As a demonstration of the Buhari led APC government to the development of agriculture and ensuring food sufficiency in the country, vice president Yomi Osibanjo today paid a working visit to the Nigerian Farmers Group and Cooperative Farm in Gaarte Kokona local government area of Nasarawa state where he laid the foundation stone of a 1000 ton a day rice processing facility.
Speaking during the ceremony, he praised the vision of the National Coordinator of the Cooperative Society whom he described as the “Man from the creek” for bringing Nigerians from all works of life together to achieve a common purpose.
‘i am excited because this is a private initiative that has brought together people of different tribes, in unity to achieve a common purpose. This is the kind of example we want in Nigeria. The cooperation and coordination is impressive this is what we want and the way it should be” he said.
He described the farm settlement as, “the real revolution were ideas and vision are created by young Nigerians to make honest money”
While decrying the non involvement of the banks in the project, he praised the efforts “Kiakia” a financial technology company for providing seed financing to the cooperative.
Osibanjo said he would he would be visiting the farm again to follow up on its progress story.
Also speaking during the occasion the governor of Nasarawa state Abdullahi A Sule thanked the Gaarte community for welcoming investors to their midst. He also praised the cooperative for bringing people together and creating opportunities for employment and the transfer of technology to the people of the area. He promised to put machinery in place to ensure that infrastructure in the community are upgraded to meet the need not just of the cooperative but for the people.
Speaking earlier the National Coordinator of the Cooperative Mr Retson Tedheke thanked the Vice President the visit which he noted was a demonstration of the Federal Government’s commitment to the growth of Agriculture.
He noted that the NFGCS society farm is a 10,000 hectares integrated farm with a unique funding model. While thanking “Kiakia” for their support, he berated commercial banks in the country for failing to support the farm but thanked the agric ministry especially the agric warehouse in Keffi for always coming to the aid of the farm.
