Enugu Gov’t to distribute agric inputs for 63,000 farmers

What the report says

Vanguard reported on July 20 that the Enugu State Government planned to begin distributing free agricultural inputs to 63,000 registered smallholder farmers across the state on Tuesday, July 21. The announcement followed a State Executive Council meeting in Enugu and was presented to Government House correspondents by commissioners for information, agriculture, education and health.

According to the report, Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation Commissioner Dr. Patrick Ubru said the intervention would cover items such as fertilisers, agrochemicals, rice, maize, pepper and tomato seeds. He said the programme was larger than last year’s support, which he put at about 40,000 farmers, and that beneficiaries must be identifiable registered farmers whose farms can be captured and monitored. The inputs are to be distributed through the state’s 260 wards after the governor’s flag-off.

The council also approved the recruitment of 4,698 more teachers for Enugu’s 267 Smart Green Schools. Education Commissioner Prof. Ndubueze Mbah said the additional staff would support uniform standards across the schools and strengthen teacher training through the Centre for Experiential Learning and Innovation at the Enugu State College of Education (Technical).

Vanguard also reported that Health Commissioner Prof. George Ugwu said Enugu had ordered the reactivation of isolation centres set up during COVID-19, citing reported Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and parts of Uganda and Enugu’s role as a gateway for international flights. He added that the council directed faster completion of hospital expansion projects, including work at ESUT Teaching Hospital Park Lane and SUMAS at Igbo-Eno.