… FG must learn from Edo’s feeding programme successes

… Edo has largest oil palm devt in Africa as evidence of Obaseki’s agric revolution

The Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media, Crusoe Osagie has lambasted a former Governor of the State, Senator Adams Oshiomhole over comments disparaging Governor Godwin Obaseki’s agricultural reforms and the state’s feeding programme for the vulnerable amid other statements aimed at undermining the government’s laudable achievements.

In a statement, Osagie said the government is most disappointed that someone of Senator Oshiomhole’s standing will take to national television to make statements that he knows to be completely false for the purpose of scoring cheap political points.

The governor’s aide while reeling the government’s programmes to reduce the hardship and suffering of Edo people in the wake of the difficult living conditions in the country, arising from various policies that have been implemented by the Federal Government, urged the Federal Government to approach State Government to understudy its thoroughly thought-out mode of supporting the vulnerable in Edo State to fine-tune their model, which is fraught with irregularities and lack of transparency.

According to him, “The attention of the Edo State Government has been drawn to comments by the former Governor of the State, Senator Adams Oshiomhole in which he disparaged Governor Godwin Obaseki’s agricultural reforms and the state’s feeding programme for the vulnerable amid other statements aimed at undermining the government’s laudable achievements.

“The government is most disappointed that someone of Senator Oshiomhole’s standing will take to national television to make statements that he knows to be completely false for the purpose of scoring cheap political points.

“Oshiomhole who is now representing just a section of the State, Edo North Senatorial District, after superintending over the entire State as Governor is expected to display more maturity and decorum and ensure that he rises above parochial, partisan interests.

“He ought to empathize with his people who are now reeling from the avoidable pains inflicted on them by ill-deployed Federal Government policies imposed by the All Progressives Congress administration for whom Oshiomhole now acts as a spokesman discountenancing the genuine displeasure being expressed by the people through the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protests in Edo State and across the country.”

Osagie continued: “Oshiomhole during his interview on national television attempted to cast aspersion on the feeding programme for the vulnerable in the State which is executed by both the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Muslims Pilgrim Welfare Board.

“Under this programme, the State Government is conscious of the fact that the vulnerable people in our society are closest to their places of worship and releases funds to the umbrella Christian and Muslim bodies to implement the feeding programme.

“These religious bodies in turn go to the markets within the communities and procure essential food commodities, package the items by themselves acknowledging the state government’s sponsorship, take them to grassroots churches and mosques and distribute the food commodities to the vulnerable people among them.”

He charged, “In all honesty, the Federal Government ought to approach the Edo State Government to understudy this thoroughly thought-out mode of supporting the vulnerable in Edo State to fine-tune their model, which is fraught with irregularities and lack of transparency.”

On Oshiomhole’s comments about the Governor Obaseki administration's investment in agriculture, the governor’s aide stated that “it is expected that a sitting Senator should be abreast with the happenings in his home State, as today, Edo sits enviably as the number one sub-national with the largest oil palm development programme in Africa.”

According to him, “Under the Edo State Oil Palm Programme (ESOPP), 70,000 hectares of oil palm estates are under cultivation across the State. Another 50,000 hectares of land is set to be allocated to large-scale commercial farmers in the State to expand their production. Currently, 10 investors are involved in ESOPP, including the Flour Mills of Nigeria, Dufil Prima Foods Limited, Fayus Inc., and Bravag Limited, among others.

“Food processing and manufacturing companies in the State are already sourcing raw materials from these large-scale farms and smallholder farmers to produce industrial inputs, especially ethanol. The success of the oil palm programme is being replicated with other cash crops such as maize and cassava. Another evidence for this can be seen with developments in Ovia North East Local Government Area, where a food processing company is producing High-Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) from produce sourced from smallholder farmers in the area.

“For Oshiomhole, it is better to grow small farms with bare hands than to apply technology to optimize production and farm larger fields. What he also fails to acknowledge is that the hunger ravaging the land is as a result of the failure of the Federal Government to tackle insecurity, particularly banditry, kidnapping and farmer-herder clashes which has led to low production. Farmers across Nigeria are unable to attend to their farms because of the threat of insurgents and bandits. Instead of working to fix the challenges, the government further exacerbated the suffering of the people by removing the fuel subsidy and devaluing the Naira without proper planning.”

He added, “Edo people know today that amid the suffering visited on them by the Federal Government’s policies, the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration has honestly and genuinely worked to insulate them from the effects of bad governance at the centre. And come September 21, Edo people will come out en-masse to show their resolve to remain under the umbrella of the PDP as it is the safest option amid the excruciating suffering in the land.