Since his inauguration as the Governor of Oyo State, His Excellency, Engr Seyi Makinde, aside from his brilliance and kind-heartedness towards the residents of Oyo State, has always held farmers as critical factors in his growth strategy for the state.
Twice this week, His Excellency has shown how important agriculture is to his growth-strategy. Governor Seyi Makinde demonstrated this first when he relaxed the COVID-19 dusk to dawn curfew in Oyo State from 7PM – 6AM down to 7PM – 5AM in order to allow farmers to take advantage of the planting season.
The second time is when the Governor paid a visit to the Akufo Farm Settlement on Monday, the 27th of April to assess one of the two farm settlements that will be eventually upgraded to farm estates.
There, the Governor was informed that the farm produces 500 tonnes of tomatoes per week. While this is a partial answer to the impending food crisis most Nigerian states would face in the wake of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic, the Governor has bigger goals. “Even at that, there’s a large gap between this production and what we need locally,” Seyi Makinde said.
While other states grapple with managing the COVID-19 pandemic and keeping the economy of their states running, crisscrossing between total lockdowns, and declaring their states fully open again, without having conducted one test (yes, Anambra that’s you), Gov. Seyi Makinde seemed to have a firm grip on this situation from the onset.
Oyo State has continued to rate low among the states with the most COVID-19 cases, having only 8 active cases as of the time of this report with a population of 7.9 million, whilst the people are allowed to conduct business with measured checks in place.
By paying a visit to Akufo Farm Settlement, the Governor renewed his commitment to the residents of the state to drive the growth of the economy of the state through agriculture.
The Governor, in furthering his commitment to the growth of the sector, has also given the state’s assurance to work with the settlement and similar ones to boost local production and with a view into processing.
The big question is, can other State Governors emulate Seyi Makinde already?
See more pictures from Akufo Farm Settlement, one of the two settlements that’ll soon be upgraded to farm estates.
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