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Fubara Unveils Steps To Boost Agriculture In Etche …As Omehia Flags Off Egwi-Afara-Mba Road Project Says Road’ll Enhance Connectivity, Economic Activities
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has acknowledged the food basket status of Etche land, and expressed the determination of his administration to boost agricultural activities in the area as agriculture tool to fight hunger and guarantee food sufficiency.
The Governor also said that the reconstruction of the Egwi-Afara-Mba Road is preparatory to the planned effort to increase commercial Agriculture in Etche land.
Governor Fubara gave the assurance at the official flag-off of the 12.3 Kilometres Egwi-Afara-Mba Road project in Etche Local Government Area, last Wednesday.
Governor Fubara stated that the gesture of the road construction, in part, is to express his gratitude to Etche people for their support and firm belief in him and his administration, adding: “Thank you for believing in us, and thank you for still standing with us. Our thank you will not be limited to the construction of roads alone. Our thank you will still extend to the development of your people: manpower development.
“This is because, if we finish (complete) the road project, and we don’t have the right manpower, the rightful employment opportunities and proper engagement of our youths, the road will still be useless. So, we are not going to limit it to just the road, but we will bring agricultural development to Etche, knowing fully well that Etche is the food basket of the State.
“So, what have come to do this afternoon is to do the preparation. This road is part of what we are going to use to transport those Agricultural produce that we are going to generate here.”
Governor Fubara urged the people to give the contractor all the necessary support to ensure that the project is achieved within six months, explaining that, should there be need to extend the completion timeline of six months, it should be because the road has been stretched beyond its current length to link Etche to Imo State as already requested by Ochie of Etche Ethnic Nationality, His Eminence, Eze E. M. B. Opurum.
He said, “So, I hereby direct the Hon Commissioner for Works to extend this project as requested by the Etche people. I am also aware that, once a good thing is about coming, there will be sabotage. You don’t need to fall into that trap. At the end of the day, this project belongs to the Etche people. It doesn’t belong to Fubara.
“I am not doing it with my money. It will be wrong to say I am doing it. The Rivers State Government, under my administration, is executing this project. So, it is not about me, it is about the people that we are serving. It is about the legacy we are leaving behind, and it is about the people that we are going to make happy when we leave the office.”
Governor Fubara explained that the policy of his administration is not to glorify in mere flag-off ceremonies but to ensure that the projects are executed, completed, inaugurated, and actually put to use, noting the importance of the road and significant benefits it affords all Etche sons and daughters, including those opposed to his administration.
Governor Fubara said: “This road will cut across and even in front of the houses of those who want to kill us. But this will be to tell them that the things that others couldn’t do for them, we are not looking at their faces but doing it. What we are doing is for the people of Etche”.
Flagging-off the project, former Governor of Rivers State, Sir Celestine Omehia, expressed delight for being the person to make history by laying the foundation stone for such infrastructure development in rural communities.
He asserted: “Etche is the cassava belt of Nigeria. The highest quantity of cassava produced in Etche and Ikwerre put together can feed Nigeria as long as it can. Your Excellency, one other thing that we can understand is that even the palm trees planted in the area by SIAT Nigeria Limited (formerly Risonpalm Company) are also important to the economic growth and development of Nigeria.”
It is for these reasons, he noted, that the Egwi-Afara-Mba Road project, is of immense economic importance, not only to the Etche people but to Nigeria in general.
He pointed to the fact that Rivers State is the most respected state because of the economic lifeline that it provides Nigeria, lamenting that it is disheartening to imagine that Rivers sons, in the guise of politics, will demarket the State and destroy its economic strength.
He added, “Many Rivers children who are outside the State are trying to bring Rivers State down. If you demarket your own State, no person will respect your State. There are many people outside Rivers State that are trying to demarket the State. Two, three years ago, Your Excellency, some leaders of the State were saying that Ministers from Rivers State must bring projects to the State. Today, we are asking questions.
“When Rotimi Amaechi was the Minister, people were asking questions to say: what are the projects you have brought? Today, we are asking the same question: how many projects have you brought into Etche? How many projects have we received in Ikwerre Local Government? How many projects have we received in Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality? We are waiting.”
Providing the project description, the State Commissioner for Works, Barrister Elloka Tasie-Amadi, said the Egwi-Afara-Mba Road project is scheduled for completion in nine months, clarifying that his ministry is doing its best by pressuring the contractor to take advantage of the clement weather and deliver the project in six months.
He said, “This road starts from Egwi; passes through Afara; and terminates at Mba in Etche Local Government Area. The road is 12.3 kilometres. We have 9,000 meters of drainage in the populated areas, and the road is 10.3 meters wide, 7.3 of the width is a carriageway, and 3 meters is the shoulder, 1.5 meters on the either side of the road”.
In his welcome address, Executive Chairman of Etche Local Government Area, Mr Uzodinma Nwafor, thanked Governor Fubara for being in Etche land thrice in two weeks to inaugurate, flag-off projects, and also attend Etche first festival of food, culture and art, and assured the total support of the people to the present administration.
On his part, Area Manager of Setraco Nigeria Ltd, the firm handling the project, Engr Michael Issa, said the road project is a vital infrastructure that is 12km long with 100meters connecting roads, accompanied by 8.8km of drainage systems, emphasising their delight and honour in being trusted to play a role in actualising it, just as he pledged to deliver quality road that will last a long time.
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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