By Samuel
The Director-General of the Nigerian Film Corporation, Dr Chidia Maduekwe, has inaugurated a new cooperative society to enable Abia communities to enjoy the Federal Government’s intervention programmes in the agriculture sector.
The society, K’anyi Kesandu Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, was launched in Asaga, Ohafia Local Government Area (LGA) of the Abia State.
‘K’anyi Kesandu’ is an Igbo word that loosely translates to ‘let’s have a share of life’.
Maduekwe explained that the community would enable the communities to have a share of good life through government’s intervention programmes for the agriculture sector.
The DG also called on members to embrace commercial agriculture.
He said, “We decided to use the flagship of the cooperative to power the issues of good governance in the All Progressive Congress (APC) so that what the APC-led government is doing at the national level would trickle down to Abia.
“This is to enable our communities to benefit from federal government’s incentives to encourage and promote rapid agricultural transformation across the federation.”
Maduekwe also noted that the cooperative would be replicated in all 17 LGAs in the state as the group targets to get about 2,000 to 3,000 members in each LGA.
He also said that the cooperatives would be resourceful in driving the Federal Government’s youth empowerment schemes.
The DG further noted that collaborative efforts were in full gear to ensure the success of the scheme, adding that the group had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Jos-based Israeli company.
He also expressed hope in redeeming Abia State “from its current state of underdevelopment” if the people leveraged on the government’s intervention schemes.
“If we organise ourselves into cooperatives for rice, cassava and sundry other commercial crop farming, we will be qualified to benefit from the programme,” he added.