By Obinna Unaeze
Minna – Alhaji Aliyu Kutigi, the State Project Coordinator, FADAMA III Additional Financing (AF) programme in Niger, on Thursday urged FADAMA stakeholders to embrace the ongoing Federal Government’s anti-corruption crusade.
Kutigi made the call in Minna at the opening of a one-day workshop for FADAMA stakeholders such as programme facilitators and desk officers as well as farmers.
He said that efforts to sensitise the stakeholders to the ideals of the government anti-corruption crusade, tagged “Change Begins with Me’’, would facilitate the eradication of corruption in the nation’s agricultural sector.
“This workshop will improve your technical know-how in fighting corruption as you work in the office and the field; it will also help in eradicating corruption in our agricultural sector.
“Therefore, I am sure you will benefit from this training and contribute your own quota to the success of the Federal Government’s crusade against corruption in the country,’’ he said.
Kutigi noted the agricultural sector involved huge financial investments, distribution of inputs and use of equipment, adding that this awareness was partly the rationale for organising the workshop.
The state project coordinator thanked the National FADAMA Coordination Office for approving the workshop.
Speaking, Alhaji Danladi Abdulhameed, the Director of Programmes, International Institute of Leadership and Governance (INILAG), underscored the need for potential politicians in the country to be comfortable before venturing into politics.
He argued that the possession of such attribute by politicians would go a long way in discouraging them from stealing public funds.
“Politics is not an avenue to make money but a call to serve the people. We have corruption in our polity today because people take to politics with the mindset that it is a vocation,’’ he said.
Abdulhameed said that persons without proven integrity and economic standing should only be allowed to participate in politics.
In her remark, Mrs Christiana Simon, a FADAMA Desk Officer in Tafa Local Government Area of the state, promised to impart the lessons of the workshop on farmers in rural neighbourhoods of the council area.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was organised by the State FADAMA Coordination Office, in collaboration with International Institute of Leadership and Governance.
NAN recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated “Change Begins with Me’’ campaign in Abuja on Sept. 8, 2016 to promote discipline and patriotism among Nigerians. (NAN)