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Buhari tasks NIPSS on innovations in agric sector 

By Terhemba Daka, Abuja
18 November 2017   |   4:17 am
President Muhammadu Buhari has charged the management of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, near Jos, to come up with innovations that could help develop Nigeria’s agricultural sector.

President Muhammadu Buhari has charged the management of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, near Jos, to come up with innovations that could help develop Nigeria’s agricultural sector.

This came as the president assured of adequate government funding to address the infrastructure needs of the institute in spite of budgetary limitations.

Speaking with visiting participants of the Senior Executive Course 39 at the State House, Abuja, yesterday, President Buhari said despite Nigeria’s significant successes in agriculture and food security, there was the need to develop strategies that would sustain the momentum.

While restating that only tailored Nigerian solutions could fix the country’s unique problems, he expressed his administration’s readiness to address the infrastructure and manpower challenges facing the institute to improve its performance.

“Today, we are at a very critical point of history. The world, as we know it, is changing. We have seen significant shifts across the globe. Whether it is in security, trade, technology, global warming or population demographics, the world has truly changed.

“Nigeria is not isolated from these trends. We are doing our best to respond to these changes. But we cannot be comfortable with just being a passive nation. We must be proactive,” President Buhari said.

Addressing State House Correspondents, Acting Director General of the institute, Jonathan Juma, stressed the need for the setting up of an endowment fund that would serve as a source for the institute other than relying on budgetary allocations.

“We recognise the fact that the budget is limited. There are other competing needs and so, we cannot rely 100 per cent on funding from the budget,” he said.

He added that besides the need to address the decaying infrastructure and additional accommodation for the staff, the institute was hugely indebted in the area of power supply following tariff increase and other accumulated liabilities, which it has to contend with.

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