TIlEGUARDIAN, Saturday. July )0 20U
Lamentations From
Xj ~e1~e::'TIO
COlnmunity... Situated otllhe western flank of lagos Siale, Ijegcmo's landmass on which there is a dense legion of frees is loamy. Asprawling Awori lown, its population comprises div9rse Nigerian ethnic groups. Sining closely to fIVe neighbouring communities of Obadore, Ijedodo, lba, Ijegun. Fesfac Town. il traverses about four local co lei' areas. Yel. accessibility is difficull.lt's pain and sO' I. WclCilmo 10 Ijegcmo, a town of unlapped pOlenlials af linkages. A
, ~,
. PHOTOS: R.lJAH [[)A SAMUEl
ride on Keke Napep or Okada on the bumpy road from the Ijegun end leaves you aching. You can hardly proceed beyond a portion of the road called OjuoOO. The lord is your shepherd as you continue thereafter, wading through the many streams. alJNi EDA SMfUEl. captures the agonies
and frustrations of Ijegemo residents. Mr. On~IMere (oil retired engineer)
had IOCDl1lI! tOtlll$ilreil after 1m my jobabout fr,~)trul" <lga. Havingfllil romp'et~.my.buildlng. ihere \\'35 no bUsiness one m dd im~Ine"Upl~trilnsponation.But~JOi!d15In<l
I
dt~lllor.l,*5t"!t'!as)'ouGl.nsee.lettht-state~mmtcorneand helplhe¥lffl'l1ngp'opul<!C'e 11l1~ Ule l';sofrustratingl~
Nebus la crader)
Ufe in th is subur6l ~ so hard when you conSider what people
IJri1S5 through here C\"t'f}"tJ<I)l Weare not feeling the gOll"NTl'
melll's pR'5enceas I\-e should. Al l we want from F.uhola.especially thiS ~econd lenn,lS f<lpld constructIOn of this major I"Oold: provision of IVJter i'nd steady polI'crsl1pply. All these will make life worth IMng In Ihis axis. They should fulfli llhe promiSes milde dunn~ t!lelr camp.1i~ Maobi (S'll~ Rep~n tattve) l.iving has been so tough In l}egemoa re<l;cost of living Is high compared loot her pLiiccs.. It's IJecause the area Is nol ilcresslble due la Ihe state of the roods.l'eople encountcrgrealchal lcnges LJringinggoods an(1servlres to this area. You must have seen how tough It Is rcaching here. I can't even invite anybody over
here. I'm ashamed ilntl I don't W<llII to be mockm
I!\'f'n for our llarents that are going 101l'0rk.
We llee(! \-ery urgent imen "t'ntlon of governmem In rtxing the rood. Not opening this road has brought so much ~In arid poveny 10 the people of this community. M<lJority of the inhabl· tants engage in buying and selling. andlf they aredenlffi acces.§ to and from when~ therc,}n Obl;!ln thei r goods..you can imagine th e agony o f living and survlv<l1of the ~Ie o f this community. The gO\'"e;mment itself has <I lot of benefits to derive. esped<llly with Ihelr Intention o~ .JC9ulnng thl! swa mps. With the ro.1dsas t heya~at present, noOOO)' would want to patronlu them. Anuther problem Is prOVisio n of mOrl: scliools, both primary ,lllri s«ondary.lhe wh(\lecommunlty now parades just <I sh::· dassroom bloclc.that Is LA. Primary School No s«ondary schooL Thus, manyyouthsanend school In neighboringrommunities wilh the atte ndant hardshipoftrekklngorrommut ing. Some ofthr pupils ",'10 I\"etl' wading lhrough Jllr ftrNmSon lhrir way home notIced this rT.'porlf'l"oJIIl.lVilh a mix ofSlu and agitation, p.aufrd out lheirWin"OllctS. Kehlnde AmodiJ (Primary four puplll We want ~'emor t:ashola to come and Ilel p us todo this road. We don't fttl safegoillg to and coming from school.And becaust of tile bad Sfaleofthe rood. with many su-e.ams lacross,anen' dance In school has bel!n more Imgula rth (!$l' dilys. Nd.idl Anadu (prtm,uy six pupil) Govem men t i hould please come and help usdothls road. The condi tion of this road has not made going to school easy foru$,
Survi\ing In this are<l Gl.n be rlliened to living In hell. Thearea as II is today !las been cut off from social and com mercial relatiollships with neighbou nng communilie-s ll kl! Ikotun, OIloldoore, Fest<lcTown. let the government come and construct this Ijegun· IJegemo fO,ld, and fii the ot hcr <ldjoining roads which link tIm commu niry \vi th the nelv.bourinS to\Ynsso that life could be wonh living forthe res ldtms of th lSolll'iI.. High ChlefAlxlult\kttm Olaylnka Balogun. the &lale of I~e mu. bemoaning the fact{lr which 'had agfaYatcd the deplorabl~ state of his domain, sa id -e\l'Cl}'\vhere is fl Ooded, but 1l00lhat this r.lln is much or morc thJn wliat hilS been famng lX'foll.'. BUI the re is a Gl.nal which they (th e govemment)dug bclween Obadoorea nd lba which Isy~1 to be lOoped so thitt the waters ca n beGl.nied away.Thus, lhe water romes b.1ck to disturb Ijegemo. The only link road toanu from Ijegemo Is ulterlyl.Jad. Weare diehard ACN supponers,SO I'm appe~lIng stro ngly 10 the ~o\~m or a nd the comlllissione n for work:> all(r educallon to viSit us. Theil' 15 no one that 1~;11 visit us who will no t beashamcd: the~ Is no drtnkable wate r, no electricity, no single S«Ondilry schooL TIle ne<lJ"l"Sls«ond.lry school to Ijegemo 15 six kilometres away; \\'f' are In thc he,ln of Lagos.yet deVl'lopment h;u continued (oelude us.As near as our lOC<l1 govern ment is, so It Is so far tous. We knowth<llthe governo r Is working. but whal about his subonll-· nates? Ijegemo with its lar~e population does not dese: ....-ethisl11 rreatm('n t M voted for th lS gQl\-"l"rnment
Kauem A1aD' (Community youth)
50etan Olagbolahan (A teacher)
A - Ht T~,~~0;;i,~r.:':~~~~:i~~~il%'"".- g Il ell.] =llre:Amaechi And By"'''''''''''' ."..,
~=:'J:~~~hfb~~~n~~:;~!~hl InTroduced the Inltiath"l" arter srudytng th e
~ii,hai ~~~n r~no N~~~mn ~p~b:lC.
01111 a . leAmaechl admmlstr.ltlon s projects .lImed ate~nfclo~e nl glener.ltJoll and IJro moting the Sf<ll!' s ()O( s«u· r~ gI .. . r. Is;~ ~n I~ R1~rsdP.ltJ.iItl~ ~nn IS%F). ..... hletl eS17.e bl~o"rpe n :'h Novo, lassmce Its~t.1 IS Iment m:ord uge sucrw In Its operati.o ru. tg~ n~~rfJth~ people, m()5~YYfulhs e ann
.
at un u•. a ,....
Loca! Council of t he State ISoneof ,Trn'S .
Sl~~p'e pr!e~~mel~~the s!.~.h:;:~~~~g~~~rIr - 0 . tut~ n ~In ReputJhc while others h.a1ll'tx:m
lrallled mt('JNlIy tow~rk,)t ~ht: SRIF, fulfilhng pan of tile gOills of the m!tlaU\'f'.
0~uet~1~10ur~il~r~~,~..:=en~nter_
p~ devclopment especially amongst ffie younger generation, promoting research in new agnculrur.l l techniques and \'aneties, encourag· Ing skills tran5rer a nd adopting approprliltl! teclmology by local fMlners.Oth t"rs are enh.lnc· log .lgricultural p roduction and v.l lue ildditlon, bU Jldin$ interest in commercial f<lrmlngand fadlitaungaSro-Iourism In the State.. AnothermaJoralm is 10 diversify the economy of RJvers Stale by slightly moving away from dependence on Oil and Gas, enrour.lge upo n and 5eI'It' as a mOOel for developing rural cities in thestiJteas "-ell as make the m te the centre of "gro- based expon free zone. The Sanghal Riven Inili.ltive farm Is an Integ..,· Ion o f Uvestock. Aquaculture and Agroourum. ~ Ccn~ Is designed as a place of c!XC1!lteoce (or training. prciduruon. research, de:mol1Str.Joon and development or sustainable agricu ltura l practkes. 1t Is tipped to become the number one hub of agricu ltural dev"I"lopmcnt In Ille coun~ F'riortorommencementor workatthef.lnnIn 2010, theAmaechi admi nistration had dispatched to th e Songh<li International Ce:ntn: in Benin Re-publk a ~oup of 105 young Riven men and lromen £rom the 23 L.ocal Coundls of the
Songhai Farm Revolution In Rivers
stal"e to recl!lve an IS-ment.h mining In va rious specialised agr1rulture and agro-baSed <lm1S and imbibe an enrrepreneurioll ClJlture. Fiftytrainees outofthe number h;1\'e already !)('en <lbsorbetl In th e fann as fi n t set of worken who will have the opponunity to nm their own !ann unlt.s.sllJrpelltheirenrrepreneurial skills and noe nruallysetupandmall<lge t~irown bUSinesses with suppon from the ce Ire nConductin some elder statesmen ~ou~dlhe fann LUI W~nesda}( Governor Anlolechl said his <ldminlstration's setting ~poflheSom~hai fann
number of "8ricultural Fanns 11ca.\~ behind at the end of myte nure,~ thegO\~mor sald. TIlegruup of elderstall.'Slnen l,1 uded Amaechl for his drive towartls repositioning agriculture In the stale as th e Rl\'l!U Songhai inlU<ltlve wou ld provide food for the people<llld help in redudng the unemp\oylnentchallenges In the State.. Fonnc:'rlkpulyG<wernorofRJw:rsState SII Gabriel Toby sald:"The Songholl folnn , which is blggcrth<ln what Is tenil bleat Benin RepubliC isa wonhy IIl\'eStment tll<lt ~ld.aeale
ntyln theStiJteand bringron t('ntment toall Ri~n people, which beyond the JfO\;sion of inff<lStr\lcture. goes I ·Wh:1I 1would like to be rememlJered for Is the
fores! t<lnd we UIJe the govemor to mainlain e tempo In Im effon to l'urther mtore Ihe di ity or the Riven miln: AnOlrer fonner DeputyGovemor. Dr. Dominic
wilsbomeoutofthedeslretoeruu~fOod5tC\l-
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em p~ent.foodandsecu nl)!.ltlS a good
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Anucha described the faml as <I gigan tic Indusny. which wou ld yield POSitM results. ihe fann will attract <I lot of industr1es. ln no distant time the people will begin to fttlt he imllact oftht" f.mn: heSilld. -rile {ann is a dear Indication tllat GOI~rnor Amaechl means well for Rh'en prople. r"Or theGovemo r 10 hilve this vision [odo what he is dolngln th e sta te Is co mmendable," he added. The SRIFcompnses diffeR'nt units, namely, the !\dminlstr.l.tive(l lospltality CClltll', Technology/Tndustrial Pa rk, rroductlon, Cow <lnd Goat f<lnch, Co ncrete Ash Ponds.. E.1rthen rond, Fish Hatchery,AnlflCi<lILake,Green House and Molggottery. Othera re 8roile-rs production, Cassava rrocesslng Unil, ~ Mill and Rke Mill, Machines Productlon,Stabilised Bricks Production, Free range PoulU)\ N.lntilln F,1nJI, Pineapple, \'esruble Ga rden. Gu.sava and Moringa Cull1vallon Uniu. More units arranged for future production ill th e Centre IndudeCocollut.Anhnal feeds, Mmgo for chi ps and juice, Or.lnge (or juice and fnpul for Anilllall'roc~slngand Sn<lil I'roductlon. Chier Exerutive ofJker of tile Riven State Sust.1inable Development ~eocy (RSSDA~ Mr. Noble Pepple whose ,lgencys role is to manage tJlC fann,Slilted tllat · (he plan Is to be Ihecen· Ire fOTaceilenCt' In training. productkm. research. demonstration and development of sustai nable agrirultura l practices.- Pepple noted thaI the RSSDA isrommined to rood security, providingsunainilble livelihood ilnd driving rur.ll development hcnce th e project will 0210 lonl communit}es impr~ their agri· cultum l Pr.lctices.. He added that the agency Is com mitted to ereatin&opponunltles for li nkolges between the Sollghallnltiative ra rmand networkoff~nns In o ruer to grow 1Il0re food and feed people of thescu e. ihe RSSDA hopes (0 cre;ate OpPOrtunities for people to regard agriculture ilS 1Il0re sustain· able.1nd attractive and through that keep pe0ple In Jobselther through d irect ap;rlru ltu ral actll~ty orvalue additions.' he adJC'ct -nIC Songha! ~rs Inltlath'f' ~prese nl.'l the engine room [odrtve I\lralgrowth through ilppllaltlon of innovative inte~tJons. The falm operates within a cluster or Industry; with linkages to six regional farm ce nrres, each appro,umately500 hectares in size: