The Senior Special Assistant, SSA, to the President on Community Development, Chioma Nweze has promised to partner with south-east governors to ensure that all communities in the region are developed and rid of insecurity.
Nweze made this known while speaking to newsmen, shortly after the official handover of agricultural equipment to IFAD beneficiaries in Onuebonyi, Abakaliki Ebonyi State.
She said, “The President is interested in what happens at the grassroots level. The President has recognized that communities are the strength of the nation. When the people in the communities are strong, that means the government is strong.
“This IFAD program will end in a year plus. We are sure that, with what we are seeing and the positive impact/ benefits, the program will continue and we are going to expand it.
The Senior Special, who earlier paid a courtesy visit to the Ebonyi State Government thanked Governor Francis Nwifuru for the release of N100 million naira to IFAD as the state’s counterpart fund.
She said, ”I encourage states to release more funds to IFAD because IFAD is about the people in the grassroots, the communities. The beneficiaries shouldn’t eat their seed money, there was a time they gave people rice to plant and they ate it. Once you plant, you will reap.
“The more you plant, the more you reap. The next generation of billionaires are going to be agriculturists. The people that are going to make money in this country are people who take agriculture to the next level.
“The President wants to remove all these baggers from the streets. He wants to remove them so that we can go into agriculture. If you want to go into fishery, poultry, etc, we are there to help, so that you can be self-sustainable.
“I’m working with the five governors of the south-east so that we agree on what we are going to do about security in our region. You know, when IPOB started, the former governor started to say that Ebonyi people shouldn’t join, that we have been marginalized over a long period of time and that we should bend down and develop our state.
“But the thing about life is that when one hand touches palm oil, it will affect the other hands, you can see that it is affecting all of us. So, I’m working tirelessly with the governors of the southeast region to ensure that this menace of insecurity is stopped” she stated.
