According to Kehinde Onasanya, the press officer to the Governor Gbenga Daniel, the beneficiaries were selected based on their performances noticed by the agency in the area of agricultural development in the state.
In addition, Onasanya indicated that sum of N630 million had so far been disbursed since inception of the agency to over 17,000 entrepreneurs in various agricultural and non-agricultural enterprises across the state, including traders and women organisations, Nigerian Automobile Technicians Associations (NATA) as well as 200 cooperative societies and groups across the state.
Furthermore, he recalled that at the ceremony to flag-off the 2009 empowerment activities of the agency held recently, the state governor, Otunba Daniel, restated his commitment to creating a conducive atmosphere for business to thrive, adding that agricultural promotion would be pursued with vigour.
He disclosed that the state had also secured a sum of N2 billion agricultural credit schemes through the federal government, which, he said, was accessible to those interested in commercial agriculture, while 50 tractors had also been procured to boost farming activities.
“The Governor urged the beneficiaries to utilize the loan judiciously to be able to pay back. What we are doing is to teach people how to fish instead of giving them fishes as these are the real legacies we can live with,” he said.
In his speech, the Chairman of OSAMCA board, Chief Pegba Otemolu, said the agency had fully repaid a loan of N300 million received from the Nigeria Agricultural Cooperative and Rural Development Board (NACRDB) in 2004.
