Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, has presented twelve thousand (12,000) bags of fertilizer and improved seedlings for distribution to farmers across the state. The governor made the presentation while flagging off the 2024 second planting season in Uruan Local Government Area, as part of events marking the 37th anniversary of the state’s creation.
According to the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Ekerete Udoh, the governor reiterated the commitment of his administration to elevate agriculture to a level where young people see farming as a business.
He said the governor noted that the state is blessed with favourable vegetation, good weather, road networks, and security, all of which are enablers for farmers and added that it is inexcusable for anyone not to plant, at the very least, what they consume.
Furthermore, the governor noted that soon, machinery for mechanised farming will be available for farmers, adding that the state will continue to support genuine farmers and that resources will no longer be diverted to portfolio farmers.
The governor said: “Today, we have for distribution twelve thousand (12,000) bags of fertiliser that will be distributed to all local governments. We also have ten thousand (10,000) cassava cuttings, twenty thousand (20,000) improved oil palm seedlings from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), five thousand (5,000) trays of pepper seedlings, and others.
“I love that we have involved our students in agriculture. When we were in school, we had school farms where we harvested most of what we cooked and ate. We believe it’s time to return to such practices and encourage our children to fall in love with agriculture from an early age.
“It doesn’t matter your status—whether you are an engineer, doctor, or entrepreneur—so long as you can eat, there is a need to have at least a garden in your house. Above all, we have declared the first and third Fridays of every month as farm days, freeing civil servants to work on their farms. We can make this a hobby. We can all own farms.”
