As part of efforts to complement President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan to launch Six (6) additional Agricultural development institutes across the Federation to steer Nigeria’s agricultural sector in the direction of mechanisation and technology innovations toward overall economic development of the country, the Nasarawa State Government is dedicating 50 acres of land to NASENI.
This was contained in a statement by the deputy director information, Mr Olusegun Ayeoyenikan.
According to Ayeoyenikan, Nasarawa State Governor Engr. Abdullahi Sule today in Lafia announced to the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) a dedication of about fifty(50) hectares of Land in two different locations within the Lafia town, the State Capital, to the Agency to site the Presidential newly approved Agricultural Machinery & Equipment Development Institute (AMEDI) for the North-Central zone.
Recently, President Buhari approved six (6) of such Agricultural development institutes to NASENI, one per each geo-political zone, for the country.
That of North Central was approved by the President Buhari to be located in Lafia, Nasarawa State.
Ayeoyenikan said the Governor commended Engr.Prof Mohammed Haruna who is an indigene of Nassarawa state for his hard work.
According to the Governor “the establishment of the new AMEDI in Lafia, will not only fastrack socio-economic development of the State but the institute also would bequeath on the State new skills ,development and facilities in the areas of Agriculture, local and international standards machines and equipment fabrication, technology based agricultural jobs, wealth and agric-based chains of businesses, including agricultural value-chains and many more economic advantages”
The Governor recalled that
“It is usually heart rending to observe famers, men and women in the State continued to use old farm implements for planting, cropping, harvesting, processing and storage of farms produce without upgrade of such tools over the years” This he said always resulted in great loss of farm produce at every stage of their work thereby making the people poor helplessly because they couldn’t stop the loss owning to those old methods of farming or tools’
The Governor therefore said that with AMEDI, NASENI had brought high hopes to the people because of the new institute located in Lafia.
Technology and new and modern Agricultural equipment to be fabricated at the new institute, he said, will have positive consequences on Agriculture and its practices in the State.
Governor Sule said that the sitting of AMEDI in the State was most appropriate because of the peculiar rich agricultural endowments in Nasarawa, as the State currently hosts most of the big private and commercial Agricultural farms up northern Nigeria.
Prof.Haruna was grateful to Governor Sule particularly for his unflinching supports always and patronage of the technologies ditto activities of NASENI.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI made particular reference to the recent vote of confidence of Governor Sule in support of NASENI’s quest for endorsement of its One (1) percent federal allocation by the National Economic Council(NEC) chaired by the Vice President Prof.Yemi Osinbajo., Prof Haruna Appreciated Governor Sule who was amongst the State governors who stood stoutly behind NASENI to see that NEC approved the one (1) percent allocation.
Prof. Haruna also announced that with the tremendous responses now from Nasarawa State Government, especially, the donations of two locations of land to site the institute, nothing else would hold down AMEDI from taking off in Nasarawa State.
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