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DIRECTORATE OF FOOD, ROADS AND RURAL INFRASTRUCTURES ACT
DIRECTORATE OF FOOD, ROADS AND RURAL INFRASTRUCTURES ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1. Establishment of the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures.
2. Board of the Directorate.
3. Liaison with other bodies.
4. State formations of the Directorate.
S. Functions of the Directorate.
6. Participation by States and local government councils.
7. Special functions of the Directorate.
8. Officers of the Directorate.
9. Directives by the President.
10. Funds of the Directorate.
11. Quarterly reports.
12. Procedures of the Directorate.
13. Interpretation.
14. Short title.
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DIRECTORATE OF FOOD, ROADS AND RURAL
INFRASTRUCTURES ACT
An Act to establish the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures for the mobilisation of rural communities and the development of the rural areas in Nigeria; and to charge the Directorate with diverse functions directed towards the improvement of the quality of the life in the rural areas.
[1987 No.4.]
[6th February, 1986]
[Commencement. ]
1. Establishment of the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures
There is hereby established a body to be known as the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures (in this Act referred to as “the Directorate”) which shall have the functions specified in this Act.
2. Board of the Directorate
(1) The programme of the Directorate shall be formulated, guided and broadly supervised by a Board which shall comprise a chairman and not less than four but not more than seven other members who shall be appointed by the President.
(2) The chairman appointed pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, shall be the chief executive of the Directorate and shall be responsible for the day-to-day running of its affairs.
3. Liaison with other bodies
The Directorate shall liaise with Federal Government Ministries and agencies, Integrated Rural Development Authorities, State Governments, local governments and local communities; and also co-operate with all other private and public organisations, institutions, enterprises and individuals concerned with the development of the rural areas.
4. State formations of the Directorate
(1) There shall be established in the office of each Governor, a State equivalent of the Directorate to perform similar functions in the State.
(2) The Governor shall be the chairman of the State Directorate.
(3) The Governor may appoint a Director or Co-ordinator who shall be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the State Directorate and the co-ordination of the implementation of programme.
(4) The membership of the State Directorate shall consist of not less than eight and not more than fifteen persons appointed by the Governor to represent public and private sector interests and active participants in programming implementation.
5. Functions of the Directorate
Subject to this Act, the Directorate shall be charged with the following functions, that is-
(a) to identify, involve and support viable local community organisations in the effective mobilisation of the rural population for sustained rural developmental activities, bearing in mind the need for promoting greater community participation and economic self reliance of the rural community;
(b) to identify areas of high production potential for the country’s priority food and fibre requirement and to support production of such commodities along agro-ecological zones within the context of one national market with unimpeded inter-State trade in farm produce;
(c) to formulate and support a national rural feeder-road network programme involving construction, rehabilitation, improvement and maintenance especially in relation to the nation’s food self-sufficiency programme as well as general rural development;
(d) to formulate and support a national rural water-supply programme with emphasis on full initial involvement of local communities and local government personnel to ensure sustained maintenance of built infrastructures;
(e) to identify and promote other programmes that would enhance greater productive economic activities in the rural areas as well as help to improve the quality of life and standard of living of the rural people;
(f) to encourage contribution of labour, time and materials by local communities to be complemented by a system of matching grants from the Directorate, local and State Governments;
(g) to support the development of information gathering, maintenance and evaluation of culture in rural development programming, with emphasis on utilisation of existing agencies with demonstrated competence in the area of management information systems in agriculture and rural development, rural infrastructures, agronomy, agricultural extension, including the continuous generation of basic data on rural infrastructures in each of the local government areas in Nigeria;
(h) to commission and support studies and research projects that will facilitate the execution of the functions of the Directorate;
(i) to determine within each local government area the community basis of rural productive organisation as a means of mobilising food and other products for more effective service delivery, infra structural development and enhanced productivity;
(j) to identify and involve local community leaders and organisations in the effective mobilisation of the rural population for sustained development activities, bearing in mind the need for promoting greater social participation and economic self-reliance in the community;
(k) to liaise with Federal Government Ministries and agencies in the design and implementation of programmes and projects in the field of food production and processing, rural water supply, road construction and maintenance and the provision of rural infrastructures, and any other rural development activities;
(l) to define, encourage and support any activity calculated to enhance food production, road development, rural water, supply the provision of other infrastructures to rural areas, and any other rural development activities;
(m) to encourage the implementation of physical development plans at the community level in order to increase the rural productivity and improve rural accessibility;
(n) to prescribe the criteria and determine the level of corresponding financial grant which will adequately stimulate the expansion of food production and processing, rural water supply, road construction and maintenance of rural roads and the provision of other rural infrastructures;
(o) to establish an efficient, expeditious and accurate system of financial disbursement to rural communities;
(p) to supervise and monitor on a continuous or regular basis the entire range of rural development activities, carried out or supported by the Directorate pursuant to this Act;
(q) to develop a system of statistical and non-statistical reporting relative to local communities in order to measure the achievements of the Directorate in the areas of food production, rural water supply, road construction and repair, rural infrastructural development and other rural development activities; and
(r) to do all such other things as will enable the Directorate more effectively to perform its functions under this Act.
6. Participation by States and local government councils
(1) The Government of a State and each local government council in every State shall participate in the functions of the Directorate in such manner as the President may determine.
(2) Accordingly, and without prejudice to the establishment of State equivalents of the Directorate under section 4 of this Act, all local government councils shall be constituted into committees for the development of rural areas as envisaged in this Act.
(3) The chairman of each local government council shall be the chairman of the Committee constituted under subsection (2) of this section.
7. Special functions of the Directorate
(1) The Directorate shall gear all its efforts towards the development of the entire rural areas of Nigeria in order to improve the quality of life of the rural dwellers.
(2) For the purpose of achieving the objective in subsection (1) of this section, the Directorate shall use its best endeavours to-
(a) encourage and organise increased agricultural and any other activities towards an increased earning power of the rural dwellers;
(b) encourage increased agricultural and any other activities in the rural areas to provide agricultural and industrial raw materials;
(c) undertake the construction and repair of roads to facilitate communication and distribution of agricultural products;
(d) liaise with the appropriate Federal, State and local Governments for the provision of water, health facilities, electricity, means of communication and such other things as the Directorate may determine within the rural areas;
(e) enlighten the rural communities in order to give them a sense of belonging to the country.
(3) The Directorate shall also encourage communities to form their own village, community or town improvement or development unions or associations under their own democratically elected leaders to serve as the apex organisation for mobilising their communities for the successful participatory implementation of all rural development programmes as initiated by the Directorate, each tier of Government or by the communities themselves.
8. Officers of the Directorate
(1) In the execution of its functions under this Act, the Board of the Directorate may appoint such persons to be officers and staff of the Directorate for the day-to-day supervision and monitoring of programme execution, bearing in mind the need for a small core of professionals in rural road and water supply engineering, agriculture, storage and processing, rural agro-industrialisation, finance and such other sectors as home economics, handicraft and small scale industries.
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, the Board may appoint any person from the public service of the Federation or of a State, either on secondment or posting with the prior consent or approval of the relevant civil service of the Federation or of a State.
(3) The Board may, where it deems fit, enlist or recruit from outside the public service of the Federation or of a State such other persons as may be required for the effective execution of its functions.
(4) When a member of any of the public services of the Federation or of a State is seconded or posted under subsection (2) of this section, he shall be notified of the terms and conditions of the secondment or posting; and the secondment or posting shall be without prejudice to any pension rights, which, but for the secondment or posting, may accrue to him.
9. Directives by the President
The President may, from time to time, give to the Board directives of a general nature as to the manner in which the Directorate is to exercise its functions under this Act and it shall be the duty of the Board to give effect to such directives.
10. Funds of the Directorate
(1) The funds of the Directorate shall consist of such sums as the Federal Government may, from time to time, provide.
(2) The Directorate shall keep proper accounts in respect of each financial year and proper records in relation to those accounts and shall submit same annually for auditing by the Auditor-General for the Federation.
11. Quarterly reports
The Board shall prepare and submit to the President once in every quarter, a report on the activities of the Directorate during the immediate preceding quarter.
12. Procedures of the Directorate
(1) The Board shall have power to regulate its own procedures and may make standing orders not inconsistent with this Act for that purpose and, subject to such standing orders, may function notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership or the absence of a member.
(2) The Board shall meet for the due performance of its functions under this Act whenever the chairman convenes a meeting of the Directorate.
(3) Where upon any special occasion the Board desires to obtain the advice of any person on any particular matter, the Board may co-opt that person to be a member for as many meetings as may be necessary and that person while so co-opted shall have all the privileges of a member except that he shall not be entitled to vote.
13. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context Roads and Rural Infrastructures established by section 1 of this Act; otherwise requires-
“Directorate” means the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures established by section 1 of this Act;
“functions” include duties and powers;
“State formation” means State equivalent of the Directorate, the Local Government Rural Development Committees and the communities improvement of development unions or associations.
14. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures Act.
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DIRECTORATE OF FOOD, ROADS AND
RURAL INFRASTRUCTURES ACT
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION
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No Subsidiary Legislation
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