It was a three-day action-packed economic and political activities for Governor David Umahi in Abuja last week. The activities began Monday, June 7 with a visit by his Excellency to the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, at the ministry’s office.
Thereafter, the governor in company with some of his key aides headed for the Wadata Plaza secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where the Board of Trustees handed over the affairs and assets of the once ruling party to an interim caretaker committee led by a former Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi.
Tuesday, June 8, Governor Umahi stormed the office of the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, before proceeding to the Ministry of Water Resources and then the office of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation in the Central Business District of Abuja.
The following day, his Excellency headed for the Bank of Industry building in the CBD where he had a fruitful discussion with the BoI Acting Managing Director, Alhaji Waheed Olagunji. From the bank, he left for The Infrastructure Bank to the warm embrace of the Managing Director, Mr. Adekunle Abdurasak Oyinloye.
Engr. Umahi capped the three-day economic shuttle with a visit to the Country office of the African Development Bank.
In all the visits, he was in company with his Senior Special Assistant (Abuja Liaison Office) Barrister Joseph Ekumankama; Special Assistant (Special Duties,), Onyeabor Ngene and a Financial Consultant, Chioma Nweze.
Two things were common in all the visits: The warm reception and the promises/assurances he received from the three ministers and the chief executives of UNIDO, BoI and ADB.
One of the ministers, Chief Ogbeh, had this to say about Governor Umahi: “I have always had difficulty getting majority of you the governors to show excitement about Agriculture. I am really proud of you coming here now to discuss with us. “
Like Ogbeh, Olagunju was highly impressed with the governor. He had this to say: Your Excellency, “I must tell you that you are a unique person. Things are changing. It is very surprising to see a sitting governor visiting a prominent institution like ours to seek ways of developing his state and improving the welfare of his people. I am highly impressed.”
To demonstrate how pleased he was, the BoI boss suggested that the governor visited his counterpart in The Infrastructure Bank. He immediately put a call across to him and promptly, a meeting was arranged.
In all the offices, his Excellency exuded so much aura and confidence. He presented four core requests to them and sought immediate but practical answers.
The requests were how to complete the model 5MW Rice Husk power plant in Ikwo, make his administration’s agricultural drive a fait accompli, tap the huge natural resources, especially salt deposits in the state and open up roads in the rural areas, particularly the 200-kilometre ring road.
At the Ministry of Agriculture, Governor Umahi told Ogbeh: “I am here to ask you sir how your ministry can get involved in our Agricultural programme. Agriculture is our base line for survival because what is coming from the Federation Account can no longer do anything for us. We have a lot of opportunities in Agriculture and we have a lot of opportunities in solid minerals, but we don’t have funds.”
The governor then went specific. He talked about the ring road which passes through seven Local Government Areas and others in the state that inhibits movement of agricultural produce to urban centres. He mentioned the challenges faced by his administration in making rice production the state’s number one income earner.
Besides, Engr. Umahi requested that Ebonyi be allowed to be the hub of fertilizer supply to farmers in the South-East and parts of the South-South and for farmers to be assisted by the Federal Government in the areas of loans, subsidy as well as training.
He said: “You know we are known for rice. So we want encouragement; we want some assistance to open up our farms.
‘We have four rice mills now and we are targeting 85,000 hectares of land for rice production by next year; but this year, we may be doing about 30,000 hectares. I have calculated and I have seen that the four rice mills would not sustain what we are doing. People from Akwa Ibom and neighbouring states are sending their rice for processing here. So we will also need assistance to open some more rice mills.
“Then we need assistance for our farmers, they don’t have money and we don’t have money to help them. We want to know what you can do for us in the immediate since we are now in planting season.”
His Excellency equally talked about the Federal Government-owned Ranch and Silos in the state. He asked the minister to hand over them over to the state government.
The governor told the minister that if handed over, the ranch would make it easy for his administration to breed the right cattle to produce milk for its school children feeding programme.
He also explained to Ogbeh that the silos would make it possible for the state to preserve seedlings especially given the yield that is envisioned as a result of government’s renewed agricultural drive.
Reponding, Ogbeh lauded Governor Umahi for his zeal to boost the Agricultural sector in the state and assured him of his ministry’s willingness to assist his administration. He highlighted the ministry’s activities and told the governor that since Ebonyi is already noted for rice production, it would be be on the ministry’s priority list.
According to the minister, the ministry would in the immediate , assist the state through the DES programme to make its rice production efforts seamless; introduce subsidy element to fertilizer bought by farmers in the state and introduce a machine called super granite that makes fertilizer broadcasting easier and more efficient.
He also said the state would not only be included in the distribution of rice threshers and mini-harvesters, it would get subsidy on seeds for farmers,
Ebonyi State, Ogbeh went on, would benefit from a two-hour per ton rice mills being introduced by the ministry under a programme known as Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise(LIFE).
The ministry envisions that LIFE would create economic boom for families in rural communities where the India and China-made compact mills would be located.
Other assurance to the team is that a Mexican known as Mr. Carlos, would be sent to Ebonyi State to encourage farmers to engage in the production of special species of high-yielding Banana and plantain for local consumption and export.
Ogbeh, a highly successful farmer also said that each LGA in the state would benefit from the training and distribution of the 100, 000 extension workers. The extension workers, according to him, will teach farmers how to cultivate and harvest rice, cassava, plantain, pineapple and banana. Each LGA in the 13 LGs of the state will have 12 of the extension workers.
Besides, the minister promised to make available to the governor, new specie of cassava which when harvested is as big as yam tuber. The cassava, according to Ogbeh, contains Vitamins A and C, two mineral elements that are good for the growth of children.
Three things excited the governor the most. One was the minister’s acceptance to make the state the hub for fertilizer supply in the South-East and a part of the South-South. The second was Ogbeh’s disclosure that he had forwarded a letter to the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, for the rehabilitation of the road linking Ebonyi State with Benue.
And the third was Ogbeh asking him to write to the ministry for the development of two-20 kilometer rural roads in the state.
Here are the links to all parts of the news:
– Governor Umahi’s 3-Day Abuja Economic Shuttle By Emma Anya – Part 1
– Governor Umahi’s 3-Day Abuja Economic Shuttle By Emma Anya – Part 2
– Governor Umahi’s 3-Day Abuja Economic Shuttle By Emma Anya – Part 3
– Governor Umahi’s 3-Day Abuja Economic Shuttle By Emma Anya – Part 4
– Governor Umahi’s 3-Day Abuja Economic Shuttle By Emma Anya – Part 5
– Governor Umahi’s 3-Day Abuja Economic Shuttle By Emma Anya – Part 6
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