Abia govt to build agro-allied industries in 17 LGAs
Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia says plans are underway to build agro-allied industries in the 17 local government areas(LGAs) of the state.
Ikpeazu said this on Wednesday when Prof Maduebibisi Iwe, the Vice-Chancellor of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike(MOUAU) and members of MOUAU Presidential Visitation Panel paid him a visit in Umuahia.
The governor said that the industries would serve as enablers to the state government’s vision to mainstream agriculture for achievement of robust agricultural development.
He said that the state government was desirous to make Abia to become a value-addition hub for various agricultural products in the nation.
Ikpeazu said that the government had commenced the construction of the agro-allied industries in six LGAs, which were almost completed and would serve as the pilot phase of the project.
He said: “We are focusing on cassava processing, rice milling and cashew production and in a short while from now you will see agro-allied industries in various local government areas.
“These industries will be built to specifically meet the production and processing of the crops that are prevalent in each local government area.
“We want to see how we can create more robust economy for the rural areas and address the issue of women and youth inclusion in the development of the economy.”
According to him, Abia could be classified as one of the smallest states, and this had made it impossible for mechanised farming to be widely practiced in the state.
He said that the construction of agro-allied industries for the promotion of its value-addition initiative would help the state to boost its agriculture sector irrespective of its small land mass.
Ikpeazu said that the government was willing to partner with the university to facilitate its agricultural programmes and desirous to provide an avenue for the university to apply its inventions to everyday life.
Earlier, Prof. Iwe described MOUAU as a specialized university as well as one of its kind in the South East and South South that had the capacity to boost national economy.
“At this time in our journey as a nation when agriculture is poised to be the ‘messiah’, one cannot oversell the importance of a University of Agriculture such as ours.
“We are ready and interested in partnering with you to feed Abia and her neighboring states, together, we can make agriculture a viable source of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the state.
“We have the expertise, you have the land and the human beings. I believe that if we consummate a marriage of our resources, the result will be explosive success,” he said.
Iwe said that the land allotted to the University since 1994 had not been given a boundary certificate and appealed to the state government to intervene as the document would encourage ease of use and agricultural productivity.
Also, Prof. Suleiman Adeyemi, the Chairman of the MOUAU Presidential Visitation Panel, said that the mandate of the university revolved around agricultural development.
Adeyemi urged the state government to support the university to achieve its objectives by assisting it have access to the resources that would help it in this regard.
