In a bid to enhance food sufficiency in the country, the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, plans to purchase modern farming equipment, such as tractors, to boost its agricultural initiatives, notably the Holistic Opportunities, Projects, and Engagement (HOPE) project. Speaking during a visit to inspect farming equipment at Bob Track Limited in Port Harcourt, NDDC’s Executive Director of Projects, Sir Victor Antai, emphasised the Commission’s commitment to maximising the agricultural potential of the Niger Delta region and promoting the shift from traditional to mechanised farming practices. The Executive Director, who was accompanied by the NDDC Director, Agriculture and Fisheries, Mrs. Winifred Madume and the Director of Commercial and Industrial Development, Dr. Godwin Nosiri, expressed satisfaction with the quality and capacity of the tractors and other farming tools, noting that such equipment would boost the efforts to ensure food security in the Niger Delta region.
Antai said “the NDDC Management decided to look at various farming equipment to see how best we can incorporate them into the Project HOPE programme, which has agriculture as its key component. The Project HOPE’ initiative seeks to engage youths of the region by creating employment opportunities for them. We have collated the data of the youths in the region and many of them are interested in agriculture. The NDDC is resolute in the quest to provide food security in the Niger Delta region and we need to engage the youths in agriculture to achieve this goal.” The resource person for Project HOPE, Ambassador Blessing Fubara, who also spoke during the inspection, underscored the need for a deliberate action to proffer sustainable solutions to engage the youth and speed up regional development. He commended the NDDC for making efforts to ensure that the agricultural component of the project HOPE was mechanised.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of Bob Track Limited, Ibifiri Bob Manuel, observed that an agricultural revolution in Nigeria would be effective when it was fully mechanised. He explained that the Bobtrack tractors were built specifically for Nigeria and the Niger Delta region in particular.
