The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno has urged Nigerians to embrace agriculture saying it would provide a lasting solution to the effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
The Governor who made the call on Friday, during the September edition of the monthly Covenant Service at the Government House Banquet Hall, Uyo, urged citizens to embrace the agricultural revolution championed through the ARISE Agenda blueprint of his administration by returning to the farm.
According to him, the farm is a panacea to the prevailing hardship in the country caused by fuel subsidy removal.
Eno said that he was not leading a communist state, where citizens depend on handouts from the government for survival.
He, therefore, urged Akwa Ibom residents and Nigerians in general to resort to agriculture at various scales to increase food supply in the country.
He said that his administration had taken steps to reduce the cost of governance by cutting on excesses and ploughed back the gains to the society to address the enormous intervention needs it is facing.
“Times are hard but the question is how long will we continue on palliatives? The answer is how can we help ourselves? We have green land everywhere and we have good weather. The best answer is for us to go back to work. Let’s go back to agriculture. This is not a communist country where you wake up and there’s milk in front of your house. Agribusiness is a serious business. Our young people have to get involved. That is what will help us. All these interventions cannot really help us for too long. If you collect rice today, you’ll finish it.”
Furthermore, he disclosed that the State Government had purchased 100,000 bags of rice at the cost of N40, 000 noting that each of the 2,772 villages in the State would get 40 bags.
