Poised to change the economic narrative of Andoni Local Government Area, the Chairman, Erastus Awortu has doled out a N6 million naira grant to 50 women to empower them to invest in Agriculture.

The beneficiaries of the grant, who belong to the Cassava Farmers’ Cooperative and Sea Food Farmers’ Cooperative in the LGA, received N120,000 each from the empowerment scheme.

Presenting the funds to the beneficiaries on Thursday, June 29, 2023 at the LG Council Secretariat, Ngo Town, the Chairman, Erastus Awortu acknowledged that empowering women is synonymous with empowering families and communities as doing so translates to improving their living conditions.

According to him, the gesture is a means of support to the local economy, in order to alleviate poverty and improve their standard of living, and also a reciprocation of the support given to his party by the women during the elections and in fulfilment of his electioneering promises.

“Women are the foundation of the society, and we have decided that we will support the women because when you support the women, you support the society. When you support a man, you support a person but when you support a woman, you support the society.”

“So, we have decided to support the women because it is a way supporting the society. These women supported us during the election, they were with us all through the campaign, they mobilized their members and they supported us. What we are doing today is to reciprocate that support in fulfilment of our campaign promises.”  

“The Sea Food Farmers, especially, the periwinkle farmers, both women and men, as well as Cassava Farmers, gave us so much support during the election. They supported our present Governor, they made sure all our candidates won their elections.”

“I want to thank you for your support in the governorship rallies we held. You went to great length to mobilize your people, and it was obvious that you were there. So, we are very happy with you.”  

“Another reason why we are providing you with this grant is because you are engaged in meaningful business which is supporting our economy,” he said, urging them to use the grants judiciously in order to encourage government to do more.

In their response, the beneficiaries thanked the Andoni LG Council Chairman for the kind gesture as they obliged to putting the funds into judicious use.

Records show that Andoni LGA has for ages being an agrarian economy with deft footing on fish, shrimp, and crop farming. From Oyorokoto, which incidentally is the biggest fishing port in West Africa, to Okoroboile to Ngo to Asarama to Ataba, the people of the area are big in fishing and sea food harvesting.

Checks by Kristina Reports also shows that the area is blessed with large swathes of land for crop farming. Unyeada, Asarama, Ngo, Agwut-Obolo, Ataba, Ibotirem, Ikuru Town and several other communities boast of hectares and hectares of land good for farming.

This amplifies the confidence of stakeholders that this grant to the women cooperatives is not only a well thought out investment by the Andoni LGA Chairman but would be properly utilized to boost the local economy of the area.