By Udeme Hosea
Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno has expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for their responsiveness in critical time of hunger in Nigeria caused by food insufficiency, unavailability and inflation.
L-R, Mr Emem Bob, Dr Offiong Offor, Comrade Ini Ememobong ,Comrade Amos Etuk, Hon. Dan Akpan and Hon Aniekan Umana at the press briefing.
Pastor Eno who thanked the federal government for the 24,000 bags of 25kg rice sent to Akwa Ibom citizens to cushion hunger, hinted that the state government will augment the gesture with additional 24,000 bags of 25kg rice to go round the 2,272 gazetted villages in the state.
Governor Eno who was represented by the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. (Mrs.) Offiong Offor, made this known during a press conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists press center, Uyo, yesterday Friday 19/07/2024.
Offor, added that, the intervention by both the federal and the state government is to mitigate hunger, announced her ministry’s strategies to address the current macro economic factor of food insufficiency in the state to include, declaring every 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month by the Akwa Ibom State government as workers free days for civil servants to farm , distribution of seedlings, cassava stems, maize grains amongst others to farmers.
“This intervention aims to mitigate the hardship currently faced by our citizens, reducing extreme hunger and poverty in line with Sustainable Development Goal 1. A hungry populace can lead to unrest, making food availability, affordability, and security a priority for this administration. Our long-term solution is the Back to Farm Initiative, promoting local food production, and designating the first and third Fridays of the month as work-free farming days”.
L-R, Mr Emem Bob, Dr Offiong Offor, Comrade Ini Ememobong ,Comrade Amos Etuk, Hon Dan Akpan and Hon Aniekan Umana at the press briefing.
“The Ministry of Agriculture has implemented several strategic interventions, including distributing cassava cuttings, maize grains, pepper seedlings, and coconut seedlings to 135 public primary and secondary schools. Additionally, we have distributed 150,000 cocoa seedlings to cocoa farmers, 40,000 oil palm seedlings to oil palm farmers, 80,000 pepper seedlings to vegetable farmers, 20 metric tonnes of rice shared to rice farmers across the state, and livestock and poultry supplies to poultry farmers”.
She also announced that, date for the distribution of the food items which is aimed to reach more families with much-needed support will be announce soon.
“The distribution of the Federal and State Governments’ food intervention will occur at Local Government Council Headquarters, from where Council Chairmen will ensure the safe transportation of 20 bags to each gazetted village”.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Economic Development, Mr Emem Bob while applauding Governor Umo Eno at the briefing for his sterling leadership strides, said implementation of the 3rd face of Ak-CARES is underway.