated in an interview with AFP that France should close its military bases in that country.
“Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” Faye told AFP on Thursday.
The House of Representatives has confirmed the appointment of Olufemi Oluyede as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).
While the constitution does not make provision for confirmation of appointments by the House of Representatives, the lawmaker adopted a report of its ad–hoc committee on the confirmation/screening of the Acting Chief of Army Staff and Thursday, confirmed the appointment of Lieutenant General Oluyede as the Chief of Army Staff.
Chairman of the committee Babajimi Benson in presenting the report, said Lt. Gen. Oluyede had satisfied all requirements.
