Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has reaffirmed his administration’s determination to ensure meaningful profitability and earnings from the State’s agricultural sector through its intentional separation of agricultural business investment from its social welfare investment.
Governor Eno made the remark while fielding questions from Government House Correspondents after inspecting ongoing renovation works at the headquarters of the Akwa Ibom State Agricultural Development Programme, AKADEP, in Uyo.
Governor Eno disclosed that his administration has created an Agricultural Business Unit for serious agricultural business investments that will generate meaningful earnings for the State.
“Agriculture is big business. And its social investment is quite different from its business investment. What our Ministry of Agriculture is doing is purely social investment which has to do with its free or subsidized distribution of farm seedlings or inputs to farmers. But if it has to do with tree-crop planting, equipment leasing, or model farming, it is simply business investment,” he said.
Governor Eno said the state government will no longer channel resources into ventures merely because they fall under government purview, even though such businesses can be run profitably by private concerns.
“So, we have to separate the agricultural business from agricultural social welfare in order to drive meaningful earnings for the State,” he said.
“We must bring in money through this laudable business approach to the State so that the State’s internally generated revenue can grow to secure the State in case of a revenue shortfall from the oil money accruing from Abuja,” he explained.
Governor Eno declared that “for our State to be economically viable and financially self-reliant, we must revitalize and sustain all our business investments. We must turn all these assets of ours to income-yielding assets and run them professionally for our good.”
To further drive the vision, the Governor announced the appointment of Pastor Godwin Ukwat as Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Agric Business. Until this appointment, Pastor Ukwat was the Executive Director, Agric Investment.
On the Governor’s entourage were the Deputy Governor, Senator Akon Eyakenyi; Secretary to the State Government, Prince Enobong Uwah; the Executive Assistant and Chief Delivery Advisor, Mr. Aniefiok Johnson; and members of the State Executive Council, among other dignitaries.
