The Nation Newspaper

Category: SouthEast

  • FMC Owerri savours return of peace

    Patients and stakeholders at the Federal Medical Centre Owerri have commended the Interim Medical Committee set up by the Federal Ministry of Health to take over the management of the hospital following leadership crisis that almost crippled activities at the centre for restoring peace and reviving the hospital.

    Some of the union leaders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that the Committee had delivered on its mandate, while stressing that the future of the hospital depends on the recommendations of the committee and its implementation.

    Family members of some of the patients who corroborated the position of the union leaders, noted that since the Committee assumed duty five months ago, services in the hospital have improved tremendously, adding that the attitude of the doctors and other staff have also improved significantly within the period.

    Meanwhile speaking during a press conference, the Medical Director and Chairman of the Committee, Prof.Ndu Eke, said that though the Committee inherited a lot of challenges ranging from infrastructure decay and lack of critical equipment, it has delivered on its mandate of bringing the hospital back to work.

    He also disclosed that the committee had also addressed the issues that led to the sacking of the previous management of the hospital, noting that it has restored cordial working relationship with the Staff and various unions in the hospital.

    According to Ndu, a renowned surgeon said that contrary to media publications the hospital is currently peaceful and rendering optimal service to the people of the state.

    He said, “our major task is to restore peace and to get the medical facility functional again which we have achieved as the issues that had led to crisis between the workers’ union and the former management is being addressed and right now the workers are back to their duty post and are happy”.

    He however observed that the Committee was met with serious challenges in the discharge of their duties, “the major problems we faced when we came on board include lack of regular power supply, oxygen especially because you cannot carry out an operation without an oxygen and power. But we have repaired the seven generating set that we met and also we have made solid arrangement to ensure that the medical centre has a constant supply of oxygen.”

  • Abia police inaugurate vigilance group

    The Aba Area Command of the police has inaugurated a vigilance group in Abala autonomous Community in Obingwa council area of the state.

    The measure is to help the police better deal with crime in the area.

    While inaugurating the team, Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Eastern Ngwa Division, Superintendent of Police Saleh Musa said residents of the communities know each other and are better placed to fight crime by volunteering information about criminal activities to the police.

    He enjoined the vigilance group  to work in one accord and abstain from taking the law into their hands or using their position to intimidate innocent residents of the community and environs.

    The DPO recalled that community policing remains the best way to combat crime, stressing that the vigilance men have an enormous task in assisting the police in securing their community.

    He said, “When the community people came to my office, I insisted that vigilante men must be people of integrity. You have enormous task in helping the police fight crime. Don’t engage in jungle justice; you must hand over every suspect to the police. Again, ensure that you don’t connive with criminals. The name of Abala community has been ringing a bell. All the bad things they talked about your community should be in the past. Do not hesitate to call the police at every opportunity.”

    Speaking at the occasion, the traditional ruler of Abala community, Eze Paul Ekwenye noted that the community which shares borders with Akwa Ibom State, had been peaceful since he ascended the throne after the death of his predecessor who was murdered with his wife by hoodlums.

    The monarch appealed for the regular visit of the police to the rural communities under its jurisdiction.

    Chairman, Council of Village Heads in the community, Mr. Ndubuisi Sampson hailed the police for supporting community policing, stressing that the community would not hesitate to hand over any member who misbehaves to the police.

    The vigilance team members were given identity cards.

  • Enugu police chief woos NSCDC

    The Enugu State Commissioner of Police Emmanuel Ojukwu has described interagency cooperation as a veritable tool in crime prevention as well as in achieving a safe and secure environment.

    The message was clear enough for the state chapter of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to understand: Enugu police need the NSCDC in the fight against crime.

    Ojukwu was speaking when he led some of his key officers of the command on a courtesy visit to the state commandant of the NSCDC Enugu  as part of measures to achieve a robust inter-agency cooperation.

    According to Ojukwu, inter-security agency cooperation is a veritable tool to bring about effective partnership for effective crime prevention and control as no agency can claim monopoly of security.

    He assured that the state police command under his tenure would dwell much on inter-security agency cooperation in order to keep the state safe and secure.

    The state commandant of NSCDC,   Steve Amoga thanked the commissioner of police for the courtesy visit  and described it as a right step taken from the right direction by the commissioner of police whom he also described as man of professionalism  given his Public Relations pedigree as a two time Force Public Relations officer.

    He also assured the commissioner of police of his commands readiness to partner with his  command as the relationship between the state command and his command are like two sides of the coin which cannot do without each other.

    The commissioner of police was accompanied by the Enugu state Police spokesman, SP Ebere Amaraizu, officer in charge of state intelligence Bureau, SP Iwara Ibiang amongst other key officers of the command.

  • Cement production to resume in Ebonyi

    Cement production will soon come alive in Ebonyi State, it has been said.

    A deed of understanding and terms of settlement between NIGERCEM and representatives of the four host communities – Nkalagu, Nkalaha, Umuhuali, Amaezu and the Ebonyi State Government has been signed.

    With the signing of the pact in Abakaliki, the legal battles that had in the past affected the reopening of the once foremost indigenous cement production firm have been put to rest.

    The immediate past administration led by Chief Martin Elechi, had consistently closed the door for an out of court settlement, against Dr. Cletus Ibeto, who re-acquired the firm from Eastern Bulkcem and  tried to revamp the cement factory which was popularly known as NIGERCEM.

    In 2012, for instance, the Elechi administration warned IBETO GROUP against what it called illegal entry into the premises of NigerCem premises, saying its ownership was a subject of dispute in the courts.

    But an elated Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi; Ibeto and the SSA to the Governor on Cement Production, Prince Sunday Ugwuocha, at the event described the signing of the MoU as a milestone towards the revitalisation of the company.

    Governor Umahi, who said he had in line with the popular demand of the host communities promised to allow Ibeto revamp the firm, noted that the journey to its realisation was not an easy one.

    He said, “When we were campaigning under divine mandate platform, the only request that the communities  made was that Ibeto  should be allowed to come and revamp NIGERCEM and we did promise  them that  that was going to be done.”

    Umahi, who thanked the Cement Production Implementation Committee, set up by his administration, for doing a good job, assured Ebonyi people that their 10% equity ownership of NIGERCEM was still intact.

    “Let me announce to Ebonyi people that our 10% equity with NIGERCEM is still alive,” he assured as he described the land of Ebonyi as a land made up of limestone, gold, frankincense, silver, lead, zink, etc.

    He added, “My prayers all the time is for the land of Ebonyi to vomit all the limestone, the gold, the frankincense, silver, the bauxite, lead, zink that the land has swallowed, and it has to started with Ibeto.

    The core investor, Dr. Ibeto, praised Umahi’s ruggedness, saying Ebonyians owed him (governor) for ensuring that the journey to revamp NigerCem started on a good footing.

    He thanked governor Umahi for creating the enabling environment for the takeoff of NIGERCEM.

    The chairman, Cement Implementation Committee, Chief Fidelis Nwankwo, in his opening remarks, had said the signing of the deeds marked the realisation of an age long struggle by the IBETO GROUP to revamp NigerCem.

  • FMC Owerri savours return of peace

    Patients and stakeholders at the Federal Medical Centre Owerri have commended the Interim Medical Committee set up by the Federal Ministry of Health to take over the management of the hospital following leadership crisis that almost crippled activities at the centre for restoring peace and reviving the hospital.

    Some of the Union leaders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that the Committee had delivered on its mandate, while stressing that the future of the hospital depends on the recommendations of the committee and its implementation.

    Family members of some of the patients who corroborated the position of the union leaders, noted that since the Committee assumed duty five months ago, services in the hospital have improved tremendously, adding that the attitude of the doctors and other staff have also improved significantly within the period.

    Meanwhile speaking during a press conference, the Medical Director and Chairman of the Committee, Prof.Ndu Eke, said that though the Committee inherited a lot of challenges ranging from infrastructure decay and lack of critical equipment, it has delivered on its mandate of bringing the hospital back to work.

    He also disclosed that the committee had also addressed the issues that led to the sacking of the previous management of the hospital, noting that it has restored cordial working relationship with the Staff and various unions in the hospital.

    According to Ndu, a renowned surgeon said that contrary to media publications the hospital is currently peaceful and rendering optimal service to the people of the state.

    He said, “our major task is to restore peace and to get the medical facility functional again which we have achieved as the issues that had led to crisis between the workers’ union and the former management is being addressed and right now the workers are back to their duty post and are happy”.

    He however observed that the Committee was met with serious challenges in the discharge of their duties, “the major problems we faced when we came on board include lack of regular power supply, oxygen especially because you cannot carry out an operation without an oxygen and power. But we have repaired the seven generating set that we met and also we have made solid arrangement to ensure that the medical centre has a constant supply of oxygen.”

  • How Abia’ll achieve self-dependence, by Ikpeazu

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has assured residents that the paucity of cash from the Federal Government is no impediment to the state’s growth.

    The governor even said that the state will soon become economically prosperous despite dwindling federal allocations.

    He said the state has worked seriously in the last one year to develop the key enablers that would form the mainstay while the federal allocation would come as an additional support.

    Speaking to the media in Lagos on the one year scorecard of his principal, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Godwin Adindu, said to achieve the goal, Governor Ikpeazu has emphasised the areas where the state has comparative advantage such as agriculture, commerce and trade, craftsmanship and human capital development.

    Adindu said the governor has deployed prudence and judicious management skills to achieve so much in the first one year, particularly in the area of infrastructural development.

    “This has taken a greater share of the governor’s attention in the last one year and this is happening at a time when our federal allocation has come down from about N4 billion to N1.8 billion, while our wage bill is about N3 billion,” he added.

    Adindu further disclosed that the strategy of Governor Ikpeazu has been to create the enabling environment and then develop the sectors that would boost and sustain the Abia economy such that very soon Abia would no more be completely dependent on the cheque from Abuja.

    Adindu said the governor had embarked on some strategic development programmes with his eyes set in the distant future. These included the Obiaku City Port in Ukwa East, which was initiated to link Aba to the sea and provide a great boost to Aba as the commercial hub of the southeast, as well as the market development  programme aimed at revamping the markets as strong Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) base for the state.

    ”One strategy was to separate the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Now we have the Ministry of Commerce as well as Ministry of Trade and Investment, with the latter focusing on market development and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises,” the CPS explained.

    On road construction, Adindu said that the state government has actively constructed 66 roads across the three geopolitical zones of the state with 27 fully commissioned, adding that Governor Ikpeazu had to deploy the high cost-intensive  cement/rigid technology on five roads in Aba to sustain their load bearing capacity and maintain quality.

    He pointed out that some of the roads were commissioned in Aba by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. “There are plans between Abia State and its neighbour, Akwa Ibom to jointly rehabilitate the shared federal roads,” he added.

    The government has also led a campaign for the development of the artisanship ingenuity in Aba and the standardisation of Made-in-Aba products, which climaxed with a business summit in Aba and the “Made in Aba Trade Fair” in Abuja.

    Adindu said: “We take the Made-in-Aba concept seriously. The artisans were sponsored to Turkey to understudy the processes that would make them manufacture good quality products that are enduring. Shoes made in Aba can be sold in shops in the United Kingdom, the United States and other western countries where Nigerians were fond of acquiring such products.”

    The government has also devoted attention to the revitalisation of two moribund industries – Golden Guinea Breweries in Umuahia and the International Glass Industry in Aba. While the Aba company has commenced production of bottles for pharmaceutical companies, the Umuahia beer company would start operation soon, Adindu assured.

    Agriculture, he further said, has also received the attention of the Ikpeazu administration, explaining that this is one area where the state has comparative advantage right from the time of the regional government when the Dr. Micheal Okpara administration established several farm settlements in the areas now known as Abia State.

  • Community moves against its gods

    Community moves against its gods

    Thousands have gathered in an Anambra State community to neutralise the perceived influence of their once revered idols, reports NWANOSIKE ONU

    It would have been unthinkable once upon a time to move against the community’s deities. It was the tradition. Every family had their gods and shrines to which sacrifices were periodically offered. It was their life, their faith.

    Now, that is changing in Umuchu, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State. Some residents have jettisoned the community’s spiritual beliefs and have mounted a counter-spiritual offensive to neutralise what they believe is the negative influence of the idols on their people.

    They gathered at the Nkwo triangle market to seek God’s intervention in this anti-idols offensive. The prayer session was headed by the Anglican Bishop of Amichi in Nnewi South, Most Rev Ephraim Ikeakor.

    Indeed, the intervention has become a yearly ritual in the sleepy community.

    Before now, the prayer session had dwelt on flushing out idol worship, believing that they impeded the growth of the area. But since the last prayer session in the area, some of the youths who claimed they were caged by the community’s deities, said the gate of progress had been opened to them.

    A crowd of over 7,000 people from all walks of life consisting especially of citizens of the community assembled again at the village to step up the offensive. This time around the session focused on eradicating the spirit of idolatry, which the cleric said had held the people back.

    The cleric who equally hails from the community chose the topic “Refusing and resisting shame” in his sermon. According to him, there is shame of poverty, shame of untimely death, shame of dependence on parents, late marriages and unprecedented cases of divorce in Umuchu. These issues Bishop Ikeakor blamed on idolatrous lifestyle of some of the people in the community.

    Drawing his sermon from the book of Joel 2:16-27, Ikeakor observed that God, who commanded Joel to forgive Israel their sins, could still show the same mercy to the area.

    He said some people, despite the presence of God in the community, are still paying deaf ears to the issue of idolatry, adding that idolatry and adultery are the two major weapons the devil uses to push people to shame.

    Heaid, “It pains me that no Umuchu-born citizen has been a governor, commissioner, permanent secretary or head of any Federal Government agency or parastatal in this generation but I want to assure you that God manifests His miracle during difficulty and abnormal situations.

    “In this land, God will raise people that will use their contacts and influence to change the fortunes of the people. Our youths will prosper and parents will reap the fruit of their labour.”

    The programme is sponsored annually by one of the community illustrious indigenes, Mr. Godwin Ezeemo.

    Mr. Ezinna Samuel Ezeudo said the programme had been an immense help to most of the youths in the community.

    Also, Mr. Dona Agupusi, a native of the community but based in Lagos, praised the organisers of the annual programme, which he said had lifted the area.

    For Mr. Dominic Ottih, another Lagos-based businessman, God had been using the clergy to salvage the community from occultists. He  called for its sustenance until the land was totally cleansed of evil deeds, adding that God’s powers supersede other powers.

    The sponsor of the programme, Mr. Godwin Ezeemo, told The Nation that the prayer session had really transformed the community and many lives.

     

  • Lawmaker ends communities’ water woes

    Lawmaker ends communities’ water woes

    A member of the House of Representatives representing Arochukwu/Ohafia  Uko Nkole has sunk some boreholes in his constituencies.

    The gesture brought relief to the residents who marvelled not just at his magnanimity but also at the speed with which the projects were completed.

    A few months ago Nkole had undertaken to sink boreholes for some communities under his constituency which had never had potable water since their existence but only depended on streams which are far away from them and in most cases polluted.

    The beneficiaries expressed their delight at the completion of the water boreholes in record time which has ended their suffering.

    One of those who spoke with our correspondent at Ndiokereke and Ndi Oji Abam, Kalu Nsi said that with the completion of the water borehole that it has put an end to the long years of suffering and trekking over long distances to streams in search of potable water.

    Nsi said, “We are very happy, this is the first time the community is benefitting from such a gesture from any of its representatives, whether at the state or federal level; at last we can boast of having access to potable water devoid of diseases.

    “However, we want to use this opportunity to call on our representative Uko Nkole to continue to do the good work; we are assuring him that we will protect the water projects from being vandalised, as we are going to ensure that our youths take turns to guard them.”

    At Ekelogo community, Ohafia, the story of excitement was the same. Children were seen fetching water from the water project which is an indication that the era of paying tanker drivers for water has come to an end or waiting and praying for rain to fall for them to harvest water.

    The youth secretary of the Ekeluogo community, Udo Franklin told our correspondent that their ordeal in search of water which made them to approach the honourable member during an interactive meeting to complain about their plight has come to an end.

    Franklin explained that when Nkole heard about their persistent water problem, he did not waste time in approving and providing the required funds for work to commence without delay.

    He said, “Today as you can see, we are proudly fetching water from our doorsteps, without walking long distances like before. We are indeed indebted to our representative at the lower chamber of the National Assembly for remembering his people who have suffered for a long time.”

    Nkole did other things for the community. He built a five classroom block for them in their village school.

    A member of the community who gave his name as Elekwa Akuma said that they are grateful that at last, the community has benefitted from dividend of democracy that eluded them for years with the building of the new classroom block by Nkole.

    Akuma said that their Amaukwu community has been neglected and abandoned, by successive representatives which made their children to learn in dilapidated school buildings that are unfit for learning and inhabitable, while in some cases the children were taught under the tree during dry season.

    He said that the school building which is fifty percent completed would be ready soon, “When completed we will be sure that our children will get the best from their teachers as the learning environment will be conducive for their education”.

    Speaking with The Nation, Nkole assured that all the projects started by him in any part of his constituency will be completed in record time, stressing that he has seen the pains being experienced by the people of his constituency.

    Nkole said that the pains of his people are a big burden on him, “I am determined to ensure that the pains are tackled so that my constituents will live a better life which they are entitled to as decent human beings”.

    He explained that most of the projects cost him huge amount of money which he said cannot be compared to the joy and excitement being seen on the faces of the people, stressing that government is when people who are representing them do what they supposed to do.

    The federal lawmaker disclosed that his objective is touching the lives of his constituents and that the projects are being funded from his allowances. “I will spare nothing to ensure that my constituents are given a new lease of life, after all apart from making laws for the country, helping my people is another aspect of my being at the national assembly”.

     

  • Enugu medical women elect president

    Enugu medical women elect president

    RENOWNED cardiologist, Dr. Esther Ekwe, of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Ituku-Ozall, Enugu State, has been inaugurated the 15th President of the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria (MWAN).

    The installation had a touch of class, as the 3,000-capacity international conference hall of the Oaklands Events Centre Enugu, was filled with guests from within and outside the country.

    Ekwe had the full complement of all national officers and executive members of both the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria (MWAN) and that of the male folk, the umbrella body, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), as well as government officials and captains of industry.

    Ekwe, the only daughter of her late parents, Chief Valentine Ibeh and Mrs. Patricia Ibe of Mgbowo, in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State, had the honour of having members from all states of Nigeria and Abuja at her investiture, as the 2016 national council meeting of the association coincided with the historic event in Enugu.

    The gathering of the cream of the medical profession attracted the international president of Medical Women’s Association, Prof. Kyung Ah Park, represented by the national president of Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, Dr. Echendu Dolly Adinma, the national president-elect of the women body, Dr. Joyce Barber, the national president of Nigeria Medical Association, represented by the award winning chairman of the Enugu State branch, Dr. George Ugwu and the chairman of the medical advisory council of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Dr. Obinna Onodugo.

    The roll call of dignitaries at the event was endless, as it also featured the chairman of Association of Resident Doctors at the UNTH, Dr. Ikechukwu Oraegbunam and his counterpart at the National Orthopaedic Hospital Enugu, Igwe Dr. Ikeabbah Henry, Dr. Chukwuma Oraegbunam, the national president elect of Association of Resident Doctors, Igwe Onyebueze John, the group chairman of Buzuzu construction company, Port-Harcourt, and the Prince of Mburubu, Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Lawrence Ezeh, who was honoured at the occasion, the former chairman of Nkanu East Local Government area of Enugu State, Hon. Frank Anioma and numerous others.

    Speaking shortly after she was decorated by the national president of Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, Dr. Echendu Dolly Adinma, to the admiration of the audience, the new present of the Enugu State branch of Medical Women’s Association, Ekwe, said that the Medical Women’s Association, founded in 1976, was a non-governmental organization, non-profit, non-sectarian organization of female medical and dental doctors in Nigeria and a subsidiary of Medical Women International and has been in the forefront of efforts aimed at improving the health of the community through education, public enlightenment and health campaigns, concerted efforts at providing affordable screening for communicable and non-communicable diseases.

    Ekwe, who graduated from the University of Nigeria in 1998, further explained that the women body was therefore a coalition of concerned women who are bothered about family health, with special emphasis on women and the girl-child.

    She continued: “In this regard, we have successfully and consistently executed tailor-suited health programmes that urgently address the health challenges of the average woman, such as the breast and cervical cancer screening which aimed at early detection and control, and this has necessitated the printing and distribution of awareness handbills and leaflets to communities, markets and health care centres throughout the country.

    According to the new Enugu State MWAN boss, “this, we have vigorously pursued and poised to do more with the wind-wisdom of our predecessors, more enabling environment from government and support from all and sundry. This event grants us the opportunity of a lifetime to renew our commitment to the collective health struggles women face and a platform to galvanise more support to do more than we ever imagined possible, and together we can do it and together we will do it.”

    Ekwe, said that in addition to ongoing campaigns and awareness programmes and in line with their guiding theme – promoting gender equality and women empowerment, beyond 2016, members of the group would intensify effort towards eliminating legal and socio-cultural barriers to women empowerment canvass for the health of women and children in conflict situations and put more efforts at reducing the scourge of breast and other gynaecologic cancers in Nigeria, starting from the south-east zone of the country.

    In line with the tradition of such events, the medical women association presented awards to three eminent Nigerians who have made huge contributions to nation building, especially at the community level.

    The awardees were the Prince of Mbrubu in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Lawrence Ezeh, Ugoeze Hildegard Ebigbo, the founder of the Therapeutic Schools in Enugu and famous paediatric surgeon, Prof. Emeritus Nene Obianyo of UNTH Enugu.

    While Ezeh was honoured with the association’s 2016 Gold Merit Award for philanthropy, community development and for the reconstruction of three bridges that had kept over six large communities in the area in bondage for over 107 years, Ugoeze Hildegard Maria Ebigbo, wife of former deputy vice chancellor of the university, Enugu Campus, Prof. Emeritus Peter Ebigbo, bagged the award for training, rehabilitating and empowering over 200,000 handicapped and normal children since 1979 in her Therapeutic schools in Nigeria.

    Renowned Prof. Emeritus Nene Obianyo, was recognized for her feat in medicine, especially for her role in the first separation of Siemens’ twins in Africa in 1976.

  • Lawmaker sensitises Ebonyi farmers on vitamin-rich crops

    Lawmaker sensitises Ebonyi farmers on vitamin-rich crops

    For three days, a member of the House of Representatives representing Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo in Ebonyi State, Linus Okorie has engaged over 2000 farmers in his constituency in an enlightenment and empowerment campaign on the importance of growing Vitamin A fortified cassava and maize.

    It was not the first time Okorie brought the local farmers together at a seminar or workshop setting  to educate them on modern trends of agriculture. Some months back, he assembled them at Obiozara to engage them on the need for forming cooperative societies, giving them insights of how they could use such groups to attract incentives and do business with their farming.

    The latest gathering was centered on taking agriculture very seriously and the benefits of cultivating Vitamin A fortified cassava and maize among other uses.

    To achieve his objective, Okorie, who is the chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Agricultural Colleges and Institutions, hired HarvestPlus, an agricultural group that breeds crops for better nutrition, which is being coordinated by the Centre for International Tropical Agriculture and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), to perform the enlightenment and empowerment programme.

    Not only were the farmers in the three local governments educated on the need and how to grow Vitamin A food crops, but the seeds were also handed out to them to  grow right away. They were also taught how to process the Vitamin A cassava into different value-added products such as using cassava to make chips, moi-moi, custard and even tea.

    At the opening ceremony in Ishiagu Civic centre of Ivo local government, Okorie noted that cassava is a staple in Nigeria, consumed daily by more than 100 million people but that while the commonly available white cassava can provide most of the body’s daily energy requirements, it lacks micro-nutrients, such as vitamin A, that are essential for a healthy and productive life.

    He told his people that Vitamin A deficiency can impair the body’s immunity from infectious diseases and causes eye damage, even lead to blindness or death.

    He added that nearly one in three Nigerian children under five and one-quarter of all pregnant women in the country are vitamin A deficient.

    He said that most Nigerians do not get enough micronutrients such as vitamin A, zinc, and iron required to lead healthy productive lives from the foods that they eat, noting also that micronutrient deficiencies can lower IQ, cause stunting and blindness in children, lower resistance to disease in both children and adults, and increase risks for both mothers

    and infants during childbirth.

    “It is estimated that about 1 million of the 3 million child deaths that occur each year as a result of undernutrition are due to hidden hunger. Biofortified crops which have been bred to have higher amounts of micro-nutrients, can help provide these needed vitamins and minerals. They can be effective in reducing hidden hunger as part of a strategy that includes dietary diversification, supplementation, and commercial fortification, among others,” said Okorie

    He stated that the way forward was to ensure that farmers do not suffer the usual glut that has continually resulted from resurgent production of cassava over the years, adding that all participants in the workshops shall also be uploaded unto the Harvestplus e-market platform, which will integrate the participants into an anchor Programme of out growers to be

    supported by funding from single-digit interest rate funds from the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Agriculture (BoA) and related windows.

    The Program’s technical partner and Country Manager of HarvestPlus inNigeria, Dr. Paul Ilona, who grilled the participating farmers throughout the three days in the different venues, told the rural farmers that though the cassava stems he brought came from Oyo state, but that after the program, the cassava stems would henceforth be sourced from Ebonyi state.

    Ilona cited the uses of Moringa tree which he said is powered by Vitamin A to buttress his to the farmers.

    “Hon. Okorie wants us to leave well and that is why he is doing the programme. Vitamin A is crucial to our living. The important thing is to eat nutritional food,” he stated.

    The Harvestplus boss explained the uses of the vitamin A Cassava in making chips, biscuits, bread, flour, Fofo, tea, among other derivatives. He noted that use of crude implements for farming will soon be over in Ebonyi state and will be replaced with mechanical farming. “A farmer is a businessman and should be conscious of that,” he said.

    Ilona taught them basic techniques of farming and planting the cassava for bumper harvest such as spaces to give whiling planting, how to sow the stems and maintain it till maturity. He encouraged them to embrace business farming since every farm crop has value added bye products, whether in cassava, Maize, Rice or palm produce.

    At the end, the farmers nicknamed the new breed crop as “Linus Cassava.” The participants lauded the effort Rep. Okorie for opening their eyes into the benefits of hybrid Vitamin A fortified Cassava and Maize. They agreed they were well educated on new techniques of farming, taking farming as serious business and have been revealed to the nutritional values of

    Vitamin A cassava and maize just like they learnt the derivatives of the crops.

    One of the participants, Mrs. Mary Okonkwo from Amagu-Ishiagu, Ivo local government area said: “I learnt how to plant cassava and maize. I will do my next planting according the way we have been thought particularly on the method of planting the cassava stem for better growth. There is difference on how we used to plant the cassava and how we have been taught to plant it now. Before, we used to plant more than four stems of cassava on one heap but we have been told to space the stems and reduce the number per heap for better yield.

    “Also we have been taught how to use the Vitamin A cassava to make flour, chips and all that, we are grateful. I thank Hon Linus Okorie because this is development and a new thing for us. This is something we didn’t known but he brought experts to teach us these modern techniques in farming and doing business with farm produce, we are happy and may God Almighty bless him.”

    Another participant, Orji Anyim said, “I learnt many useful things like the process of transforming a subsistence farmer to a rich grower.”