Kwara Diocese of Anglican Church has unveiled a multi-million Naira agricultural farm to address food security and food sufficiency in the country.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Wednesday as part of activities marking the 50th anniversary of the church, the Bishop of the Anglican Church, Rt. Reverend Sunday Adewole, said that the church planned to plant mainly cassava and maize on 25 hectares of land starting next farming season.
The cleric, who is also the chairman of Kwara state branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), lamented economic hardship in the country, saying that the agricultural venture is an investment aimed to encourage youth employment and capacity building that would cushion the economic situation of members of the church and general public.
He said a female member of the Church has donated 500 bags of fertilizer towards actualization of the agricultural project, describing the project as laying a blueprint for the next 50 years.
He also announced that the church planned to upgrade a skill acquisition centre that was established by women in the church with requisite equipment, shops and financial capacity.
On the state of the nation, the cleric blamed the current socio political challenges on both the leadership and followership in the polity.
The Bishop of Kwara Diocese of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) also appealed to the federal government to re-absorb retired Military and Police officers into the security system to check insecurity in the rural areas in the country.
Adewole while noting that the people of the country are currently facing hardship as a result of the astronomical increase in food prices however appealed to the government to review the fuel subsidy removal and other programmes that are not favourable to the people’s welfare.
“Since the removal of the fuel subsidy, I have not seen its positive effect on the people, any programme of the government that does not carry human face should be dropped.
“Though we need infrastructure such as roads, stomach infrastructure which will allow people their regular meals is very important”.
He also advised the government to cut down drastically the cost of governance by paying elected and appointed officials sitting allowance instead of the salaries being paid to them.
He said that the anniversary ceremony would attract the visit of the Primate of the Church, Most Reverend Henry Ndukuba to Kwara state on Sunday, November 3, 2024.