When the executive members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists paid him a courtesy visit in Benin City, Mr. John Omoruyi, the State Coordinator of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) project, revealed that the project had disbursed over N500 million to empower 1,797 farmers in the State.
He said that the empowerment of the rural farmers was made possible by the state governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, who approved N1.6 billion for the program.
He mentioned that the N1.6 billion would allow the project to cover the eight local governments that it had previously covered, stating that before now the project covered 10 local governments out of the 18 local governments in the State.
According to him, since the assumption of office of the present government led by Senator Monday Okpebholo, LIFE-ND project has distributed over N500 million to support 1,797 women and youths. This is just a space of three months.
“With his benevolence, Governor Okpebholo, approved the sum of N1.6 billion to cover the remaining eight local government areas that were not captured by the project.
“Additional 2000 jobs are coming from the payment of this counterpart funds”, he said.
The program is being funded by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Nine Niger Delta States, of which Edo State is a member, according to Omoruyi.
He added that Edo State stood out among the participating states and that the project’s goal is to promote rural economic development, engage women and youths in agriculture, and have them engage in agriculture as a business.
The State Coordinator said that the program is intended for youths between the ages of 18 and 35, as well as persons with disabilities (PWDs) and women-headed households, among others.
He added that the state has last year, 2024, surpassed its target of 4,250 with a record of 4,360.
Earlier, the chairman of Correspondents’ Chapel, Mr Patrick Ochoga commended the state government and the management of LIFE-ND for the investment in lifting youths and women in the rural areas out of poverty.
Ochoga, noted that the visit was to seek collaboration with the agency not only in the dissemination of its activities but on how best members of the chapel could benefit from the programme.
