The words of Thomas Jefferson that “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness,” came alive in Ezema Mgbagbu-Owa, Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State as Chief Pascal Aneke, the Chief Executive Officer, Paschal-Rico Group of Companies and Switzerland returnee, Mr Sunday Ozokolo, empowered farmers with means of transportation and agro inputs.
At the event held on Saturday, 6th January at St. Francis primary school, Ezema Mgbagbu-Owa the duo of Aneke and Ozokolo that sponsored the empowerment, said the vision was to reawaken the spirit of agriculture among the rural farmers in Ezeagu which they lamented, is dying.
In their different speeches, they expressed displeasure with the attitude of the youths towards farming which could serve as a legitimate means of livelihood for them.
In the words of Ozokolo: “Upon my return Nigeria, i observed that our youth’s interest in agriculture is almost dead not minding the fact a lot of opportunities abound in this sector. I saw the need to bring back their interest to this all important sector that can change their fortune
“Today, we will reward famers with the best agricultural product from the land of Ezeagu and for this year, we will be rewarding the most successful yam farmers.
“The person with the biggest yam and 2 others will go home with motorcycles and agro-chemicals.
“The first prize is motorcycle and two cartons agro-chemical, second prize is motorcycle and one carton of agro-chemical while third prize is motorcycle alone. There are also cash rewards for other participants.”
On the measures put in place to checkmate cheating and ensure that the yams showcased came from Ezeagu soil, Ozokolo said they invited agricultural experts to ascertain this.
While appealing to youths to embrace farming and to see it as a means of livelihood Chief Aneke explained that the empowerment was to promote agriculture in Ezeagu LGA, adding that the council area is blessed with vast land for agriculture.
“We’re appealing to our people to take farming more seriously to be able to feed themselves and also produce for sale because we’re blessed with expanse of land while we appeal to the government to assist with road construction to aid the movement of these products produced in Ezeagu.
“Our People produce yam, cassava and maize in large quantity and if we have good means of transportation, our people can easily make a living from their hard-work by taking their products to the markets in the urban areas and also make our place accessible to traders from other places.
The guest speaker, Mrs Ifeoma Obidiaso, who delivered speech on the topic; “Agriculture As a Developmental Means In The Rural Areas,” expressed optimism that the empowerment programme will encourage the younger ones to go into large scale farming
“Agriculture in this part of the area is almost going extinct, so by this programme, we want to revitalize it to make the people understand the importance of agriculture in our environment and the need for people to go into it as a means to driving away poverty, as a means of developing themselves.”
Mrs. Obidiaso who’s also a woman leader in the community also appealed to the government to create the enabling environment for the younger ones to embrace agriculture and also giving the grants and loans when necessary.
The highpoint of the event was the contest to determine the farmer with the biggest yam for the 2023 planting season in Ezeagu local government.
Ozo Innocent Ikedi from Amandim Olo community emerged the overall winner with a yam weighing 23kg and was gifted 1 motorcycle and 2 cartons of agro chemical.
Emma Enem from Ezema Mgbagbu-owa Community came second and went home 1 motorcycle 1 carton of agro chemical, while Ozo Jonas Okongwu from Agba-Umanna community came third and got 1 motorcycle.
The contestants that came 4th-7th went home with a carton of agro chemical each while the other participants went home with a consolation price of ₦10,000 each.
The winners thanked the organisers of the event for the gift items, stressing that it will help them in the next planting season and reduce the stress associated with navigating to their farms.
