By Oriola Afolabi
Over three thousand Farmers affected by the flood disaster in Ekiti State have benefited from the Federal Government Agricultural inputs.
Performing the ceremony in Ado Ekiti, the Deputy Governor Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi said that the gesture was part of President Muhammad Buhari’s stride in Agriculture and efforts to assist farmers who were affected by the 2020 flood in Ekiti.
Our Correspondent Oriola Afolabi who was there reports that some of the Agricultural inputs distributed were Spraying matching, water pump, agro chemicals, such as pesticides and herbicides fertilizers, Yam, rice and maize seedlings.
The Ekiti State Deputy Governor Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi who Flagged off the distribution in Ado Ekiti, commended
the federal government agricultural intervention programme which gave birth to the gesture.
Otunba Egbeyemi pointed out that the different intervention programmes received from the Federal Government and National Emergency Management Agency NEMA over the years had not only improved the lives of affected victims including farmers, but also given them hope of a better Nigeria.
The Deputy Governor said that government would not relent in it efforts at supporting farmers with necessary materials as well as creating enabling environment for them even as he called on them to always key into government programmes on agriculture.
Earlier, the Chairman, Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Retired Captain Sunday Adebomi said government had conducted a verification and enumeration exercise on the affected farmers in order to ensure that farmers whose farmland were damaged by the flood were the direct beneficiaries.
The NEMA, National Supervisor for Ekiti on Agric Intervention, Mr Tope Ajayi, said that inputs was part of measures by president Buhari’s administration to promote agriculture and mitigate effects of flood disaster on farmers in Ekiti.
Mr Ajayi appealed to the benefiting farmers to take advantage of the farm inputs to improve on their productivity in line with the vision of federal Government on agriculture.
Some of the benefitting farmers including Mrs Ronke Olagbemi, Mr Ojo Ilesanmi and Mr Tunde Ogunsakin described the gesture as as a welcome development and appreciated president Muhammad Buhari for putting smiles on their faces.
The Farmers called for more Intervention programmes which would help them to compete favourably with their counterparts across the world, saying that Ekiti Farmers had all it takes to make Nigeria a food sufficient nation.
