UMUAHIA – Governor. Theodore Orji of Abia state has underscored the need for Nigerians to get involved in agriculture to ensure food security for the country.
He said this at a meeting with members of the state chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) at the Government House, Umuahia, on Tuesday.
Orji described agriculture as “the mainstay of the nation’s economy’’, adding that while the nation’s crude would dry up one day, agriculture would continue to thrive.
He said his administration had brought a lot of transformation to the sector in the state in line with President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda on agriculture.
Orji said that as part of the efforts to encourage farming and ensure increased food production his administration had been farmer-friendly.
He said, “No right-thinking person will toy with farmers and agriculture, agriculture has become big business in the world.’’
The governor commended farmers in the state for their contribution to the state’s economy.
He said that the state had distinguished itself as the best cocoa farmer in Nigeria.
Earlier in his speech, the Chairman of the association, Chief Dunlop Okoro, commended the governor for the recognition his administration accorded to agriculture.
Okoro also thanked Orji for handing over the Ulonna North Farm Settlement to a private investor, Green Energy Limited.
He further thanked him for providing agricultural inputs and other incentives to farmers.
The chairman assured the governor Orji that members of the association would vote massively for the Peoples Democratic Party in the forthcoming general elections.
Governor Theodore Orji
