Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State has launched the distribution of inputs and grants valued at over N4.6bn to farmers, communities, and IT startups in the state.
This, the governor said, was part of his efforts to enhance food security, promote agro-industrialisation, and support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises development.
During the symbolic flag-off ceremony held at Okpara Square in Enugu, on Thursday, Mbah stressed the importance of empowering small-scale entrepreneurs for sustainable economic growth.
He described the entrepreneurs as the backbone of economic development that required support through key enablers.
The governor announced that 12,000 smallholder farmers would receive a bag of fertiliser each, courtesy of the Federal Government’s donation to all states.
Additionally, 51 power tillers worth N2m each would be distributed to farmers across various farming clusters in the state, further demonstrating the administration’s commitment to agricultural development and MSME growth.
“We are also flagging off today the distribution of agricultural inputs to 1,251 beneficiaries across the 17 local government areas. These inputs include rice and bean seedlings, cassava stems, organic fertilisers, and herbicides, among others,” Mbah stated.
In addition, he said the administration would carry out the revamp of several rural roads to facilitate a better network and ensure that the farming clusters springing up across the rural belt of the state did not exist as isolated units.
Mbah put the support to MSMEs at N1bn, with women-owned enterprises getting 80 per cent of the entire sum.
“The value of our entrepreneurship intervention programme being flagged off today is N1bn. This includes the disbursement of N60,000 to over 16,000 beneficiaries, mostly comprising owners of nano-enterprises on a ratio of 80:20 in favour of women.
“Some may indeed wonder why this wide discrepancy. We recognise that much of the brunt of poverty is borne by women. That explains the extra efforts we put into expanding opportunities for the girl-child and women, especially in our rural communities.
“Still under our MSMEs intervention, we are disbursing N400,000 to 187 beneficiaries. Other initiatives in this regard for flag-off include N7.5m each to 10 tech startups, operational grant for solar equipment to 256 beneficiaries, while items, including laptop computers and POS terminals, will be given out to 269 beneficiaries,” he stated.
The governor added that the state was also waging war against open defecation to end the menace by the end of 2024.
“We are launching, as well, a water provision and sanitation-enhancing initiative worth N15m across 135 communities. The total value translates to over N2bn.
“This involves the construction of ultra-modern boreholes, toilet facilities, and provision of power generators. These would be situated in locations like town halls, markets, and schools,” he said.
Earlier in his address, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Patrick Ubru, enjoined the farmers and other beneficiaries to reciprocate the government’s massive support through the prudent application of the inputs and grants to create jobs, trigger a revolution in the agricultural industry and boost the state’s economy.
In his address, the Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Enugu State chapter, Romanus Eze, assured the governor that the farmers and other beneficiaries would not disappoint the government.
“We have never had it so good. Therefore, we will not disappoint you. We promise you concrete results for to whom much is given, much is also expected,” he said.
