The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Hon Olabode
Adetoyi has charged the management staff of the ministry not to make
complaints and excuses but to work at ensuring practical and
technology-supported agribusiness that would guarantee the fulfilment
of the Governor Fayemi’s mandate of putting food on the table of Ekiti
people.
The commissioner gave the charge at his maiden meeting with the
management staff of the ministry on his assumption of office in Ado
Ekiti.
Hon Adetoyi stressed that the governor’s marching order on food
security was attainable with the cooperation and support of members of
staff, adding that team work would guarantee food surplus and support
exportation of the excess food products to other states and nations.
He said that staffers of the ministry were at the fore-front of
implementing the administration’s agenda on agriculture with a call on
them to brace-up as their failure to deliver will spell doom for the
dream and aspiration of government in the sector, particularly, the
cargo airport in the state would not function.
Hon Adetoyi said that the state should engage in soil and crop
mapping which will help to identify and develop specific crops that
could be of higher advantage in certain areas of the state, stressing
that he would ensure that agricultural products from the state are
supported for NAFDAC certification to make them internationally
acceptable.
While assuring the management staff of constant trainings, Hon
Adetoyi advised them to always update themselves on new trends in
their fields to make them relevant and productive, as well as to set
for themselves key performance indicators that would allow them to
review their performance as at when necessary.
He promised to bifurcate the Department of Livestocks, Fisheries,
and Veterinary Services as 3 distinct departments to make them more
functional and achieve more as recognized units.
While describing the staff of the ministry as the catalyst that
would drive the vision of the governor in the sector, the commissioner
said that Dr Kayode Fayemi and the various investors coming on board
depended so much on them to bring about positive changes at making
agribusiness attractive to the people, particularly the young ones in
the state.
The Technical Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture, Engr.
Olukayode Ilesanmi appealed to the new helmsman in the ministry to
facilitate the recruitment of field extension officers who are
supposed to be training officers and monitor the activities of the
farmers and collation of data on the field.
Engr. Ilesanmi also called on the commissioner to use his wealth
of experience at retrieving portions of land at the various farm
settlements and centres encroached by some of the host communities, as
well as enlighten farmers and investors to provide water wells and
small dams in their farms to curtail the effect of drought on their
production process.
In his contribution, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr.
Adedapo Akinola assured the commissioner of maximum cooperation from
members of staff, who according to him were vibrant and hardworking.
Mr Akinola said that most of the activities of the ministry would
be relayed to the commissioner during the departmental briefings
coming up within the next 48 hours.
He congratulated him on the well-deserved appointment while
wishing him a successful tenure.