ASABA/Nigeria: The Delta State Government has presented a cheque of N42.8 million to the Coalition of Fish Farmers at camp 74 in the state capital Asaba to assuage the effect of the 2017 flood that swept off their farms.
Presenting the cheque to the leader of the group at Camp 74, Asaba, the Secretary to the State Government Hon. Festus Agas, urged the farmers to use the fund judiciously.
Hon. Agas assured the farmers that the state government would continue to partner with the fish farmers to give necessary support to enable them succeed.
He stressed the importance of farmers in the society and noted that Governor Ifeanyi Okowa placed high premium on agriculture, hence he created some agricultural programmes to engage the youths meaningfully and make them economically self reliant.
The SSG advised the farmers to organize themselves into groups and insure their farms to enable them share the risk in case of accidents such as flooding and other possible disasters.
He recalled that in 2017, Governor Okowa intervened during the flood disaster when he directed the Commissioner for Agriculture to come to the aid of farmers.
He enjoined the farmers to be Eco-friendly to know when to restock and when to harvest their fish farms.
Speaking on behalf of the farmers, Mr Ezekiel Eromedoghene thanked the state government for its friendly disposition to farmers and assured that the fund would be put to good use to justify the state government’s effort.
The group passed a vote of confidence on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and described PDP as a very stable party even as its commended the governor for the accelerated infrastructure development in the state and pledged their continued support to his re-election bid in 2019 to enable him consolidate on the good work he started.
The Chairman of the coalition, Mr Upright Nwanneka in a vote of thank, expressed satisfaction with the state government‘s gesture, adding that farmers were solidly behind him come 2019 general elections.
Present during the event were the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Chief Joseph Utomi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr Austin Oghoro among others.
