RAAMP is a catalyst to grassroots development – AKSG
The Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, RAAMP has again been described as a veritable tool and a catalyst for grassroots development.
Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Offiong Offor made the assertion recently in Uyo, the state capital on the heels of a three – day training and annual retreat for RAAMP staff held at Transcorp Hotel, Calabar, Cross River State.
Offor who endorsed capacity building as quite imperative for any organization, be it a private or public establishment, noted that the exercise would further add value and strengthen the knowledge of the staff, ahead of the project’s graduation to the civil works phase, which was soon to take – off in the state, as arrangements to that effect have reached an advanced stage.
She congratulated and welcomed the Akwa Ibom delegation back to the state, led by the Project Coordinator of RAAMP, Pastor Gideon Akpan and expressed optimism that knowledge gained from the retreat would be reflected in the team’s output deliveries, for best results in the course of the project implementation.
The Commissioner also reiterated her appreciation to the State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel for leading Akwa Ibom into participating in the project as well as the World Bank and French Development Agency for their respective roles in conceiving RAAMP and sued for all hands to be on deck to embrace and support the project to succeed across the state.
On his part, the State Project Coordinator, Pastor Gideon Akpan described the retreat as timely, pointing out that having earlier lost considerable time in the 5 – year tenure of the project, the exercise would fine-tune most deficiencies, address challenges and proffer possible solutions to issues either being experienced already or subsequently envisaged in the course of implementation of the project with a view to guaranteeing a seamless progress of the project.
Pastor Akpan pledged to live above board to deliver the goods, while thanking Governor Udom Emmanuel, the State Government as well as other stakeholders in the project for the opportunity given him and his entire team to serve.
The retreat which was declared open by Prof Ben Ayade – Governor of Cross River State, represented by his Commissioner for International Donor Cooperation, Dr. Inyang Asibong, drew participants from the World Bank, led by the Task Team Leader, Engr. Olatunji Ahmed; the Federal Project Management Unit,FPMU, led by the National Coordinator, Engr. Aminu Bodinga Mohammed as well as the 20 states either currently participating in the project or having concluded formalities for engagement promptly, led by their respective State Project Coordinators.
Governor Ayade viewed RAAMP as a multi – dimensional project of several benefits, poised to uplift humanity and positively change the lives of rural dwellers and pledged to sustain his support to the project for best results.
In his address, the National Coordinator, Engr. Aminu Mohammed charged the participants strive towards making meaningful impacts that would stand the test of time.
His words: “this is one project that will make you contribute to the enhancement of mankind. It is in the development of rural infrastructure like this that your impacts as State Project Implementation Units, SPIUs can be felt most,” adding that plans were underway to grow the project beyond her current 20-state structure to accommodate all the 36 states across the country as well as the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. It could be recalled that the project debuted in the country in 2008 and was embraced only by Kaduna and Cross River States.
Also speaking, the Task Team Leader, TTL, Engr. Olatunji Ahmed sued for teamwork among the SPIUs with a view to realising concerted efforts to advance the project for the benefit of the public, adding that the current stage of the project’s implementation is the most critical to the success of the project, hence participants should consider the retreat very seriously.
About seven topical refresher lectures, among other sub – presentations / interactive sessions, anchored by eminent resource persons featured during the retreat. These included Project Management Principles and Techniques; Systematic Tracking of Exchange in Procurement, STEP; Team Building; Risk Identification in Project Planning and Execution; Gender Based Violence, GBV; Social Inclusion in Projects as well as Imperatives on Environment / Road Safety.
