A former chairman of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), Port Harcourt branch, Engr Asinyetogha Hilkiah Igoni has noted that disregard for the peculiarity of the Niger Delta environment is the bane of every agricultural mechanisation effort in the region.
Engr Igoni made the assertion while presenting a paper as the eminent lecturer during the 13th Annual Lecture and Award Ceremony 2018, titled “Understanding the Niger Delta Environment for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanisation,” held in Port Harcourt.
According to him, the Niger Delta environment has its peculiar features that distinguished it from others including those oil bearing communities and that these features predispose it to agriculture, adding that it is possible to successfully mechanise agriculture in the region in a sustainable manner.
He stated that Niger Delta environment is not all abuot oil and gas production and recalled that the President Muhammadu Buhari during a Green River Project Farmers Day in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State said, “Despite the oil and gas deposits, the Niger Delta region is blessed with one of the world largest wetlands with arable land for agriculture and has the capacity to become a domestic and international provider of agriculture produce,” stressing that the region was for greater things than its oil and gas deposits.
The engineering expert noted that several attempts made over the years for the development of agriculture in the region especially in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States have not yielded sustainable dividends to put the region on the pedestal of commercial agricultural practitioners.
“This may be attributed to the fundamental basis for the establishment of the agricultural venture or lack of focus,” he asserted and opined that engineers have the responsibility to design and develop machines to suit particular situations based on advances in technology.
Igoni maintained that for agriculture to be sustainable, it has to involve mechanisation while appropriateness of a machine for agriculture mechanisation in the Niger Delta regions has to consider the climate condition of the place, soil type, level of education and ergonomic factors.
The eminent lecturer however posited that several decades of oil and gas activities have not only ravaged the environment of the Niger Delta region, but have seriously disconfigured the orientation and socio-economic deposition of the people and alienated them from their traditional occupations, and further called for commitment and serious plans for sustainable agricultural development, establishment of research centres and companies to encourage agriculture in their award of scholarships among others.
Highlights of the day include awards deserving members of the society that excelled in service to the branch.

Collins Barasimeye