From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
Benue State governor, Hyacinth Alia, said his administration has introduced modern production methods that will boost the agricultural and agro-business sector in the state.
He made this known on Friday when he addressed newsmen and his supporters at the Government House in Makurdi, after his return from an official trip to the United States.
Alia, who expressed gratitude for the warm welcome given to him, said his administration is also looking at the processing industry to stop post-harvest wastages being incurred by the farmers in the state.
“Our pitches in the United States of America were on the productivity of our state, including agriculture and the modernisation of it. We, as a government, are strictly looking at the expansion of agric and agro-business in the state.
“Our next phase of this shift will probably be the processing industry. We usually incur post-harvest wastages. So we will make a shift, where the farmers will gain, and we will also gain as a state.”
Alia, who noted that his administration is closing arrangements to get seeds and inputs for the farmers, urged the Benue people to form farm cooperatives and take advantage of the opportunities provided by his administration to contribute to food security and also put money in their pockets.
He pledged the commitment of his administration to continue to do more to help farmers, saying: “In this new Benue, I want farmers to smile.”
Speaking on the visit generally, the Governor said he and many of his colleague governors from the North had met with the Nigerian Professionals’ Network, where fruitful discussions were held for the overall good of their various states.
He added that they also met the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, who understands the backward nature of Benue as a state, and has made it a priority to ensure that Benue is no longer cut off from the national mix.