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Food security: FG To Deploy Drones For All-Year-Round Farming- Minister reveals

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The Federal Government is set to deploy advanced technology, including drones, to enhance agricultural productivity and promote all-year-round farming in Nigeria.

This was revealed by Sen. Abubakar Kyari, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security during a briefing with State House correspondents on Tuesday.

Kyari emphasized that technology would play a crucial role in speeding up various agricultural processes. He stated that the government intends to use drones to accelerate land clearance, harvesting, and the deployment of agricultural chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides.

“The faster we clear land, harvest, chemical deployment, whether it’s pesticide, whether it’s herbicide, the better,” Kyari said.

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He further explained the efficiency of drones, highlighting that “what one drone can do, a hundred people cannot do in a day.”

The minister noted that drones would help speed up agricultural activities, making it possible to harvest quickly and prepare the land for the next cycle of cultivation. This move is aimed at improving the efficiency of the farming process and ensuring that the land is continuously utilized for cultivation.

Support to youth engagement in Agriculture
Kyari also revealed plans for the ministry to collaborate with the private sector to support young Nigerians in taking advantage of the government’s mechanization programme.

He emphasized the importance of engaging the youth in agriculture, noting that agriculture should not only be viewed as a means of sustenance but also as a viable business opportunity.

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“It is very important to also educate our farmers that agriculture is no longer for the stomach only. It should also be seen as a business, something that will earn a livelihood,” he said.

The minister acknowledged that traditional input support may not be sufficient to incentivize smallholder farmers. He stressed the need to shift the mindset of farmers, focusing on ways to engage them in a manner that encourages private sector funding to support agricultural production.

What you should know
In line with the Federal Government’s efforts to modernize agriculture through technology, the government is also set to launch a youth farmers enrollment portal aimed at creating direct jobs for Nigerian youth across the agricultural value chain.

This initiative was discussed during a visit by the Nigerian Youth Economic Engagement and De-Radicalisation Programme (NIYEEDEP) delegation to the Minister for Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, on Monday.

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The portal will provide Nigerian youth with the opportunity to apply for agricultural grants and support, with the official unveiling scheduled for January 17, 2025, in Abuja.

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Ex-PDP national chairman Bamanga Tukur laid to rest in Adamawa(Photos)

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​‌‍​‌‍⁠⁠‌‍⁠‌⁠​⁠‍‍The remains of the former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bamanga Tukur, were laid to rest in his hometown, Yola, Adamawa State, on Sunday.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the burial, conducted according to Islamic rites, was led by the Chief Imam of Modibbo Adama Central Mosque, Yola, Ahmadu Bobboi, at 10:50 am.

His remains were buried in the family house at Fadde-Sanda, Abuja Road, Yola, at 11:30 am.

Tukur died on Saturday at the age of 91 in Abuja.

On Saturday, President Bola Tinubu mourned Tukur’s death, describing him as a prominent figure in Nigeria’s political and economic history.

Tukur was a former governor of the old Gongola State and Minister of Industries.

In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu described Tukur as a “towering figure” whose career spanned public administration, governance, industry, politics and pan-African business leadership.

Tukur is survived by two wives and 18 children, among them the Secretary to the State Government of Adamawa, Awwal Tukur.

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The funeral prayers were attended by Aliko Dangote, Adamawa State Governor. Ahmadu Fintiri; Sen. Iya Abbas, representing Adamawa Central; and former Governor Jibrilla Bindow.

Others were traditional leaders and other dignitaries across the state and beyond.

NAN

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NDLEA uncovers opioids in loaves of bread, speakers, intercepts colos shipments from UK(Photos)

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. Arrests real estate agent, grandma, others; recovers over 2.3tons of assorted illicit drugs in raids across Lagos, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa, and Kano

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted two shipments of synthetic cannabis, popularly called Colorado or Colos in street terms concealed in consolidated cargoes coming from the United Kingdom, while two other consignments of the dangerous substance hidden in music speakers were recovered from two motor parks in Lagos, where at least seven suspects connected to the seized cargoes have been arrested.
At the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted a UK-inbound consignment concealing 27 parcels of colos weighing 32.20kg, while a real estate agent Abideen Jide Salami, who showed up with a secret collection code relayed from his UK-based brother to collect a large luggage containing the illicit substance was arrested on Wednesday 9th September 2026.
A follow-up operation stemming from a second UK consignment led operatives to the designated recipient of another consignment of Colorado weighing 12.25kg.

The suspect Nurudeen Abiodun Kadiri, 44, said the consignment was sent to him by his brother in the UK.

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Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) have intercepted a music speaker rigged with three packs of Colorado at a motor park in Maza Maza, Lagos, heading to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and ultimately Liberia. A tour agent Ifeanyi Obed Augustine, 41, and the consignment’s owner Obasi Ugochuckwu, 46, were both arrested after a swift sting operation at a nearby eatery. In a separate operation at Iddo park, a suspect Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry was on Friday 11th September nabbed while attempting to dispatch 2.1kg of Colorado to Kano.
In Delta State, two separate arrests at Ughelli and Asaba yielded a haul of ampoules of pentazocine injection, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam (hypnox) and MDMA (Molly), with several of them concealed in music speakers, while two suspects: Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi were arrested.

In Kano, a raid at Sabon Gari led to the arrest of a 20-year-old suspect Saidu Adamu with a staggering 785,000 capsules of Pregabalin weighing 669.425kg, while a stop-and-search operation along the Zaria–Kano–Hadejia road netted 1,700 tablets of diazepam concealed inside loaves of bread seized from Habibu Sabitu, 28, even as 51-year-old Chinedu Uzor was nabbed at Katako market, Jos, Plateau state, with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.

The Agency also sustained pressure on illicit cannabis cultivation with the destruction of 4,832.56 kilograms of skunk on cannabis farms at Usen Forest, Igwe-Oke Forest and Ogboha Forest, in Ovia South West, Owan East and Owan West LGA, Edo state where a suspect Sunday Segun, 39, was arrested on Friday 11th September.
In Ondo state, NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence on Wednesday 9th September raided a residence along Oke-Iya, Ijoka Road, Akure, where they recovered 186kg of skunk concealed in the boot of a Toyota Avalon car marked ABJ 917 FV, from a 58-year-old suspect Paul Ogbuwala who was planning to move the consignment to Jos for onward distribution.

In Kaduna, a female suspect Hannah Michael was arrested at Gonin Gora with 369.6kg of cannabis, while in Bayelsa State, four suspects including a 70-year-old woman Godwoman Gboriye were arrested at Ovom, Yenagoa, with 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg. Others are: Motombo Silver, 44; Pere Andrew, 39, and ⁠Keme Andrew, 43.

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With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Mezube Islamiyya Academy, Tudun Wada, Kano; WADA advocacy visit to the management of Cross River State College of Health Technology, Calabar; and hosting of Rikkos traditional rulers who were on a thank you visit to NDLEA Academy for allowing community members use the Agency’s clinic, Jos; while the
Zone 4 Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Emir of Keffi, Alhaji Shehu Chindo Yamusa 111, Keffi, Nasarawa state, among others.

While commending the officers and men of DOGI, MMIA, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa, and Kano Commands for the various successful operations, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency. He charged them to continue to shut every pipeline being used by drug cartels, whether at the airports, seaports, land borders, or in the hinterland where cannabis is cultivated.

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Sad! Road auto crash claims 12 lives along Kaduna-Kachia Road

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Twelve people have been killed and two others sustained various degrees of injuries in a road traffic crash involving two Volkswagen cars along the Kaduna-Kachia Road in Kaduna State.

The Kaduna State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr. Andrew Paul Longkam, who confirmed the incident, explained that those killed were eight males and four females, saying that the two females who sustained injuries had been taken to the hospital for immediate treatment.

According to him, “The accident occurred at Doka Village in Southern Kaduna and involved fourteen people, eight males and six females.”

Longkam stated that the victims were travelling in two Volkswagen Golf III cars, one blue, with registration number APP 394 FN, and the other red, with registration number ACN 205 HK, when the accident occurred.

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He said the probable cause of the crash was a tyre burst, stressing that none of the occupants, as well as the two drivers, was wearing a seat belt or using any protective gear.

The commander explained that the crash was reported at about 10:20 a.m., while the rescue team arrived at the scene at 10:50 a.m. and joined soldiers and policemen in the rescue operation.

He revealed that the injured victims were evacuated to Rapha Hospital for treatment, while the bodies of those who died were deposited at Idon General Hospital, pending contact with their relatives.

Longkam stated that the two vehicles involved in the crash were later recovered and taken to Kajuru Police Station.

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