The
Legislators,
C/o
The Leader of the Legislative Arms,
Ovia
North East Local Government Area,
Okada.
APPRECIATION
We
want to thank you sir for being with us during the Certificate presentation to
the Chairman of O.N.E.L.G.A which took place on the 6th of September
2011 in the main hall of the council secretariat.
We are your children,
your fathers, your brothers, your husbands, your wives, and you co-worker in
the field. We want to humble ourselves to thank all members of the Legislative
arms of the council for their timely involvement towards the affairs of the
farmers Union.
Another
reason we intend to write this letter is to officially inform you of the existence
of the Ovia North East Local Government Farmers Multi-purpose co-operative
union limited. As the Apex co-operative group in the Local Government Area.
Also the regulatory body for all co-operatives in Ovia North-East. With our
objectives as stated below;
i.
To
organize thrift and credit operations
ii.
To
provide credit for labour and consumption finance
iii.
To disseminate the
knowledge of modern farming to our affiliate members by having the services of agric
extension officers and production/processing professionals.
iv.
To handle other
measures designed towards uplifting the lifestyles of our registered members,
and also to encourage them to apply the principles which teach oneness and
cooperation among our affiliates.
v.
To market the
produce of our members for better price, and also to provide storage facilities
for inputs, farm products, machinery, etc.
In this write up,
the Union has put down some primary requirements which is expected to help in
the actualization of the above stated aims.
We
have a vision; and in the book “to make it work! Make it real” presented to the
Amiable Chairman of the council through `the secretary who represented him in
the presentation program, page 5 of that book section ‘A’ read thus;
“Apportion to us a reasonable size of farmland where
the union will be able to oversee the affairs of all farmers in the area
affiliated to her. In order to guard them through the process of cultivation
and also working towards adding value to their products in order to meet export standard”.
We made it very
clear in that write up that in this farmer’s community, all farmers will have
the opportunity and ability to share ideas together on ways to themselves in
the mass production of food stuff for our people and for export.
We
also pleaded with our father (the council chairman) to support Fadama
co-operative group in the area who are not able to meet up with their
counterpart fund, in order for all farmers to benefit. As extracted from section
‘B’ page 3 of the book. ‘To make it
work! Make it real’ It read thus….
“We humbly implore you
sir, to assist all the co-operatives in your L.G. Area to offset their own part
of the FADAMA III counterpart fund in order for all your farmers to benefit
from this program. As their benefit will help project the kind of lifestyles
they intends to live”. Supporting farmers in this regard is very compulsory and
important because if the farmers loose the 70% grant because they could not afford
their 30% counterpart response, the negative impact to the local government
area could amount to about 87%.
Recently, Governor Adams Oshiomhole
has declared that agriculture is a credible factor that can be used to address
unemployment and to transform the state. In his speech, the governor said what
has been causing delay in identifying this sector, was the rot in civil service
especially in the agricultural sector. But now he (The Governor) is willing to
address the inhumanity faced in that sector. This assurance was given in the
retreat which has as its theme “Sustaining reforms, Expletive from a
Development Partner” held in AGANE-BODE
Base on this
statistics, we plead with the honorable members of the house to intervene in
this regard. The executives of the farmers’ union promise to make sure that the
assistance when given will not be abused by farmers. We are in haste to be
given the required assistance now in order not to fall victim of the Prophecy
of the United Nation that in 2015, there is going to be colossal food shortage
in Africa.
Why formed into a
Union?
Some of the reasons we
formed into a Union are:-
a.
To
enhance rapid growth in the farming industry. And also to project the co-operative
movement in the local council area. This means that if union is formed, they
will represent the primary co-operative societies in their various local
government areas. This will reduce friction and encourage better co-operation
among members.
b.
To
ensure that the relevance of co-operative unions will help to fulfill the felt
needs of all co-operators that make up the Union
c.
Setting
up the Unions around the eighteen local government areas in the state is to
create solid financial base which will assist in setting up profitable ventures
geared towards reducing dependency on government.
The following are the
expected role of the co-operative movement in community development.
i.
To
ensure they embark on a serious and articulated rigorous campaign strategized
towards sensitizing and the mobilization of those in the grassroot to
effectively participate in co-operative activities.
ii.
It
is our duty to make sure all co-operatives operating within our coverage area
are effectively supervised and managed properly, so that they will comply with
the principles set up for co-operative societies by the International
Co-operative Alliance (ICA).
On this basis, the
various Local Government Areas Apex body are expected to demonstrate internal
democracy, transparency, accountability, and probity which are the primary
co-operative norms and ethics. For proper operation of the co-operative
movement and for the effect of the Unions to be felt in their various areas of
operation, the governments also have a role to play. And in Ovia North-East
Local Government Area, we expect the Local government authority to:
Recognize
and respect the autonomy and operational indecency of the co-operative Union as
the regulatory body for co-operative societies set up in the area.
To
provide effective education to enhance proper coordination of the primary
co-operatives by providing fund to support the apex body towards meeting up
with their obligation.
At this point, we wish
to inform our well respected Legislators that a plot of land measuring 100 by
200 feet has been voluntarily donated to the Union in Igbobi Community, Oghede
Ward, Ovia North-East Local Government Area to help set up a cottage industry
and a warehouse which shall be call Ovia North-East
Farmers Union processing Mill.
We want to remember the speech of a Legend who once says… on quote “When farming becomes the
ills of the society, the ills becomes incurable”. Therefore the needs of
farmers should be quickly looked into, to avoid the forecast of the United
Nation which says; “if appropriate measure is not put in place, there is going
to be serious food shortage in Africa, by 2015”
Any government who
fails to recognize the miracle of farmers, perish of impediment.
We need your support
to startup the industry. As you well know, as a young body, we don’t have
financial means to embark on such journey. Just as King Pharaoh of Joseph’s day
made provision for Joseph to save enough food for his people, in expectation of
the seven years famine period which lay ahead of them, we want you to make
provision for Ovia North East Farmers to produce massively now towards the
rainy day.
We will be most
grateful if we are assisted in this regard.
Thank you.
For Ovia North-East
Farmers Union
