Kogi State Government has restated its commitment to the development of agriculture in the state.Governor Idris Wada stated this while commissioning new set of agricultural equipment in Lokoja the state capital.
Governor Wada who said the new equipment is part of efforts to sustain the development of agriculture in the state noted that the procurement of the equipment would not only increase the pace of mechanised farming but also further the agricultural transformation agenda of the administration. The Governor noted that the vision the government is to create a conducive environment to sustain the interest of youths and women and indeed the teeming population of people in agriculture, adding that the government has demonstrated commitment to the development of agriculture by investing in critical agricultural facilities despite competing demands for limited resources available to the government.
According to Governor Wada: “the acquisition of these versatile land clearing and development machines and equipment along with tractors and water pumps will no doubt go a long way in facilitating the opening up and development of more agricultural lands for crop production by our farmers at affordable cost. It will further aid the opening up of rural farms and feeder roads that will enable our farmers have easy access to markets thereby enhancing their financial status and also minimise the challenges of unemployment in the state”.
Earlier in a remark, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Zacchaeus Atte said the commitment of the Kogi State government to the agricultural transformation agenda is yielding tremendous dividends, adding that Kogi State is ranked among the best states in agricultural development in Nigeria in recognition of the giant strides the administration has recorded in the sector in the last three years.
He appealed to the Governor not to relent in its commitment to the development of agriculture in the state, assuring that the new equipment will be judiciously utilised by the farmers in the overall interest of agricultural development in the state.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of the Kogi State Agricultural Development Programme, Professor Dominic Akpah, commended the State Government for putting Agriculture at the top of its development agenda.
Highpoint of the commissioning ceremony was the symbolic test drive of one of the tractors and an earthmoving machine by His Excellency Capt. Idris Wada.
