By Chukwuka Ugokwe :
Anambra State Government has given assurance that it would offer the needed support services to facilitate successful implementation of Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Program (ATAPS) phase 1 projects.
The State Commissioner For Agriculture, Dr Forster Ihejiofor, gave the assurance while receiving a delegation from African Development Bank (AFDB), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Federal Ministry of Finance as well as ATAPS who paid him a Courtesy Call.
The delegation had visited the Lower Anambra Irrigation Project, Pumping Station, at Ifite Ogwari, the ongoing concrete lining of long canal as well as completed access roads at Omor, where they interacted with beneficiaries in the areas.
Dr Ihejiofor assured the team of state government’s commitment to addressing identified challenges of power supply and counterpart funds, adding that a public private sector partnership arrangement was being worked out to tackle the issue of energy.
“If that place is put into use, it has very positive implications for our GDP and for of course the food security of the country.
“The challenge of running it, running the pumps, energy requirements clearly has to be backed up with solid arrangements where you have private sector participating very actively.
“We already have an understanding with a company that is in partnership between some Nigerians and Chinese who want to come in and do massive rice production and sesame production in that region.
“Hopefully they will be coming into the country to commence something in January 2025. So their involvement will to a large extent ensure that we have funds to run those pumps.”
According to him, the state government has also approached the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) for an investment of N100 billion land development in the area in furtherance to the PPP arrangement.
The Commissioner emphasized that government is poised to drive significant progress to guarantee food security of the state.
In a remark, the Zonal Program Coordinator, ATAPS phase 1 Adani-Omor, Dr Romanus Egba, said that they considered it proper to brief the state government the outcome of their tour.
The National Program Coordinator, ATAPS 1, Dr Ibrahim Arabi and the African Development Bank Task Manager, Dr Tobi Kari Kari, discussed issues bothering on utilisation and sustainability of the projects with the Commissioner.
While expressing satisfaction with achievements recorded, they specifically called on the state government to provide payment of outstanding counterpart funding for the Projects and transformers to ensure power supply.
*Chukwuka is of the Ministry of Information, Anambra State