Rivers state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has begun the process of reviving the Songhai farms abandoned in Bunu community, Tai Local Government Area of the state.
The governor said revamping the farm would lay the foundation for his administration’s revolution in agriculture.
Fubara in a statement signed by his Special Assistant, Media, Boniface Onyedi, gave the assurance when he inspected the Songhai Farm.
Fubara explained was following a decision at the last National Economic Council meeting where discussions were held on the need for diversification of the economy to cushion the current economic hardship.
He said: “In our last National Economic Council meeting, because of the present situation of our economy, which you are aware; the issue of removal of fuel subsidy and other economic bite affecting everyone, everybody was advised to diversify. The other option is agriculture and we were all advised to see what we can do to improve on food sufficiency.”
Fubara said that revamping the Songhai Farms would serve the purpose of diversifying the economy, get the people engaged meaningfully, and increase the food sufficiency capacity of the state.
He said: “As I leave here now, we are going to bring in all the stakeholders to discuss the way forward. What I am seeing here will require long-term planning and going back to the site to reinstate the installed facilities that have become desolate.
“The state government would not just do that, we will bring in people who have the strength and commitment to partnering with us to bring back this place to life.”
“The advantages to be derived when this place comes back to life include food sufficiency and employment generation. It will also address issues of youth restiveness,” he added.
Earlier, the Centre Manager of the Songhai Project, Dr. Tammy Jaja, conducted the governor round the facilities.
He said that the project was based on a self-driven zero-waste model and had the potential to promote economic development in the state, especially in the area of food sufficiency.
