The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has tasked the people of Bayelsa state to get seriously involved in agriculture so that hunger would totally be eradicated in the state and the nation at large.
The Minister stated this recently when he received the state chairman and other executive committee members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in his office in Abuja.
Lokpobiri described the situation where about $60 billion was used to import food yearly as unacceptable, stating the need to create jobs and wealth for the people. He said, “Let the price of oil slide down further to enable Nigerians go back to the drawing board”.
The Minister disclosed the plan of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) towards investing about N500 million into agriculture and promised to extend the ministry’s agricultural programmes to the people of Bayelsa.
Senator Lokpobiri described the APC Bayelsa State Chairman as a loyal Party member, assuring him that the office he is holding presently is in trust for the Bayelsa people. He said his office would always be opened to any brainstorming and discussion that could benefit his people.
Earlier in his remarks, the State Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipa Orurinugha stated that the EXCO was in Abuja to show their solidarity to the minister and to encourage him.
Chief Orurinugha said the people of Bayelsa believed so much in his capacity, having served creditably well in so many capacities in the past. He said the ministry stands-out among the ministries that could create jobs and thanked him for his immense contributions to the party.
