…as Agip empowers Niger Delta farmers
By Emem Idio
YENAGOA-BAYELSA State governor Mr. Seriake Dickson has called on the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, to partner with the state government to resuscitate the moribund rice farms in the state.

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According to the governor, the rice farms have the potentials to provide jobs for the teeming youths of the state and Niger Delta.

Dickson made the call in Yenagoa, weekend, during the 21st Agip Farmers Day Celebration and presentation of farming inputs and implements to farmers from Bayelsa, Delta, Imo and Rivers States, under the Green River Project Farms of the multinational.

He said the present administration was building a state that can sustained itself after oil through various agricultural programmes.

The governor noted that Oloibiri where oil was first discovered remains a sad reference and a pointer to the fact how the state would have been without oil.

Represented by his deputy, Rear Admiral Gboriobiogha John-Jonah, (rtd), Dickson described agriculture as the sustainable road to prosperity and self reliance for the people and commended Agip for its initiative to empower farmers in their areas of operation in the Niger Delta through its Green River Project Farms.

He said: “This action by Agip to not only empower but train the entire value chain of the farming community is quite commendable and urged you to continue with it.

“A good head and a good heart is what we need to make things to move. This gesture shows that Agip has a good heart to give to us.

“Knowing what farming means to the average rural dwellers, when we came in 2012 we sent some young men and women to the Songhai Farms in Benin Republic, on their return, some of them are on their own and I am sure that they must be benefitting from this project.

“We are committed to the entire value chain of the Agricultural revolution; we have the cassava farms meant to produce cassava for export, we will be supplying cassava not only for Nigeria but beyond and it will employ to lot of our youths.

“I want Agip to take a critical look at Rice farms like the Peremabiri Rice farms and other in the state and collaborate with us to ensure that those farms are brought back to life to take care of the young men and women who are idle, we have to change the storyline and we know that with the cooperation and collaboration with you, we will have the capacity and willingness to change the face of the people of Bayelsa. The only way to go with prosperity and self reliance is in farming.”‎

In his speech, the chairman of NAOC, Mr. Umberto Carrara, expressed satisfaction that the NAOC Joint Venture Green River Project Farms has grown and has impacted on the various communities in the Niger Delta.

Carrara commended the joint venture partners for their commitment to the scheme.

‎”The little seed we sowed 30 years ago by establishing the NAOC JV Green Rover Project has grown producing good fruits as evidenced in the cheerful farmers that are gathered here today with their products and produced and this shows that the objective of establishing the scheme, which was to introduce and expose our communities to modern techniques of farming is being achieved.

“The impacts in the project in the various communities and in the lives of the beneficiaries have been impressive and it is my expectation that the initiative will continue to support food security and enhanced livelihood in the communities for many more years to come,” he said.

In his remarks, Agip General Manager District, Mr. Marco Rotondi, said Nigeria in the next thirty years, will be the third largest country by population after China and India, stressing that there was the need for the country to rethink how it was treating and distributing resources, as access to food will be critical, hence the need to diversify the economy which is solely dependent on oil and gas.

Highlights of the occasion was the presentation of awards and prizes to best farmers across the Niger Delta and cultural‎ displays from cultural groups from Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa states, including boat regatta performances.