PORT HARCOURT— GOVERNOR Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State has again assured that his administration will soon complete  the Ogoni Andoni-Opobo-Unity Road project.
Amaechi, who gave the assurance during an inspection of the 42 kilometre road project, noted that the road has 13 bridges, adding that it would connect Opobo town to other parts of the state, expressing the hope that the road would be completed by December this year.
He said that his administration had constructed a road with bridge in Bolo, noting that the road connects other parts of the state.
The governor said: “People can now travel to Bolo by road. I was very pleased that the people of Bolo can now commute by road. We have done the same thing with the Okrika Ring Road.
“Because we are looking at content,  have also employed doctors twice in the health sector. We are looking at our health institution and we have decided that nobody will go to the secondary health care without passing through the primary health care system. We are providing as many health care centres as possible, already, we have between 140 and 145 health centres in the state.”
The governor said that he will also build tertiary hospitals in the three senatorial districts of the state and one other in Etche.

Agriculture is one of the mainstay of the economy of Rivers state. Unfortunately, enough attention has not been accorded to it
due to the discovery of oil. Successive governments rely solely on federal allocation and proceeds from oil.

But since inception in 2007, the administration of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has introduced several programmes to increase its fortunes and revamp the agricultural sector by encouraging people to go back to farming. 

According to Amaechi, agriculture cannot be separated from the state’s overall development plan as the sector is being developed to equally stimulate the state’s economy.

The present administration had established the Songhai Centre, Fish Farms and Banana plantation as well as revived the Risonpalm in addition to other initiatives to improve agricultural growth and output in the state.

Under the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Amaechi-led administration has been providing farmers with credit, subsidies and incentives to boost their output and develop agriculture in the state.

It has consistently provided farmers in the state with high yield and disease resistant varieties of crops and other planting materials including providing professional guidance and assistance to fish farmers.

Also, the robust agricultural programmes of the Ameachi administration are designed to generate employment for the teeming unemployed youths in the state by encouraging them to go back to the land in order to resuscitate the sector. 

The songhai rivers initiative farm

The economy of the state became bigger and stronger with the establishment of Songhai Farm covering over 314 hectares of land. Governor Amaechi introduced the initiative after studying the Songhai Centre in Porto Novo, Benin Republic. 

The farm located at Bunu-Tai and Ban-Ogoi communities, all in Tai Local Council of the state, is one of the projects of the Amaechi-led administration aimed at employment generation and promoting the state’s food security.

The Songhai Farm which is 20 times the size of its prototype in Porto Novo, has since its establishment, recorded huge success in its operations. A good number of the people of the state, mostly youths have benefitted from the government’s scholarship programme at the Songhai training institute in Benin Republic while others have been trained internally to work on the farm, fulfilling part of the goals of the initiative.

Such goals include creating employment opportunities for the people, promoting enterprise development especially amongst the younger generation, promoting research in new agricultural techniques and varieties, encouraging skills transfer and adopting appropriate technology by local farmers. Others are enhancing agricultural production and value addition, building interest in commercial farming and facilitating agro-tourism in the state.Another major aim is to diversify the economy of Rivers State by slightly moving away from dependence on oil and gas, encourage export and serve as a model for developing rural cities in the state as well as make the state the centre of Agro- based export free zone.

The Songhai Rivers initiative farm is an integration of livestock, aqua-culture and agro-tourism. The centre is designed as a place of excellence for training, production, research, demonstration and development of sustainable agricultural practices. It is tipped to become the number one hub of agricultural development in the country.

Prior to commencement of work on the farm in 2010, the Amaechi-led administration had dispatched to the Songhai International Centre in Benin Republic, a group of 105 young Rivers men and women from the 23 local councils of the state, to receive an 18-month training in various specialised agriculture and agro-based areas and imbibe an entrepreneurial culture.