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•Mulls establishment of cocoa management board

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved several infrastructure and ecological projects across the country, including the rescoping of key federal roads, new road constructions, and the rehabilitation of dams and irrigation schemes critical to national food security.

Addressing newsmen at the State House, Abuja after the FEC meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu, Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, detailed the Council’s approval of a series of revised and new road contracts across 13 states, while the Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office, Dr. Emanso Umobong, outlined government interventions in ecological and agricultural infrastructure.

Umahi stated that the Council approved the rescoping and variation of the dualisation project covering the Akure-Eta-Ogbese-Iju-Ekiti border to Ikere-Ado-Ekiti road, covering parts of Ondo and Ekiti states.

He said: “Fifteen kilometers of the 18.438km stretch will be constructed within available funds at a revised cost of N19.407 billion”.

According to him, similar rescoping was approved for the Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina-Kaduna dual carriageway, a 375km project inherited from the previous administration.

“The Sokoto to Zamfara section, originally awarded for N105 billion, has now been rescoped to cover 82.4km plus six bridges, still within the same budget,” Umahi noted.

FEC also approved the segmentation of the long-pending 105km Maiduguri-Monguno road in Borno State into phases, with the first 30km awarded for N21 billion.

Umahi emphasized that the remaining phase would be presented to FEC upon completion of the first segment.

The Minister further disclosed that  new contracts were also awarded, including the construction of the Abakaliki-Afikpo Flyover in Ebonyi State at N25 billion, and the construction of Ikoga Road and Atan-Alapoti-Ado-Odo Road in Ogun State at N37.045 billion.

Highlighting private sector collaboration and tax credit financing, Umahi revealed that the Enugu-Onitsha road project—partly funded by MTN—is being rescoped to 77km and awarded for N150 billion.

In the South-West, the remaining 96km stretch of the Benin-Shagamu-Ore road was approved for construction at a contract sum of N187 billion.

On international funding, Umahi announced that the 50km 7th Axial Road project, which includes five kilometers of bridges, has secured $651.7 million in funding from China Exim Bank.

“This road is a strategic evacuation corridor for goods from the Lekki Deep Seaport, including those from Dangote Refinery and Fertilizer Plant,” he said.

The Council also ratified previously announced projects, including the Aba-Ikot-Ekpene road (N30.23 billion), the expanded shoreline protection at Ebute-Ero and Outer Marina (revised to N176.495 billion), and the rehabilitation of the Cham-Numan section of the Gombe-Yola road, now awarded in phases with N9.253 billion approved for the first phase.

Umahi reported progress on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, saying over 70 percent of work is completed on Section One.

“Thirty kilometers will be ready for commissioning by Mr. President, and 10 kilometers of Section Two are nearing completion. We are also targeting 10 kilometers of completed concrete pavement on the Sokoto-Badagry corridor by May 25,” he said.

The Minister also shared a positive appraisal from international financiers saying “The Dutch Bank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa reviewed the procurement process and project designs. They not only endorsed the process but also stated it was undervalued”.

Also briefing newsmen, Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Office, Dr. Emanso Umobong, announced the award of three critical dam rehabilitation projects aimed at preventing flooding and supporting irrigation in northern Nigeria.

“The Council approved the rehabilitation and expansion of Tiga Dam in Kano at N11.83 billion, the Shalagua Gorge Dam at N7.47 billion, and the Kafinciri Irrigation Project at N7.4 billion”.

These interventions, she explained, are part of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to ensure food security and wealth creation.

According to Umobong, the projects will positively impact 30,000 farm families and over 50,000 acres of farmland, enabling up to three annual farming cycles and generating over 300,000 jobs.

“Erosion control works, watershed management, and ecological remediation across 16 local government areas of Kano senatorial district are also part of the project scope”

The Permanent Secretary  further announced the award of a contract for repairs on the Alau Dam in Maiduguri, which had caused severe flooding in 2023.

“This timely intervention by the Ministry of Water Resources will prevent similar disasters this year,” Umobong assured.

Also briefing newsmen, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari disclosed that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a draft bill seeking to establish the National Cocoa Management Board, which will be forwarded to the National Assembly through the Ministry of Justice.

Kyari stressed cocoa’s importance as Nigeria’s leading non-oil foreign exchange earner and a vital contributor to GDP.

According to him: “Cocoa is the highest non-oil revenue contributor to the Nigerian GDP. However, we are still lagging behind in terms of our competitors next door — that is between Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana”.

He noted that both countries have national boards to manage their cocoa industries and that Nigeria had initiated dialogue with them to explore collaborative frameworks.

“Part of the resolution that was reached was to copy what they had done in Cote d’Ivoire and also in Ghana, where they have established the National Cocoa Management Board”, he said.

Kyari explained that prior to the FEC memo, the Ministry had set up a Cocoa Management Committee to assess the feasibility of the new board.

The committee’s findings informed the bill now approved for transmission.

The proposed board will comprise representatives from both the public and private sectors, including state governments and research institutions.

“I believe representatives of sub-nationals will be the deputy governors and also the cocoa research institutes,” he stated.

According to him, the board would help improve production, processing, and marketing of cocoa across the country.