The Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA) says it plans to set up a Songhai Model Farm on a 500-hectare land donated to it by the Okporowo Ogbakiri community in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State as a veritable means of boosting economic and commercial activities in the area.
Managing Director of NDBDA, Engr Tonye David-West, who stated this while taking delivery of the 500 hectares of land at a ceremony organized by the Okporowo Ogbakiri community in Port Harcourt, recently, added that the agricultural project was in line with the government’s economic diversification programme designed to create millions of jobs, reduce crime rate and improve revenue earnings.
David-West commended the community for donating the land for economic development purposes, and emphasised the importance of proper documentation before taking possession of the land.
Represented by the Executive Director, Planning, Investigation and Design, Engr Austen Pabor, David-West assured the community that the land would be deployed within the mandate of the authority to fast-track agricultural development in the state, adding that NDBDA’s focal points were to strengthen agriculture and water resources development in the catchment states of Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta.
He advised the youth of Okporowo Ogbakiri to resist acts of violence and criminality, and create the enabling environment necessary for meaningful economic activities; and assured that the agricultural projects, when commenced, would create job opportunities for thousands of teeming youth while helping to eradicate youth restiveness in the LGA.
Making presentation of the land to the management of the authority, the Paramount Ruler of Okporowo Ogbakiri, King Echonwere requested that the land be put to good use as soon as possible, noting that the days when government agencies acquired lands for decades without developing them were gone.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana