Niger Foods and Logistics Company Limited, in collaboration with the Niger State Universal Basic Education Board (NNSUBEB), has flagged off the distribution of farm inputs to teachers under the teachers farming scheme initiated by the board.
According to the Board Chairman, NSUBEB, Malam Muhammad Baba Ibrahim, the project is part of efforts to enhance the welfare of teachers in the state under the board, adding that if teachers’ welfare is well taken care of, it will enable them to perform optimally.
The Chairman, represented by member four of the board, Hon. Abdulrazak Mu’azu Jikantoro, at the event, which took place on Wednesday at the office premises of the board, disclosed that the board initiated the teachers’ farming scheme to enable teachers under the board to have additional sources of income because they cannot approach the government with a request for a salary increase for teachers under NSUBEB.
He noted that the event was a dream come true to them at NSUBEB because a lot of people were sceptical about the scheme, thinking it would be yet another effort in futility.
The Chairman also explained that they were focussing on farming cowpea and sesame this season in view of the fact that it was already late for other crops, emphasising that by next farming season, other crops would be included, including poultry and fish farming, as well as animal rearing.
He charged the beneficiaries of the scheme to make use of the items given to them and not to sell them, stressing that the board has constituted committees at both the board level and at the zonal, including the local government levels, to monitor each beneficiary’s progress.
The state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Niger State Unit, Comrade Adamu Akayago, who was represented by the treasurer of the union, Comrade Garba Sani, lauded the initiative, saying they will always support any program that will better the lives of their members.
He added that the leadership of the union in the state was proud to be part of the project and urged all the beneficiaries of the scheme to support the project and judiciously utilise the inputs given to them so as to have a bumper harvest at the end of the season.
Malam Umar Bala Ayawa, who gave an overview of the programme, explained that the project has nothing to do with the salary of the teachers, as it was not a loan but a grant to enable the teachers to have additional means of income that will enable them to own an accommodation and a means of transportation through the proceeds of the farming scheme.
Meanwhile, in their separate remarks, some of the beneficiaries expressed happiness over the scheme, appreciated the state government through NSUBEB for initiating the scheme, and promised to make good use of the opportunity to better their lives.
Items distributed were a 25-kg bag of seed, two bags of NPK fertiliser, a bag of chemicals containing four different varieties of chemicals, and a sprayer for each cowpea farmer, while a sesame farmer gets a 25-kg bag of seed, three NPK fertilisers and two urea fertilisers, a bag of chemicals containing five varieties of chemicals, and a sprayer.
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