The Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, said a second term for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will allow the administration to deepen its transformation of Nigeria.
Momoh said this at Nomeh Unateze, Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, where the South East Development Commission (SEDC), in partnership with the Enugu State Government, flagged off a 200-hectare integrated agricultural development project.
The minister said the project was an example of the implementation of policies and programmes of the Tinubu administration, particularly in food security, regional development, and economic transformation.
He said the administration had embarked on changes aimed at improving the country, adding that another opportunity for President Tinubu would mean ‘complete transformation’ of the sectors his administration has been turning around.
‘Another opportunity for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu means transformation. Another opportunity means complete transformation of all the things that have been happening,’ Momoh said.
The minister explained that the SEDC project conforms with the policies of the Federal Government and the presidential priorities, particularly the priority on food security.
‘What you are doing here today conforms with the ministry’s policy and the Federal Government’s policy. We are transforming policy into implementation now,’ he said.
Momoh praised the SEDC for what he called its capacity, vision and commitment to translating the objectives for which regional development commissions were established into concrete projects.
The minister cited the SEDC and the North Central Development Commission (NCDC) as two of the newly established commissions that have demonstrated capacity and vision.
He urged other commissions to accelerate the implementation of their mandates.
According to him, the commissions were established as government institutions to drive development and were expected to work in accordance with government policies and regulations.
The minister also praised SEDC’s Managing Director Mark Okoye for his consultation and engagement with various stakeholders before embarking on major interventions.
He said the agricultural project would incorporate food processing and other aspects of the commodity value chain.
‘It is not just sufficient to develop the land, but we must go beyond that to embark on processing,’ Momoh said.
The minister noted that the initiative could help to revive the commodity ecosystem for which the Southeast was historically known.
The 200-hectare project, which is the pilot component of SEDC’s Southeast Agro-Development Programme, is designed to integrate agricultural production with mechanisation, processing, training and market access. The commission says the project is intended as a model for wider agricultural interventions across the five Southeast states.
Momoh hailed Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah for providing the land for the project and applauded the cooperation between the state government, the SEDC, and communities in the state.
The minister said the collaboration demonstrated the importance of state and regional institutions working together to bring development initiatives closer to the grassroots.