Council Boss Explains Interest in Agric, Establishes Shoe Factory

Mkpat Enin Local Government Area (LGA) of Akwa Ibom State is now emerging as the food basket of Akwa Ibom State due to the huge investment in agriculture by the LGA.

In addition, the LGA is presently counting gains from investment made in the establishment of a shoe factory that produces various brand of shoes.

The Chairman of the Mkpat Enin Local Government Area, Mr Ekanem Brown who conducted journalists round the farmland set up by his administration and the refurbished shoe factory of the council, said his aim was ensure that the LGA relies less on the monthly federal allocation to survive.

He explained that his venture into agriculture had caused the harvest of over 1,000 bags of cucumber from the council’s farms in the last one year. The produce, he said was sold to people within and outside the state. Besides cucumber plantation, he said the over seven hectares of farmland equally harboured pepper, water melon and tomatoes sites which turns the council to be unique LGA in the production of those products.

Brown, noted that with the modernised farming method being employed, young unemployed youths were engaged, taught, encouraged and empower to go into farming using the modern farming techniques.

Interestingly, the Council boss stated that the farms are supervised by local government staff, maintaining that before the end of his tenure, more than 200 growers of cucumber, pepper, water melon and tomatoes would become profitable.

“I was into rice farming in the north, I have rice farms, I knew I would be going into agric, but my challenge was on which area of farming would produce more result, at least my people would easily see result not planting to stay for two years before reaping, I was guided by AKEES led by Engr Ufot Ebong who advised me to go into water melon, cucumber and other fast yielding crops.

“Soon I will shift from farming to off-taking. If I have 200 people going into this, the council will be boosting of billions of naira. I’ll give them seedlings and tractors, then you produce, I come and off take from you, many of them are learning.

“I am taking this very seriously, this is still a demonstration farm, I intend to go into secondary schools to teach them how to farm, all I need is someone who is willing, and then we provide the market. All our farms are protected. We have different species of pepper, cucumber, water melon etc,”he stresseD

According to the Council chairman his efforts were meant to complement that of the state Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, who has not hidden his desire to transform the economy of the state by encouraging the growth of private owned businesses in the area.

Speaking on the shoe fac- tory, he said professional shoe makers had commenced work to revamp and reequip the moribund factory established by the former caretaker chair- man of the council, Mr Ubong Ekefre.

To bring the factory up to standard, he said the factory has been equipped with state-of-the-art industrial shoe cutting machine, which cuts to specification, design machine for thread patterns, different sizes of sewing machines, lasting to give size and shape, sole press machines, labelling machine, industrial filling machine to smoothen the edges.