The Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC) and the Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, have reached agreement for a partnership in agriculture with a view to uplifting the living standard of the people of Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta local government areas.

A release to this effect made in Owerri by the PRO of ISOPADEC, Mr. Ekeh Promise O., said that the plan was revealed by the Managing Director of ISOPADEC, Engr. Anthony Okwuosha, when he led a team from the oil Commission to the campus of Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, on Tuesday. Part of the plan, he said, is for the Polytechnic to set up a crack agriculture team while the Commission does same in order to find ways of creating value for the farmers in the areas and also attract the youths into agriculture.

Engr. Okwuosha, according to the release, stressed that ISOPADEC would not play with agriculture: “This Commission under Governor Ihedioha is desirous to truly, genuinely and honestly support our people, especially those in agric business. There are only few persons who are doing well in agric business, and many of us have not asked why.”

The Managing Director added that the Commission has passed the era of rhetorics but would put its plans to work.

“It appears we see a lot of things on paper but they hardly get to our people. You know there are a lot of documentaries about agric, and about using it it to create jobs for our people, thereby taking our youths out of the streets. My opinion is that many of these theories are neither here nor there. Many of them are just intended to create value for consultants, keeping the people poorer. But we will not put our hands into anything that will not improve our people.

“The people that are farming at the moment, mostly aged ones, if the youths do not find value in what they do, if they don’t see improvements in what they do, it would be difficult to attract the youths. We really need to show our youths that they have a future there, as a career. The truth is that every business, no matter the grammar we speak about it, has to do with making money at the end of the day,” he said.

The Managing Director added: “We want to see how we can use agric in the next farming season to help our people get Naira and Kobo so that people can be happy that they are farmers, so that the youths can say if these old women are doing it and having fun, we can get it better because we have the energy, the mind and the determination to even do it better. I therefore call on you to set up your team of agric experts while we do same in ISOPADEC so that we can move on.”

Responding, the Polytechnic Rector, Dr. Patrick Njoku, thanked the Managing Director for initiating the partnership, stressing that they are happy to partner with the Commission.

The Rector, while assuring that they would set up their own team to work with ISOPADEC, added that Imo Poly, regarded as the foremost college of agriculture in the country established since 1978, is good at agric research, topnotch manpower, and machine fabrication.

Earlier while making opening remarks, the Head of Agric Department in ISOPADEC, Mrs. Chizoba Okafor, said the Commission is giving agriculture a pride of place in its programs knowing the high premium the Rebuild Imo government accords it, and also with the knowledge that the people of Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta L.G.As are predominantly farmers.

Some members of the Polytechnic Management present on the occasion were Mrs. Susan Njemanze (Registrar); Dr Chukwuemeka Amechi (Director Entrepreneurship); Mr. Nick Amadi (Deputy Registrar) and Mr. Linus Okafor (Bursar).

The Managing Director, on the visit, was accompanied by Mrs. Okafor Chizoba (H.O.D, Agric); Collins Ughalaa (S.A Media and Communications to the M.D); Barr. Oloko Thaddeus (SA on Youth Affairs to the MD); and Arc. Kingsley Anyinwo (S.A on Project Monitoring to the M.D). Also in attendance were all the staff of ISOPADEC’s Agric Department.

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