[size=28pt] Minister raps board members over use of cell phones[/size]

Leon Usigbe, Abuja - 04.09.2009

THERE was a mild drama at the inauguration of chairmen and members of the boards of 22 research institutes under the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources on Thursday, as some of them incurred the wrath of the minister, Dr. Abba Sayyidi Ruma, over the persistent ringing of their cell phones during the event.

The minister was delivering his inauguration address to the board members at the Ladi Kwali Hall of Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, when cell phones belonging to some of the people in the audience rang ceaselessly, forcing him to discontinue with his speech.

Dr. Ruma told them that if they could not switch off their cell phones, they were free to go out, adding that “we didn’t compel anybody to be here but there must certainly be some level of respect for the people that are here.”

He added that “technology, of course, could provide us with the best or the quickest solution to fast track development but, at the same time, it should not also obstruct us. We cannot achieve two objectives simultaneously.”

Dr. Ruma said he needed to speak the way he did on the matter as a mark of respect for some of the elder statesmen who had taken their time to be present at the event. He said: “if we are to do business, we have to dedicate a small amount of time to the business that we found ourselves committed to pursue.”

The minister remarked that the inauguration of the boards and the take-off of the five study groups set up by the ministry were part of the steps taken to give fillip to the reform of the agricultural sector and thus ensure the realisation of the seven-point agenda of the current administration.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/04092009/news/news15.html

you want to ask how they survived without nitel lines before. foolish idiots. sadly not even places of worship is spared this non sence.