Some farmers in Rivers State have urged government at all levels to empower the local farmers, so as to increase farm produce and also generate employment for the citizenry.
The Manager of Iyako Nigerian Enterprise (a fishing firm), Mr Iyalla Ogan said the local farmers need to be assisted with grants by the government.
Ogan said that giving grants to farmers would solve many problems relating to the farming process and also generate employment for many Nigerians.
He said, “I need ocean going vessels that would catch fish in commercial quantity. This would definitely increase export and benefit the state and nation through employment generation and increase in revenue.
“Government should be supportive to farmers and not paying lip services which they never fulfill at any time”.
Ogan called on his fellow farmers to persevere and always look out for opportunities to establish their dreams, saying that “this is the only way satisfaction can come”.
Another farmer, Mrs Tonia Chukwu, who has a poultry farm at Iwofe, Rumuolumini, said that finance has been her problem over the years, lamenting that “lack of finance is responsible for lack of expansion in my firm”.
She said that elected leaders should have the interest of the electorate at heart, noting that selfishness on the part of political leaders has done more harm than good.
Meanwhile, another farmer, Mr Jonathan Amadi told The Tide that the way farmers in the South-South are treated, is different from the way Northern leaders treat their own farmers.
He called on the government to “provide modern equipment to southern farmers as they do in the North to give us a sense of belonging and help us to increase and expand like others.
“If we produce in quantity, everybody would benefit, ranging from us, the masses and government”.