Kwara grants loans to state lawmakers for farming

Kwara State Government has approved N40 million in loan facilities for members of the State House of Assembly to cultivate soya beans and maize. The fund was taken from the N1 billion agriculture loan released to the state government by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently.


Speaking to reporters at the farm-site which is spread over 300 hectares of land in Agogo, Ejidongari district, Moro Local Government Area of the state, Dr Ali Ahmad, Speaker of the state assembly said: “Our visit today is symbolic. Seeing is believing. We have been saying that we have a farm. We chose a day that we are supposed to be sitting to visit this place, so that when the public wonders why we are not sitting, we want to create awareness that we are here today.

“We incorporated a company, called Dodo Integrated Farms Nigeria limited. It has a board of trustees. It is clearly commercial and purely non-governmental. The shareholders are the 24 members of the Kwara state House of Assembly.

“We took advantage of N1billion loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for farmers through the state government. We accessed N40 million from that loan. Every member of the House is entitled to about N1.5 million.

“It is an opportunity for action.  We need everybody to go into farming. That is what we are showcasing. If every state will do this that we are doing, the complaints of hardship will be less. I recommend this initiative to all state Houses of Assembly in the country.”

Dr Ahmad urged the electorate not vote for council candidates without good agriculture plans in the November 2017 council election in the state.

He also charged local government chairmen and workers in the country to do more in practical agricultural practices to discourage idleness and boost food security.



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