BY VICTOR UFOT
The Deacon Udom Emmanuel’s administration has in the last one year and few months made giant moves to diversify the economy of the state from a Crude Oil based economy to an Agriculture based one, though there were attempts by past administrations to achieve this fete with little results to show for.
The new approach adopted by the present administration has started yielding the desired results in just few weeks since the DAKKADA MULTIPURPOSE COOPERATIVE SOCIETY programme commenced in the state.
Interestingly, the Deacon Udom Emmanuel administration has since inception shown undaunted commitment to return Akwa Ibom State to her position as leader in Agriculture in Nigeria through various programmes and policies that will make the vision realistic. Most observers and stakeholders are convinced that in no distant time the government will achieve the dream because of the laid down plans.
One of such noble plans championed by the state government to promote Agriculture in the state is the setting up of the DAKKADA MULTIPURPOSE COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES in each of the 31 local Government Areas of the state with the dream to encourage members to collectively agree on an agricultural task they will invest in with firm guidance of the state government.
The government did not just inaugurate these societies but also made sure that members were thoroughly trained by facilitators engaged by the state government to expose the beneficiaries to modern techniques required to do well in the business.
Though the government intends to use this programme as an alternative means of generating revenue for the state, it is also central to point out that those involved in the project will be gainfully employed in the course of the business.
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| Mrs. Nsinne Afangeideh; Farm Manager And Member Of Dakkada Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society |
Her words “he takes this project as his personal business, you need to see how he has been open to all of us, his team visits the farm to find out the true state of things. He is passionate about us succeeding and we will not disappoint initiators and ourselves. He has really been helpful. Initially we thought it was a normal government scam but with his conviction we are now smiling”.
In other to make this plan visible, the state government recently facilitated the disbursement of one million Naira interest free loans to each of the cooperative societies set up in the 31 local government Areas of the state to initiate different business plans. The Cooperative Society is made of 25 members in each Local Government Area who had enrolled as Dakkada Ambassadors.
To ensure that members of the cooperatives are dedicated to the course, the state government gave the members the liberty to choose any aspect of agriculture they will love to take on; this move has been applauded by majority of the members since they are free to choose for themselves unlike the methods adopted by successive administrations.
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| President Of The Cooperative In Nsit Atai Mr. Akan Akpan |
“We all agreed to go into Poultry farming because we want something that will yield profit at the shortest possible time and you know that Christmas is at the corner and people will be interested in buying Chickens. So we as a cooperative decided to go into this”.
The president commended the governor for the vision and promised not to betray the trust the governor has reposed in them.
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| Birds Purchased By Nsit Atai 1 Dakkada Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society |
On how profit will be shared, the President said as a Cooperative Society, the profit will go out according to the number of shares purchased by each member of the group. He expressed optimism that with the dedication of the state government to empowerment and wealth creation, the era of youths roaming the streets with no dreams will be over since they will be engaged with ventures such as the one they are into.
“This is the first time we have seen a government being so sincere with giving out financial support; I am saying so because people like us would not have been recognized if it was politicized as we used to see back then”.
The Nsit Atai Local Government success story is just one of the numerous achievements recorded by DAKKADA MULTIPURPOSE COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES across Akwa Ibom State since it came on board last month.
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| The Farm |
The president enjoined other Akwa Ibom youths to ensure that they register as Dakkada Ambassador so that they can enjoy the numerous empowerment programmes lined up by the state government for citizens of the state.
Overtime, farmers have had course to lament poor implementation of government plans to revive Agriculture in Akwa Ibom State but from the example set so far by the Udom Emmanuel’s administration, it is certain that the various agribusiness in each Local Government will start yielding profit as well as help boost the economy of the state.
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