Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Dr. Law Okwu Mefor, on this interview, speaks on transfer by the state authorities to get traders and companions to develop off-grid electrical energy era to drive industrialisation. He additionally talks on agriculture and funding insurance policies of the Governor Charles Soludo-led administration. Onyebuchi Ezeigbo brings excerpts.
What is the federal government doing to increase agricultural improvement in Anambra State?
Yes, the agricultural sector represents one of many precedence areas of the state authorities and the Soludo administration has paid ample consideration to the sector, and we’re doing so in a really intentional and specialised method. Intentional within the sense that we’re not simply approaching agriculture generically, we’re approaching agriculture from some views that can tackle some specifics. For instance, the place it comes to the restoration, restoration of sure financial timber for which the state was as soon as reputed that are actually disappearing. Government within the final two to three years has been procuring these seedlings and distributing to folks to plant Seedlings like palm, you already know, particular palm like coconut, bitter cola, you already know, such uncommon financial plant or cush crops. Yes, the money crop which can be going into extinction, the Solution authorities is making an attempt to get well them, and since they’re uncommon and crucial financial timber, can be envisaged by the point the federal government achieves that concentrate on, those that planted the financial timber – as soon as they begin harvesting, it should assist them fight poverty itself. Apart from the restoration of those financial timber and stopping them from going into extinction, agriculture can be half and parcel of the programme we’re operating that we name “One Youth, Two Skills”.
We are encouraging the youths to go into agriculture in all its ramifications. You know, other than money crops, animal husbandry, and all facets of it, folks are actually, notably the youths, are actually inspired critically to go into all of those.
How we do it’s that they’re skilled of their chosen areas of farming, after which they’re empowered by giving seed cash to find a way to practicalize and go into the apply of what they skilled in. They need youths to have two expertise. Agriculture shouldn’t be the one factor.
There are different facets, however I simply needed you to know that it’s an integral a part of the programme – One Youth, Two Skills. There is one other method we cope with agriculture right here – by way of cooperatives, as a result of one of many main hindrances of agriculture anyplace, not simply in Anambra State, is that produce shouldn’t be having off-takers- that you simply produce you may’t promote. You know, you produce you don’t have entry to the market, you already know.
So, by way of cooperative societies, they’re inspired to group themselves in accordance to the sub sectors, in order that they’re ready to entry seedlings, fertilizer, entry the market and off-takers.
Government is doing this. In reality, to solidify that strategy even additional, authorities is engaged on a regulation now to formalize the operations of cooperatives in Anambra State, cooperatives and a regulation for it’s now within the making.
On the opposite hand, the federal government is deliberately growing rural roads. Most of those farmers usually are not inside city facilities, and their entry to city facilities with their produce is what the governor is deliberately tackling by offering entry roads to the areas we think about as Anambra meals baskets. You know, locations like Anyaemelum, Nzam and so forth and so forth, locations that by no means had even one meter of arduous roads since Anambra state was created. They now have entry roads as a result of the governor needs the folks there to have entry, as a result of if they’re ready to deliver their produce to city markets, they make more cash, and naturally, it helps in rising meals provides typically. And by so doing, costs of this stuff come down.
We used to have rice as a significant produce from Anambra state. What is going on to that sector?
No, no, no. Nothing is going on. We nonetheless have Anambra rice. In reality, we now have extra of it. Last month, there was an exhibition, a form of Trade Fair by the Ministry of Commerce and all of the produce- issues made in Anambra. Much of the exhibition was rice from totally different elements of Anambra State. In reality, it’s such that even areas, areas that hit out to the place it did rice manufacturing, numerous them in the direction of the Anambra South, by no means actually believed that Anambra South may have a lot to do. But they got here into the exhibition, so the rice is there. Anambra rice is there, and I don’t know whether or not it’s the Ada or different rice. Good, you already know, there are different manufacturers. There are actually critical industrialists which can be even coming into it. Someone like Coscharis Group has now made rice manufacturing in Anambra certainly one of his main enterprise issues. So we’re not dropping the ball when it comes to rice manufacturing. No, we’re doing pretty nicely in rice manufacturing. The solely factor that I feel we haven’t carried out nicely in is processing. So if you produce all this stuff, you don’t course of. If you don’t course of, you aren’t ready to go to financial institution.
Yes, the processing has began, however it hasn’t gotten to the extent one would say that we’re comfy, as a result of if we course of sufficient we should always find a way to service the native market after which export the excess even past Nigeria.
Are there any coverage supposed to make the state investor pleasant?
Yes, there are insurance policies, the philosophy of presidency is to present the enabling surroundings, beginning with safety, easy accessibility to land, and it’s a safety, electrical energy, low cost and fixed electrical energy provide. Then, we now have some funds that even native entrepreneurs can entry. Yes, small and medium scale enterprises can entry. We have Anambra State Small Business Agency, the place you may entry up to 10 million Naira and may recapitalize to do no matter you might be doing if the marketing strategy is sweet. The situation is that you could have one thing to present for it. It’s not simply coming to take cash since you need to begin one thing to go into an experiment. We emphasize those that are into one thing already, so the fund is there.
It’s a deliberate coverage to develop native industries, assist the small scale companies to develop into medium, and huge, companies after which, after all, to herald exterior traders. For exterior traders, the large time ones, the federal government has created an industrial park, we name it Anambra Mixed Use Industrial City (AMIC) for quick. It’s up to 5000 hectares, virtually up to 5 p.c of the complete Anambra land space devoted to our industrial park, and the federal government is offering electrical energy, entry street, safety, and all whatnot. And after all, one main factor the governor has carried out is to get the president to approve that space as a free commerce zone. What meaning is that those that are into manufacturing can freely herald uncooked supplies, after which freely additionally ship out no matter they produce from that zone. These are insurance policies that we now have on floor, and they’re already paying off bountifully.
Electricity is essential to industrial improvement within the state. What is the state doing to increase energy provide?
Governor Suludo is a really intentional particular person, and he’s conscious that with out low cost and fixed electrical energy provide, that our speak about industrialisation will stay an empty subject. He began with a regulation – the Anambra Electricity Regulatory Act. We have a regulation which has created a board. The Anambra Electricity Regulatory Board can be in place proper now to supervise the electrical energy market in Anambra and to start to actually do the enterprise of giving folks energy. They have now commissioned what is known as the First Power. It’s a subsidiary of Enugu Electricity Regulatory Commission. They are those instantly coping with electrical energy distribution in Anambra, that’s one degree of it.
Secondly, Anambra state authorities is critically buying for a method of producing electrical energy since you don’t give what you don’t have. If you may’t generate, you may’t distribute. You can solely distribute what you gather from the middle, so we wish to transcend distributing what we obtain from the nationwide grid to now start to generate our personal electrical energy, exploiting the decentralization and devolution of the electrical energy sector that used to be on the Exclusive List.
So, no person is stopping you from producing and distributing your personal electrical energy. So, Anambra state authorities is on that critically, trying to go into partnerships with the main electrical energy firms and traders to come to Anambra, the market is there.
