Governor of Cross River State, Senator Benedict Ayade has performed the ground-breaking and foundation-laying ceremony of NASENI’s new Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Development Institute (AMEDI) located in Obudu, Cross River State.
The Cross River State Governor while performing the Institute’s block-laying ceremony thanked President Buhari, saying that “Agro industries are the foundation of Industrialization and without Agricultural development, such efforts will be hampered. In Crossriver State, we have already started an industrial revolution” he said.
The Governor however commended NASENI for championing the course of churning out machines, equipment, and agricultural tools that are required to run a functional Agric sector.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI Engr. Prof. Mohammed Sani Haruna used the occasion to reemphasized the commitment of the Agency to lead the industrial revolution course of Nigeria through the introduction of research and development of technology outcomes leading to the fabrication of machines, equipment, and technology need of the country to kickstart industrialization, even as the
President Muhammadu Buhari had approved six (6) new Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Development Institutes, one per geo-political zone of the country, in addition to six other Industrial Machinery and Equipment Development Institutes also located in various geo-political zones of the country.
According to Prof.Haruna, the event was “not only to lay the foundation of the institute but it was an opportunity for NASENI to commend the Governor of Crossriver State for his unflinching support for NASENI and the relentless efforts to revolutionise Agriculture of Cross River State, leadership and the general motivation which the Governor gave other States on the need for the industrialisation of the country.
He further said that the institute is not an ordinary institute but a specialized one to research, develop, manufacture, and introduce mechanisation of farming. He said farming and agricultural practice become easy with cultivation, planting, and harvesting. The machines and equipment to be produced in the Institute are expected to be high-tech to make the people grow agricultural yields up to three times all year round unlike now when farming is done only once, so that the people can have increased harvests annually.
According to Prof. Haruna “technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) are the basis, methods, and instruments of modern farming beyond the use of hoes and cutlass and other ancient practices. From increased yields leading to high farming income to improving living conditions of practitioners, there is a need to adapt new farming implements, and processes, and introduction of appropriate mechanization. The level of improvement of the socio-economic life of the people is a direct consequence of their productivity or otherwise, he explained. He said these technology gaps are the purpose for which NASENI Agricultural Institute Obudu and other similar Institutes in Lafia, Mbutu Abom-Mbaise are expected to fill.
The President of the Wildlife Society of Nigeria Prof. Augustine Ogodo, Who was the Chairman of the Occasion thanked President Buhari for returning the country to the part of genuine industrialization with the establishment of 6 new AMEDIs. He said the nation has no alternative than to return to Agricultural mechanization as the precursor for genuine industrialization. He said it was no longer wise for Nigeria to continue to sell its products as raw materials to foreigners without value addition through the processing of raw materials into intermediate products in order to bring higher income to Agricultural practitioners.
About 500 NASENI Save 80 Efficient Cooking Stoves were handed over to women in Cross River State during the occasion. The environment-friendly Stove is essentially to save the environment from deforestation and desertification. The products were also distributed to alleviate the sufferings of women in rural areas who could not afford the high costs of energy to prepare meals for their families.