Gov. Okozie Ikpeazu
Umuahia – The Abia State Farmers and Institution Micro-Finance Cooperative Union Limited (AFIMCUL ) on Tuesday floated a N500m share capital for public subscription.
Inaugurating the public offer in Umuahia, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu commended the initiative, describing it as supportive of government’s efforts to diversify the state economy.
“My joy is based on the fact that this union has taken up the challenge of the present administration for Abia citizens to join hands to boost the state economy through agriculture.”
Ikpeazu, represented by Deputy Gov. Ude Chukwu, described the low agricultural financing as “the bane of food production in Nigeria.”
He said that farmers, although highly resourceful, were hardly able to finance production beyond subsistence farming.
He commended the union for pulling resources together to help its members to access the needed capital to boost their productive capacity.
“This will reduce the drudgery associated with farming activities through mechanisation and enable farming to acquire business status and be able to generate wealth and employment,” he said.
In his speech, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Chief Uzo Azubuike, also commended the union for the initiative, saying that the ministry had supported the growth of cooperatives.
Azubuike said that the ministry had commenced the registration of farmers in the state, adding that Abia North and Central Senatorial Districts had already been covered.
In a goodwill message, a Director in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Akinloye Akintola, assured the union of the support of the ministry through capacity building for its members.
Akintola described the cooperative sector as “a veritable tool for development”, saying that since Abia is an agrarian state, cooperatives would help farmers to achieve optimal success.
Alhaji Mohammed Yusuf, the Secretary-General of the Apex of Farmers Cooperative Societies Limited (AFCOSOL), described the initiative as laudable.
Yusuf, who challenged farmers in the state to expand their scope of product to include cereal, said that his state, Niger, would engage in exchange of agricultural products with Abia.
In his welcome, address, the state President of the union, Chief Uzoma Nwogwugwu, said that the union established AFIMCUL as part of its contribution to transform agriculture in Abia.
Nwogwugwu said that the initiative would help to address the challenges “associated with the delivery of credit to farmers and cooperatives in Abia and Nigeria as a whole.”
News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN ) reports that farmers from 17 local government areas of the state used the event to showcase their agricultural produce.
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