Igbo communities have been called upon to boost the agricultural activities in their areas to address the issue of food inflation facing Nigeria.
The call was made recently by elder statesman, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, during a meeting of the people of Mbaitoli/Ikeduru Federal Constituency under the Mbaike People’s Assembly held in Owerri.
To tackle food insecurity, Iwuanyanwu said every fallow land should be put to agricultural use to grow food production.
He said, “I know with the level of insecurity in the southeast, Imo in particular, many people did not come back for Christmas but despite this, the Mbaike People’s Assembly, we came together to hold our meetings.
“This Mbaike People’s Assembly will be a source of joy, hope and access to the government. I will be behind this group to achieve success. From today anybody coming to represent the Mbaike people must know that he is holding our mandate. So, there should be a committee for human development and empowerment.
“You people know that because of the devaluation of the naira currency, there is high inflation in food items. So, we must move into agriculture to use every available land in our area to address these challenges; we must set up an agriculture committee. We must use our structure now to defend our people and not allow them to be intimidated. That is why we must be united.”
On the agriculture committee, Iwuanyanwu said, “distinguished people from Mbaike will be part of the committee. They will research and know what the Mbaike people need for development. We will make sure that any money collected must be used for the development of the Mbaike people. The committee must liaise with the government to achieve so many goals.”
The elder statesman, who also spoke on the issue of zoning of political offices at the level of Mbaike Federal Constituency, said, “some years ago, we agreed on zoning. I brought the initiative so that there will be peace and tranquillity. We will not allow anybody to destroy it. We will follow it to the last so that our people will be happy.
“Anybody elected to represent the Mbaike people must know that he is holding our mandate and it will not be business as usual. Our people must be elected and we must look into the areas of health and education to take care of our people.”
