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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2012
Oyo council boss appeals to Fed Govt on floods From Bisi Oladele, Ibadan
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•Participants and the cassava stems at the event •Continued from Page 13
quirement of the agro-industries, Adesina explained that sufficient quality cassava tubers would be produced. The aim of the cassava transformation programme, he said, is
Taraba steps up food sufficiency drive to increase the current productivity its tubers from an average of 12 metric tons per hectare in the state to at least 25 metric tons per
hectare, through the use of improved product specific cassava cultivars, application of fertilizer –specifically blended for its pro-
Hope for childless couples •Continued from Page 13
“The children are delivered through the same process of child delivery but the only difference is that it is relatively expensive. It costs between N500,000 to N1m, depending on the materials used and number of attempts and age of the patient.” Grandmother of baby Favour who does not want her name in print, told Newsextra that “infertility is not only a disease but an aberration in this part of the world and nobody would give you a chance. They believe you lived a wrong and regrettable life, hence you cannot conceive. “So, my daughter has been childless for many years and when we had lost all hope, we were told she was pregnant. We could not believe it but we kept hope with God and today it is a reality. She gave birth to a bouncy baby boy.” Prof. Ikechebelu advised couples not to wait till they are old before they go for IVF. He said: “Age is a serious determinant. Our appeal to couples is that if they are having challenges with child-bearing, they don’t have to wait until they are old before they access this assisted reproduction. They know that women who are younger
•An attendant with one IVF baby
have a better success rate than the older ones. “So, we are appealing to couples that they don’t need to wait
for 20 years before looking for assistance because the chances of success are bright when they are young.”
duction and adoption of other recommended agronomic practices. Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon. Anthony Jellason assured that GES on cassava and other value chain crops would be a huge success in Taraba. He, however, reminded President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Suntai that their commitment would inspire the cassava farmers to produce enough to feed the nation and sustain the market for other value chain crops. He revealed that at least 52,000 cassava farmers in the state already supply cassava tubers to the Autonomous Processing Unit at Bantaje, Wukari Local Government Area of the state. “That is the quiet revolution on cassava and the agricultural sector generally that is going on in Taraba, which the people, even those in the Danbaba Suntai administration don’t know,” Jellason said. A major feature of the event was the distribution of cassava planting materials to cassava farmers who registered under the FMA&RD. Each of the beneficiaries obtained 15 bundles of cassava stems and two bags of specially blended fertilisers at 50 per cent support price.
RANSITION Committee Chairman, Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State, Mr Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye, has appealed to the Federal Government to use the Ecological Fund to assist the state and particularly the local government on flood disasters. The council boss spoke with Newsextra over the incidence of floods which sacked some communities in Ibadan and its environs recently. Abass-Aleshinloye lamented the magnitude of the damage done by the flood that attended the devastating August 26 last year rain and the recent one. He explained that Oluyole Local Government is usually worse hit because it is the terminal end of all rivers in Ibadan. He said a total of 16 bridges have been destroyed since last year’s downpour, thereby piling more pressure on the meager resources of the council as well as complicating the poor living conditions of the rural dwellers within the council. Of the lot, he explained that the state government was already reconstructing two while the council was reconstructing six. The work is costing the council over N70 million, he said. Highlighting the plight of the residents, Abass-Aleshinloye said they no longer sleep whenever it rains, particularly in the night for fear of being swept off. The council boss therefore appealed to the Federal Government to come to the aid of the state and particularly Oluyole Council due to the ecological nature of the area. The council, he said, is unable to foot the bill of the reconstruction works required to restore normalcy to residents of the local government. His words: “Oluyole Local Government is the terminal end of all rivers in Ibadan land. Hence it is badly affected during heavy rains. The council should not be treated like any other because of this problem. In fact, we will need up to N400 million to reconstruct damaged infrastructures across the local government. We appeal to the Federal Government to come to our aid through the Ecological Fund because the council cannot afford the huge sum.”
•Aleshinloye