Gov. Yahaya is bent on making Kogi State an Agric. hub in Nigeria

Gov. Yahaya is bent on making Kogi State an Agric. hub in Nigeria

The Kogi State government under Alh. Yahaya Bello has since inception keys into the agricultural revolution of the President Muhammadu Buhari's APC-led administration. Notable amongst the successes recorded were the confluence rice mill, the greenhouse in Osara, procurement of tractors for lease, the subsidizing and decentralization of sales of fertilizer which has since boosts outputs  from farmers.

Since creation, Kogi State micro economy relies on when salaries were paid, that is changing. In the quest to explore the agricultural potentials of the state, Governor Bello puts every machinery in motion to ensure the state is amongst the first state to take part in the pilot  World Bank APPEALS-WYEP project. By the end of February, 1700 youths and women who qualified for the grant were trained in 5 value chains (Cassava, Cashew, Aquaculture, Rice and Poultry). 

Because of the bleak future faced by both serving and retired civil servants across the nation, the dwindling revenues ocassioned by the fluctuating crude prices and the effect of the Covid19 on the world economy, the state government has gotten the apex bank's approval for 10,000 civil servants in Kogi State to benefit from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N10 billion Agribusiness Alternative Retirement Investment Scheme (AARIS) funding aimed at providing indirect cluster farming investment for the workers in the first phase. The agribusiness programme, designed under the CBN real sector support facilities, include the diversification from oil to non-oil sectors and to provide retirement investment farms for workers and registration in MDAs, state judiciary and institution of higher learning has commenced.

Governor Yahaya Bello is focused on providing real and lifetime opportunities for the youths, women and the retired workers in the state. While the APPEALS-WYEP is about N2 million grant for the 1700 beneficiaries,  participants will get a loan of N1 million at nine per cent interest and payable within nine years after a two-year moratorium.

Kogi State is on the path to sustainable growth and Governor Yahaya Bello is right there in the mix.