Photo : Abia Governor Dr Alex Otti
By Mandy Park
Members of the Divine Ventures Farm Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited, Umuahia, Abia State, have raised the alarm over what they described as persistent neglect and unfair treatment by the state Ministry of Agriculture.
The cooperative, which said it has more than 40 members, alleged that despite being duly registered with the Abia State Government and participating in agricultural programmes organised by the state, its members have repeatedly been excluded from empowerment initiatives and agricultural inputs distributed to other cooperative societies.
The group made the allegations during an interaction with journalists in Umuahia, where its leader, Deacon Daniel Echewodo, appealed to Governor Alex Otti and the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Cliff Agbaeze, to intervene and ensure that their cooperative is integrated into the state’s agricultural support system.
Echewodo said members of the cooperative had consistently attended agricultural programmes organised by the state, including programmes where fertilisers, funds and other farm inputs were distributed to farmers and cooperative groups but nothing was extended to them, in terms of support.
According to him, despite their participation and registration, members of Divine Ventures Farm Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society have allegedly received none of the benefits.
“How can we be preaching food sufficiency in the land while neglecting genuine cooperative groups like ours, with genuine and verifiable farmers?” he asked.
Echewodo said the cooperative had complied with requirements given to it by the state Ministry of Agriculture, including registering as a cooperative society.
“I attended all those programmes with my cooperative society members. We will be there, they will share fertilisers and other things and they will not give us anything. This is painful and discouraging,” he lamented.
He urged the Commissioner for Agriculture to publicly clarify the status of the cooperative if the ministry had any concerns about its legitimacy.
“Let the Commissioner of Agriculture tell us. Let him make it public if we are not genuine farmers,” he said.
The cooperative leader also questioned how the government could achieve food security while genuine farmers and registered cooperative societies were allegedly excluded from agricultural interventions.
He said the cooperative had made efforts to support the administration of Governor Otti and expressed the members’ continued support for the government, while urging the governor to address their neglect, and grievances .
“We are registered with the Abia State Government. We attended all the programmes that the Agriculture Ministry has been organising and still we are being neglected. Nobody is giving us anything as they are extending to other cooperative societies to encourage us,” he said.
Echewodo further disclosed that he had been directed by the Commissioner for Agriculture (Dr Cliff Agbaeze) to establish a cooperative society, which he said he did, but complained that the group had yet to benefit from any state agricultural support programme.
He appealed to Governor Otti and Dr Agbaeze to review the situation and integrate Divine Ventures Farm Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society into relevant government agricultural programmes.
“We have done all that they asked us to do. We have our PVCs, showing that we are good citizens of the state, and I and my members are in full support of the leadership of our dear governor, Dr Alex Otti,” he said.
He added that the cooperative was willing to work with the government towards achieving food sufficiency and strengthening agricultural production in Abia State.
The group specifically called for transparent inclusion of all duly registered and verifiable farmers’ cooperatives in government empowerment programmes, saying such an approach would encourage farmers, boost agricultural production and contribute to the state’s food security agenda.
The cooperative said it remained committed to supporting the Otti-led administration and appealed for what it described as a “quick intervention” to resolve the matter.
The Abia State Ministry of Agriculture was yet to respond to the allegations at the time of filing this report.
The ministry and other relevant government authorities may wish to respond to the claims.
