The Ibolo Chamber of Commerce Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has held its 1st council meeting in Ikotun-Ile, Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State for the year 2022.
The council meeting held on Saturday 16th of July, 2022 is focused on a theme titled “tapping into potentials of River Basin An overview.” The theme was considered to open the minds of the teaming youths and small-scale business owners to the huge potential in the natural resources available in Ibolo land and how it can be converted into a profitable venture.
Speaking at the event, the President of ICCIMA, Mr. Paul Olagunju applauded the organizing committee for careful selection of the theme which is centered on a critical area in which businesses can further be developed and appreciated the Kabiesi, Olukotun of Ikotun-Ile, Oba Abdulrasaq Adebayo Abioye Ilufemiloye l for believing in ICCIMA’s visions and taking a bold step by allocating land to the chamber for farming purposes.
While speaking on the theme, the guest speaker, Engr. Dr. Adeniyi Saheed Aremu emphasized the efforts of the Lower Niger River Basin to the growth and development of communities. Speaking further, he said the Lower Niger River Basin covers the whole of Kwara State and part of Kogi, and its mandate includes undertaking a comprehensive development of the underground and surface water for agriculture.
He said the River Basin constructs roads, water, bridges, borehole, and dams for agrarian communities for easy access to water and agriculture.
According to him, “We don’t rely on rain peg agriculture, where there is excess water, we find a way of conserving it by building a dam. We provide irrigation facility for farmers and we have opened many irirgagble farmlands.”
Talking about how the River Basin can assist the farmers in rural areas, Dr. Adeniyi revealed that the Lower Niger River Basin provides services like farm clearing, making ridges with tractors at subsidized rates, or getting tractors for cooperative farmers in a subsidized amount for convenience farm mechanization.
The Olukotun of Ikotun-Ile, Oba Abdulrasaq Adebayo Abioye Ilufemiloye l thanked ICCIMA for organizing the council meeting in Ikotun. He further urged the chamber to assist farmers in rural communities to assess loans which he promised to be used judiciously.
While pledging continuous support for ICCIMA, he urged the chamber to help the farmers to improve their farming methods by deploying another channel for mechanized farming, adding that the sensitization program and discussions will go a long way to enlighten farmers more on mechanized farming.
He further advised his subjects to change the mindset of utilizing government intervention for personal use anytime it is made available to them. Continue Reading
