By; BELLO IHIOVI
Kogi state government has reiterated its commitment towards creating conducive environment for both public and private investors to operate in the state.
This was made known recently by the state commissioner of Agriculture, Hon. David Apeh during a stakeholders meeting between the state ministry of Agriculture, Oil Palm Plantation Development Advocacy Network (OPPDAN) and other partnering agencies.
According to him, the aim the meeting was to further strengthen the relationship with the OPPDAN NGO over the ongoing project introduced by them to better the welfare of civil servant in the state after retirement.
He disclosed that one of the key mandates of the state government is to create food security, create employment through agriculture and be a major exporter of food produce from the state to other state and across the shores of the country.
While reiterating that the project would address the fear of civil servant on what to do after retirement, he advised civil servant in the state to fully key into the program, as a gate way to happy retirement package.
Mr Apeh thanked Mellelle Farms Nigeria limited and other partnering agencies at the meeting for their contributions towards the project.
Earlier in his remark, the President of the OPPDAN in the state, Mr. Idokwo Joseph disclosed that the OPPDAN project is an Agric Business Alternative Retirement Investment Scheme (ABARIS) with a provision of N10,000.00 hectares land made available for civil servant in state to embark on Oil Palm business.
Adding That the project if well managed and supported by the state government through the ministry of agriculture will help the state and the country from gradually diversifying from oil to agriculture.
He stressed that the project will drastically help create employment in the state, and that a civil servant with one hectare of land of palm oil can employ six persons which further means over sixty thousand employments can be generated from the project when fully kick started.
He further thanked the state government under the leadership of His Excellency Governor Yahaya Bello for the enabling environment and the state ministry of agriculture for her support, while assuring the civil servant of the originality of the project stressing that it is zero capital free.
