3rd May, 2017
The President of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, has applauded the agricultural initiatives of the Federal Government saying they are yielding positive results in Igbo speaking states.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo is the apex socio-cultural organisation of Igbo speaking states in Nigeria.
Addressing newsmen in Enugu on Wednesday, Nwodo contended that with the implementation of the initiatives, the federal government had taken the best move to take the people out of recession.
He said that the various agricultural schemes embarked by the government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) were a huge success.
The Ohanaeze chieftain said that the CBN governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, should be commended for the intervention of the apex bank in various empowerment programmes aimed at stimulating the economy.
Nwodo said: “we want to use this opportunity to salute the governor of the Central Bank.
“This gentleman has had one of the most difficult challenges that have faced any governor of the CBN.
“What he has done lately in terms of fighting the value of the naira is most commendable.
“His programmes at assisting agriculture have impacted positively on the sector.
“It is working in Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, Anambra and it is beginning to work in Enugu state and we are immensely grateful to him.
“We encourage him to continue to work in this way to ensure that the ordinary people in Nigeria can bounce back as this recession continues to recede in its calamitously effect on our standard of living.”
Nwodo said that the achievements of the government in the petroleum sector should not be overlooked as the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had been reinvigorated.
He said that the achievements recorded in the NNPC during the tenure of Dr Ibe Kachikwu as Minister of State for Petroleum and Managing Director were outstanding.
“Since the NNPC was incorporated, no minister or managing director has ever put the corporation on public portal.
“But by the click of the mouse, when our son was there, you could tell how much came into NNPC every day and how much was spent.
“For the first time, petroleum subsidy was removed without the economy collapsing,” he said.
READ: Ooni approves training 6,000 Southwest youths in Agriculture
The Ohaneze president appealed to the Federal Government to intervene and rehabilitate the Enugu/Port Harcourt expressway which he described as “death trap.’’
“While we commend the minister of Power, Works and Housing for the work that has started on the Enugu/Onitsha road, we want to draw his attention to the road between Enugu and Port Harcourt.
“The road is a death trap. It is tortuous and God knows how long it will take to rehabilitate the road especially with all the stops by security men,” he said.
Nwodo expressed concern that the entire South-East seemed to be under security siege by officers of the armed forces, who he alleged, extort money openly from innocent citizens and road users.
He said that complaints by the organisation against the brazen impunity of the security agencies on the roads across the zone had remained unattended to.