Edo 2024: I will revolutionize agriculture for the good of Edo people— Umakhihe  …..Promise to sustain all year round farming season for surplus food

By David Lawani, Abuja

Aspirant to Osadebe Avenue, Dr. Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe come September 2024, has expressed his intention to revolutionize agriculture system in the state if he is given the party’s ticket to fly the flag for the Governorship election saying as former permanent secretary he has the requisite knowledge and competence to engage Edo people for good.

Umakhihe made this disclosure when he appeared at the All Progressives Congress, APC Media Centre shortly after submitting his Expression of Interest and Nomination forms explaining that Edo has a rich and fertile land and with the policies that he is bringing on board he will ensure there is farming all seasons.

He reiterated that his capacity as a retired Permanent Secretary he has contributed in no small measure to ideas that have continued to assist the country to greater heights adding that he is more than prepared to leverage on those advantages that he has gone through over the years of his service to the nation.

He said: ” I have looked at it and see that people need to leverage on what Edo state has, the abundance resources, so that we can mobilizes this resources, harness potentials and move those things forward.  As we speak, Edo state has 1.6 million hectares of arable land.

And this is me, somebody who has worked in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for over three years, and i believe, that I can revolutionize agriculture in that state. For sure, what you hear in my place about farming is rainy season and that is the only time they farm but I tell you the big concept I have is, all year round farming. There will be no dry season or rainy season for farming. It will be all year round.

” Rice for example, you can cultivate three times in a year, i want to be able to get irrigation scheme across the length and breath of those arable regions and ensure that we farm all year round and it doesn’t stop there.I ‘m also going to mechanize agriculture, provide satellite data centers, across the 18 local government areas where people can just hire the tractors and develop, protect their lands.

” I have seen that some farmers, over 50% of their cost is on land preparation, while that is off and the rest is very easy. My focus is on agriculture.

Continuing, the chartered business developer, and a taxation expert explained that he will tackle insecurity in Edo state through the deployment of neighborhood watch as a way to guide against infiltration of communities by unknown people.

Dr. Umakhihe said: ” But first we must also tackle the insecurity in the system. I have elucidated here how I would tackle security, because security itself is of serious concern. My strategy is of intelligence gathering and involving the traditional institutions in security matters.

” And of course empowering the neighborhood watch so that together we can have the security situation nipped in the bud and every Edolight can sleep with their two eyes closed. I have also taught of education, we have some infrastructure in some of the schools, some are dilapidated, but then we also believe that we can innovate rehabilitate all of those structures.

 “And the original problem is having personnel to teach in those schools, the schools are lacking teachers, attention will be paid to have the qualified teachers in those schools and also training and retraining will be essential for those teachers so that they can impact on our students.

” I have also itemized what i will do, my focus will be on primary health care, i have also optimized issue of women empowerment, youth empowerment. But i want to tell you that as it stands, i am the best man foe this job, i have a bachelor’s degree in accountancy, i am a chartered accountant, other Masters of Business Administration and I have a PhD in security and strategy”,he maintained.

Speaking on corruption,he stated that if he was corrupt he would not have been able to step out to say he wants to contest hence his tract records have continued to speak eloquently wherever he speaks.

” if i was corrupt as permanent secretary, i would have left this public space for now, you wouldn’t be seeing me. So, i came out clean and i know what it takes to have a civil service that is corruption free and i will implement those strategies to ensure that the state is without blemish of corruption”.