The Enugu State Government has approved the distribution of free agricultural inputs to 63,000 smallholder farmers, the recruitment of 4,698 additional teachers for its Smart Green Schools, and the immediate reactivation of all isolation centres across the state following the recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and parts of Uganda.
The decisions were reached at the State Executive Council (EXCO) meeting held over the weekend and announced by top government officials during a joint briefing with Government House correspondents in Enugu.
Addressing journalists, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Malachy Agbo, alongside the Commissioners for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Dr. Patrick Ubru; Education, Prof. Ndubueze Mbah; and Health, Prof. George Ugwu, said Governor Peter Mbah’s administration remained focused on delivering its development agenda despite the political season.
63,000 Farmers to Receive Free Inputs
Speaking on the government’s agricultural intervention, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Dr. Patrick Ubru, disclosed that Governor Peter Mbah would officially flag off the distribution of farm inputs on Tuesday, July 21, with beneficiaries spread across all 260 political wards in the state.
He explained that the initiative represents a significant expansion of last year’s programme, which benefited about 40,000 farmers.
“Last year, about 40,000 farmers benefited. This year, it is even bigger and better, as the state has now approved for 63,000 farmers to receive free agricultural inputs as intervention, ranging from fertilisers to agrochemicals, free rice seeds, free maize seeds, and free pepper and tomato seeds.
“It is targeted at reducing the cost of agricultural production and ensuring that our smallholder farmers increase their income and improve their livelihoods.
“The Exco also directed that the beneficiaries of these farm inputs must be duly registered smallholder farmers who are identifiable, whose farms are captured, and can be monitored.
“So, on Tuesday, 21st July, the governor will flag off the distribution of farm inputs. Thereafter, the 260 wards will receive theirs under strict monitoring to ensure that only those identifiable as farmers benefit from the scheme to better their lives.”
Ubru said the strict verification process was designed to ensure transparency and prevent diversion of the intervention.
4,698 More Teachers Approved
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ndubueze Mbah, announced that the Executive Council had approved the recruitment of an additional 4,698 teachers to strengthen teaching capacity across the state’s 267 Smart Green Schools.
According to him, the recruitment is aimed at ensuring that the high standards already demonstrated at the Smart Green School in Owo are replicated uniformly across the state.
He also disclosed that the government had intensified efforts to fully equip and operationalise the Centre for Experiential Learning and Innovation (CELI), located at the Enugu State College of Education (Technical), describing it as critical to sustaining the state’s education reforms.
“Enugu State Government has further expanded and intensified its efforts to completely equip and operationalise the Centre for Experiential Learning and Innovation (CELI), which is situated within the Enugu State College of Education (Technical).
“This is a guaranteed strategy to institutionalise and ensure the sustainability of the Enugu education project, especially as it relates to the Smart Green Schools.
“This is a way to ensure that no teacher is left behind. It is also to ensure that every teacher in our Smart Green Schools passes through a thorough training programme at the centre and that they can effectively implement the type of education where our children acquire skills, not only memorise.
“CELI is also a way to support our young Enugu people who have talents, innovative skills, or who have come up with patentable ideas and solutions so that they get support to commercialise them.”
State Activates Isolation Centres Over Ebola Outbreak
On the health sector, Commissioner for Health, Prof. George Ugwu, said the state government had ordered the immediate reactivation of all isolation centres established during the COVID-19 pandemic in response to the Ebola outbreak reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and parts of Uganda.
He explained that the measure was purely preventive, given Enugu’s growing status as an international aviation hub.
“Because countries are now regarded as a global village and considering the fact that Enugu is now a gateway state receiving direct international flights, the state government has now directed that all the isolation centres established during the time of COVID-19 should be immediately reactivated and made ready for service so that we will not have a situation we did not prepare for. This is a proactive measure for a better state of response.”
Ugwu further disclosed that the Executive Council approved measures to fast-track ongoing expansion projects in state-owned health facilities.
“For example, the new high-rise buildings at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital – Park Lane, the teaching hospital at the State University of Medical and Applied Sciences (SUMAS) at Igbo-Eno, among others, are now to receive extra attention, while the Enugu International Hospital will be commissioned in a matter of a few weeks.”
Also present at the briefing were the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dame Ugochi Madueke, and the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Ben Osy Okoh.
