The Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, while briefing State House correspondence, said that prior to the commencement of the FEC meeting, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development informed Council that the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had recognized and honoured Nigeria with a special "Achievement Award" for reducing the number of people suffering from chronic hunger and for making notable progress in guaranteeing food security for the citizens.
He stated that the Award was well deserved in view of the reduction in the number of Nigerians suffering from hunger from 19.31 Million in 1990-1992 to 13.38 Million by 2012 and the decline in the prevalence of undernourishment from 19.3% in 1990-1991 to 8.5% by 2012. He noted that the achieved target of 8.5% was below the set MDG 1 target of 9.7%, showing that Nigeria had met the MDG 1 target, three years ahead of schedule.
He added that in the last 2 years, Nigeria had added 9 Million metric tons of food to domestic food supply, representing 45% of the 20 million metric tons of food target set in 2011.
The Minister attributed the achievement to the President's leadership role in Agriculture Transformation and increased food production, among other factors. He commended the efforts and collaboration of the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Health, Education and Finance, as well as the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the president on MDGs, for Nigeria's attainment of the MDG1.
Maku said the President received and appreciated the Award, stressing that it was well deserved since Government had worked assiduously to merit it. He added that the Administration would intensify efforts towards the reduction of hunger, malnutrition and poverty to improving the quality of lives of Nigerians and thanked God for the award.
Maku said, the Minister of Power brought a memo to seek Council's approval for the award of contract for the supply of Hitachi generator special tools to Jebba Hydro Electric Plc. The availability of the special tools is a major prerequisite for commencement of the site work of the main project.
The project, according to Maku, would guaranty steady supply of another 96.4MW of electricity on completion by September, 2014 and that would further stimulate the national economy.
The project would also provide some Nigerians some employment opportunities.
In view of the above, Council approved the supply of the generator special tools to Jebba Hydro Electric Plc, in favour of Messrs Marubeni Corporation, Japan, in the sum of JPY363,204,000 equivalent to N706,903,945.20 at 1JPY = N1,9463, with a delivery period of 10 months.
Maku further told journalists that the Minister of Transport brought a memo to seek the Council's ratification of the President's anticipatory approval for the concession and development of Phase 4B Port Facilities at Onne Oil & Gas Free Zone, Onne Port Complex. The concept of the development of the facilities was to decongest the Lagos and Port Harcourt Ports while entrenching PPP in the establishment and upgrading of public sector facilities.
He said the project was expected to generate 4,000 job opportunities for both professionals and non-professional during its execution and about 20,000 direct and indirect job opportunities when it is in full operation.
That after deliberations, Council ratified the President's anticipatory approval for the award of contract for the Concession and Development of Phase 4B Port Facilities at Onne Oil & Gas Free Zone, Onne Port Complex, in the sum of USD2,797,129,243.26 only, exclusive of all taxes, with a completion period of 6 years and a concession period of 25 years to be solely pre-funded by the contractor and the cost to be amortized from the service Boat and other port charges in all the Ports.
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Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria