Data - News Agency Of Nigeria

Ismail Abdulaziz
Nov, Tue, 2024

Data crucial for agric. mechanisation- Stakeholders

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By Angela Atabo

Stakeholders in Nigeria’s agricultural sector have emphasised the importance of accurate data in realising the full potential of agricultural mechanisation.

This was the central theme of a workshop on Mechanisation in Nigeria, organised by the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) and Heifer International Nigeria in Abuja on Monday.

Dr Tobi Lekan, Country Director of Heifer International Nigeria, noted that data plays a critical role in optimising tractor utilisation and maintenance.

“By embracing a data-driven approach, we can maximise the impact of each tractor and ensure the success of Nigeria’s mechanisation journey,” he said.

Lekan said that the workshop aimed to discuss strategies for supporting the ownership, deployment, adoption, and use of tractors to make them sustainable.

He emphasised that increasing the penetration rate of tractors in Nigeria was crucial, as the country currently had one of the lowest rates in Africa.

Mr Mohamed Ibrahim, Executive Secretary of NADF, highlighted the government’s commitment to engaging youths as drivers of agricultural transformation.

“The first phase of the initiative aims to assemble and deploy 2,000 John Deere tractors, creating 2,000 models of mechanisation success stories.”

Mr Cornelius Adebayo, Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), stated that the government was making significant efforts to promote mechanisation through its agencies.

According to Adebayo, the government is working on clusterisation to fast-track mechanisation.

“We cannot achieve our mechanisation goals without clusterisation, so we have designed national programmes to ensure their success.

“These programmes include the Renewed Hope mega farm settlement, which provides thousands of farmers with access to social amenities and enables them to produce and earn a living.

“Additionally, the government plans to resettle displaced persons and cluster them in areas where they can farm and earn a living.”

Dr Nneka Enwonwu, Hello Tractor’s Country Managing Director, emphasised the crucial role of innovative financing in effective mechanisation.

“Our organisation tackles financial and operational hurdles that limit access to mechanisation.

“We connect smallholder farmers to mechanized service providers, optimising tractor utilisation and maintenance through data-driven solutions like Pay-As-You-Go models and technology-enabled tracking,”she said.

Enwonwu stressed that achieving food security requires mechanising smallholder farmers.

“We must provide them with access to mechanised services, tractors, implements, and harvesters to boost productivity and yields.” (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru

Why I sponsored data protection act amendment—Nwoko

Ismail Abdulaziz
Nov, Thu, 2024

General News

Why I sponsored data protection act amendment—Nwoko

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By Deborah Coker

Sen. Ned Nwoko (PDP-Delta), says his bill on amendment to Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 will ensure compliance with global best practices and provide economic and security benefits to the nation.

Nwoko, representing Delta North Senatorial District, while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, said the bill has passed through the first reading.

Nwoko is the Senate Committee Chairman on Reparations and Repatriations.

He said the amendment also aimed to enhance the swift resolution of complaints, and foster stakeholder confidence.

Nwoko said the bill would mandate social media platforms, data controllers, and data processors operating within Nigeria to establish and maintain physical offices within the country.

It is entitled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, LFN, to Mandate the Establishment of Physical Offices within the Territorial Boundaries of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Social Media Platforms and for Related Matters”.

“I proposed in the bill that Section 5 of the 2023 Act be altered by the addition of a new article P.

“It shall read that the commission shall mandate all data controllers, data processors, or operators of social media platforms to establish and maintain a physical office situated within the territorial boundaries of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Failure to comply with this requirement for a continuous period of 30 days shall render the entity liable to a prohibition from conducting operations within the jurisdiction of Nigeria,’’ he told NAN.

He further proposed that Section 65 of the Principal Act be altered by the addition of new terms and their interpretations.

“They shall read that Data Controllers means entities that determine the purposes and means of processing personal data and bear legal responsibility for compliance with data protection laws,” he said.

Nwoko said Data Processors in the context of the bill meant entities that process personal data on behalf of a data controller based on specific instructions and without autonomy over the purposes or means of processing.

“Operators of Social Media Platforms means legal persons or entities responsible for owning, managing, or controlling digital platforms that facilitate user interaction, content sharing, or communication.

Nwoko said Physical Offices as referred to in the bill means a fixed and operational business location within the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He said they should be staffed and authorised to engage with regulators, stakeholders, and the public for the purpose of fulfilling legal and operational obligations. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Uche Anunne

Use statistics to tell Africa’s story- Bagudu

Tosin Kolade
Nov, Tue, 2024

Economy/Business

Use statistics to tell Africa’s story- Bagudu

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By Okeoghene Akubuike

Sen. Abubakar Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, has urged the African statistical systems to use statistics to tell the African story.

Bagudu said this at the 2024 African Statistics Day Celebration, organised by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Abuja on Monday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the Day is ‘Supporting Education by Modernising the Production of Fit-For-Purpose Statistics’.

He said there were calls for Africa to create its own credit rating agency which would adequately capture the realities of the continent.

The minister said this had become necessary because the methodologies used by some of the rating agencies were not known.

According to him, the African statistical system must help us tell the African story, and the African story is that of hard-working men and women.

“We are not going to wait for someone to develop a methodology for us to say it. That is as fit- for purpose as it could be.

“That at 4 am, a woman is carrying a child on her back, going to the farm or fishing ground, or moving around with livestock or by the roadside roasting corn or plantain, and this is as hardworking as it can be.

“But yet the global credit system has excluded these hard-working women.

“Yet maybe somewhere a woman who wakes up at 11 am and works for five hours a day some statistical system is likely to accord her more avenues for inclusion.

“Who should say this, who should tell the world this? Not only is she hardworking, she is honorable and this is the picture across our continent.

Bagudu said there was a need to reverse these statistics that put the continent in a bad light or “show us as otherwise”.

He said this was important so the world capital market could appreciate that Africa is a continent of hardworking men and women.

“Also, that we have governmental systems in Africa that ensure statistical systems are independent”.

The minister said the “sanctity of data” is the watchword of President Tinubu-led administration.

“We have recognised and given independence to NBS; we have never sought to interfere with the formation, timing and release of data.

“We are not where we want to be but let us confront our reality and make choices pleasant and unpleasant.

“This will help us reach where we want to, and data systems can help us, and this is the African story,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Maureen Atuonwu