$1bn AfDB Fund: Kwara AAEUN tasks govt on implementation
By Matthew Denis
The Kwara State branch of Agricultural and Allied Employees’ Union of
Nigeria (AAEUN) has called on the three tiers of government to ensure
implementation of the $1billion support proposed by the Africa
Development Bank (AFDB)
The AFDB had recently announced its plan to support Nigeria’s
agricultural sector with $1billion .
The state Chairman of the association, Dr. David Kayode Enhindero made
the call on Tuesday while suggesting ways on how to boost
agricultural development in the country.
He said, “A lot of financial support have been given to the
agricultural sector, which didn’t yield positive results in the
past. It is important for the tiers of government to ensure that the
support goes directly to genuine practitioners.
“The anchored borrowers’ scheme by the Central Bank of Nigeria is a
huge investment and I want to call on the state and local governments
to support this AFDB initiative to make agricultural produces
available everywhere.
“I want to call on the Kwara State government to support this scheme
so that we can maximise the potentials we have in agriculture. We have
enough land and Nigeria alone should be able to feed the rest of the
world if we get it right, ” he added.
Enhindero who note that the AFDB support is a positive initiative,
advised government to ensure that the scheme achieve its aim.
He said “we want the management of the bank to ensure that the project
is properly monitored so that Nigerian factor will not affect it. If
you examine critically the agricultural sector, you will observe that
there is a lot of noise on the paper about agricultural budgeting
without proper execution.
“Most of the agricultural budget is aiding office infrastructure. We
want money that will directly be given to farmers for training, land
clearing, cultivation, provision of fertilizers and storage
facilities.
“Government should focus and explore energy of young people to carry
out cultivation activities as we have a lot of uncleared land in
Nigeria.