Publisher's Note
In what appeared as a major policy blunder, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development, Mrs.IbukunOdusote, ushered us into the New Year with a statement widely reported in the media (see This Day of 3rd January 3013). The statement indicates that the federal government intended to spend “between N40 billion and N60 billion to procure 10 million telephone handsets from China and the US for free distribution to rural farmers across the country... And (as if the audience had winked, so she needed to put more confidence behind the statement)I tell you that the money is available, it's on the ground. We are looking at the first quarter of this year to roll-out the phones and by the end of the first quarter, we are done ...”