Umuchinemere Procredit
Microfinance Bank Nigeria Limited

Enugu State has been chosen as headquarters for the implementation of the Songhai Agricultural Initiative in Nigeria, being funded by the World Bank.

Already, a team of officials from the World Bank development agencies like the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) will be visiting the state to inspect the site for the Songhai mother farm at Heneke Lake in Obinofia in Ezeagu Local Government Area of the state.

The state Governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime, announced this when he received representatives of Obinofia-Ndiouno and Ndiagu Communities in Ezeagu Local Government Area who paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House. The governor thanked the people of Obinofia for providing land for the farm project, saying that he was happy that they saw the economic potentials of the mother farm.

Chime, therefore, used the occasion to inform the people that the infrastructural development they requested for which included the extension of electricity to Obinofia Ndiagu and reconstruction of their rural roads were part of development that would accompany the farm programme. According to the governor, "the infrastructural development you requested for must be provided because they are part of our programme for the farm, but with the Heneke farm coming on stream, we will fast-track the provision of the facilities".

The governor assured the people that the Songhai project in the state was a reality and had reached an advanced stage of implementation, adding that government would not take their gesture for granted.

The governor noted that when the Songhai Initiative became functional, the economy of not only the state but also the whole country would change for better. He added that their single gesture had also placed the Heneke Lake location of the farm on the world map and would place Obinofia Community over and above other communities in the state.

The state chief executive recalled that when he visited the proposed area for the project, he discovered that there were much excavations of the land by some people, which had destroyed the ecosystem there. The governor noted that the damage to the land would also make it impossible for road construction and urged them to prevent such environmental degradations in the future.

(Culled from The Guardian)