By AMAWU Cletus Albert Amawu.
CRS MIN. OF SOCIAL WELFARE AND COMMUNITY DEVT., COOPERATIVE DEPT. PAY COURTESY VISIT TO FED. MIN. OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY CALABAR OFFICE.
The Cross River State Ministry of Social Welfare and Community Development State Director of Cooperative, Ukandi Ogar Emmanuel Iduku and some Executive Committee members of the Cross River State Cooperative Stakeholders Limited Association led by Sir. Paul Ihwo, paid a courtesy visit to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Calabar Office Coordinator, Pastor Asim Ettah for collaboration and making sure that His Excellency Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu’s policy on agro revolution is accommodated and to furnish Cooperative Societies true database as it were.
According to Ukandi Ogar, His Excellency, Prince Otu’s policy on agriculture is the game changer that will revolutionized Cross Riverian thinking thoughts about the agro sector as money making and panacea for wealth creation as a State and individuals, and as such, “we have come with cooperative greetings from the State Ministry of Social Welfare and Community Development to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, so that, Cross River State farmers will benefit from the various programmes of the present Administration.
“We did tried last year to partner with your Ministry but nothing tangible came out, but we’re optimistic that henceforth, our renewed relationship will key into the renewed hope agenda in accordance with the agro policy of the His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Government.
“Farming is not just only about growing crops or raising livestock; it’s a complex system with interconnectivity and sustainable development and resource management with indicators of ecology, economic and social: Food security, farmer livelihoods, and access to resources and services, it’s the way to go” he concluded.
On his part, Sir Paul Ihwo emphasised that hunger and no food are the reasons for the upsurge in crimes from available statistics. Hence, why Cooperative Societies especially those engaged in farming are solutions providers for food self sufficiency and security.
“When you look at the developed economy’s, you know that the richest people are farmers, but it is the reverse in the third world; were we struggle and struggle. Singular reason why we cry, is poverty!
“And what’s poverty here, because of no food; its not money. The issue is food! It’s after food that we talk of shelter. If you have food to eat, you can improvised for shelter.
“Crime is on the upsurge because of hunger, there’s no food. Take for instance the “skolumbo’s”, it is because they don’t have food that’s why they go about harassing the public, not because they don’t have where to sleep, they do, but the issue is food.
“So food is very, very important, and your Ministry cannot be ignored. Hence, we decide as Stakeholders and the authentic Cooperative Societies in the State and the Cooperative Department in the State Ministry of Social Welfare and Community Development to come to collaborate. It’s only in Cross River State that we are pretty not informed of the enormous advantages Cooperative Societies yield.
“I have had the opportunity of going to workshops and trainings around the country and I must confessed, it is in this part of Nigeria that we don’t take seriously Cooperative activities, but this is changing with the advent of His Excellency, Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu vigorous approach to agriculture for food security and revenue generation, and for the first time in Cross River State that a Government have appointed a Special Adviser on Cooperative Matters.
“Other region are grounded and consistent in training of cooperative, as they’ve discovered the way to solve the issue of poverty and empowering the common people is through cooperative groups. In some State, the even have a Bureau for Cooperative or Ministry of Cooperative or the Department, thank God for our Governor.
“We are here as Stakeholders with the Department of Cooperative from the State Ministry to partner with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security for the development of farmers through their various cooperative societies and also intimate you that Cooperative is not a local thing, it has been there for centuries past and that’s why we have the international day of cooperative celebration that comes up every first Saturday of July yearly.
“Let me use this opportunity to invite your Ministry in advance to the third edition of the International Day of Cooperative in Cross River State coming up in July, 2025, and request partnership because we have series of programmes line up as farmers will showcase and display their products. These are not portfolio (political) farmers. Let us work together to weed out portfolio farmers that politicians normally use to hijack incentives meant for the real farmers from government and other donors.
“Our partnership will avail you database of farmers across the 18 Local Government Areas of the State who are actually cooperative members that you can relate with.
“I thank God as the Federal Ministry also
have Cooperative Desk. Please, from now henceforth, you’ll be invited to our subsequent Stakeholders Engagement Meetings to see what we do and bring feedback to the Ministry to understand better, hence, it’s serious business we’re engaged in.
“We appreciate you for the audience, we’ve just started and pray that many more good things will come through this interaction and interface, and thanks also to your Staffers,” he said.
Responding, the State Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Calabar Office, Pastor Asim Ettah said,
“The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is positioned to help our farmers and empower them in the issue of agriculture, because farming is a business.The Government is committed in this very season to increase food security that is why the mandate of the vision of this administration is renewed agenda.
“So many programs have come and gone, but your coming now is not too late, we are doing so much in this Ministry to help farmers especially the different value chains which i don’t know;
you must know your farmers very well and so but the area that we are currently is facilitated by the National Agricultural Group Scheme (NAGS) Agro Pocket is a Parrastatal of the Federal Government saddled with the responsibility of empowering farmers with input at subsidized rates, we started year before last.
“NAGS have been on course as a program that replaced what was known as GES., a forum that company used to reach out to farmers, and what you need to do is to furnish us with the details of registration of your farmers throughout the State, so that we can have a comprehensive and up to date data. We’re really happy of your coming. We most time run into problem of registering farmers which isn’t our primary responsibility and often we have very limited farmers, which is not so in other States. Some States in the North have farmers up to 10 million.
“Your visit will help us put something on ground because we noticed a lot of persons showcase themselves as Cooperative and all that they just wanted is money to put in their pockets because every prospective man needs money, and even when we provide them with inputs, they normally go back and sell it and put the money in their pockets. It’s typical of an average Nigerian and especially Cross Riverian who will just want to plant a little crop for himself just to eat and not what is going to come up in the next three months or one year; farming is a business that you can generate money and if you are consistent and serious with it you can build anything out of it and use the income from your farm to do whatever thing you want to do, not just to become a civil servant because everybody wants to become a civil servant. Even as a graduate today, you can go into farming with it’s lot of categories like Fisheries, Piggry, Crops.
“Let me assure you that your visit will be taken up as a matter of urgency in our quarterly report we are going to send to Abuja, and intimating the authority that we have very strong Cooperative Societies in Cross River State which is domicile in the State Ministry of Social Welfare and Community Development that we can readily work with them, hence, can readily furnish us with the real farmers database.
“So currently the rice season rice program is about to commence, and we don’t know if your Cooperatives are captured? Your visit will avail us the opportunity to making sure that we update and capture all details of your Cooperatives farmers and their bodies through our Cooperative Desk Service, that will provide you with the template with the required information to be filled so that when the time comes as we enter into wet season, so maybe, we are going to revise the registration so we can capture the new names into it, because we are going to expand the scope of our clusters cultivation and all that, as many other things are coming that we make use of Cooperative Societies to give it out to them” he said.
In her vote of thanks, Mrs. Adinye Christiana on behalf of the Honourable Commissioner, Cross River State Ministry of Social Welfare and Community Development, Bishop Dr. Margaret Ene-Ita, thanked Pastor Asim Ettah, for the warm reception accorded the Team, the robust engagement, promises made, as the Ministry look forward to a cordial working partnership that will be beneficial to both parties and especially to the Cross River State Cooperative Stakeholders Limited Association, as she seeks for training of Cooperators when time comes.
As usual, erudite Cooperative Consultant, Prince Emmanuel Edem, anchored and moderated proceedings of the visit.
The meeting had in attendance several Management Staff of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Calabar Office, the Coordinator, Pastor Asim Etta, many others and the Cooperative Desk Officer, Mrs. Olabisi Ajoke Adam (nee Adegbite).
Members on the visit include: Ukandi Ogar Emmanuel Iduku, Sir. Paul Ihwo, Prince Emmanuel Edem, Mrs. Christiana Adinye, Mr. Sylvester Etrimita Okoi, and Comrade Amawu Cletus Albert Amawu.
