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A’Ibom earmarks 486 rural roads for rehabilitation across the 31 LGAs under the ARISE Agenda.
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₦2bn agriculture grant released, while farmers access tractors and implements at 50% subsidised rates.
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Over 600,000 oil-palm seedlings planned for distribution, alongside expanded support for cocoa, cassava, livestock and fisheries.
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State generates about 700,000 tonnes of solid waste annually, as the government explores waste-to-energy and waste-to-wealth solutions.
September 25, (THEWILL) – The Akwa Ibom State Government has earmarked 486 rural roads for rehabilitation across the 31 local government areas and released ₦2 billion in grants to crop and livestock value chains as part of intensified efforts by Governor Umo Eno’s administration to boost agriculture and environmental sustainability under the ARISE Agenda.
The Commissioners for Agriculture, Dr Offiong Offor, and Environment and Mineral Resources, Rt. Hon. Nsikak Ekong, disclosed this yesterday at the fifth Ministerial Media Briefing instituted by the administration to provide the public with verifiable information on government policies, programmes and achievements.
Offor said the administration’s “Back to Farm” initiative was repositioning agriculture through mechanisation, improved inputs, extension services and integrated production systems, noting that more than 15,000 residents had registered for the second edition of the Home Farm Scheme, including participants adopting vertical farming.
She disclosed that the state had established an equipment leasing company offering tractors and implements to farmers at a 50 percent subsidised rate, while improved cassava varieties capable of yielding between 30 and 35 tonnes per hectare under appropriate agronomic practices had been distributed alongside more than 50,000 bundles of cassava cuttings, maize and pumpkin seeds.
According to her, the government is also strengthening rural access and agricultural marketing through counterpart funding for the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), while an 11-kilometre road linking communities in Nsit Atai, Nsit Ibom and Nsit Ubium has already been commissioned.
She added that AK-CARES had supported more than 16,000 beneficiaries, graded over 150 rural roads and provided or rehabilitated more than 81 wet-market toilet facilities and slaughter slabs.
The Commissioner said the Tree Crop Revolution Programme would see the distribution of more than 600,000 oil-palm seedlings, with 14 local government areas already receiving 5,000 seedlings each and about 1,700 farmers reached. She added that more than 250,000 cocoa seedlings were distributed to over 3,000 farmers in 2025, while over 100,000 seedlings had been supplied to more than 850 farmers in 2026.
Offor further highlighted the 50-hectare Ibom Model Farm in Nsit Ubium, developed in partnership with Akwa Ibom State University, as an integrated crop and livestock production, training and agro-tourism centre featuring fish ponds, piggery and poultry units, greenhouses, crop production areas and processing facilities.
She said the government had also revamped AKADEP, revived the Schools Agricultural Programme and Young Farmers Club, supplied farm inputs to public primary schools and rehabilitated greenhouse facilities along Airport Road for controlled-environment cultivation, while partnerships with IITA and the National Root Crops Research Institute were supporting agricultural development.
On the environment, Ekong said the state had invested more than N900 million in the reclamation and redevelopment of erosion sites, including the ARISE Palm Resort, while emergency desilting was ordered at several locations in Uyo following the July flooding.
He said flood mitigation was ongoing at Shelter Afrique Estate Extension and a consultant had been engaged to review the Uyo Urban Drainage Flood Master Plan to address the impact of urbanisation, climate change and unregulated development.
Ekong also disclosed that Governor Eno had directed the establishment of the Clean Akwa Ibom Brigade to monitor flood-prone areas and provide frontline environmental intervention, while reclamation of the former Uyo Village Road dumpsite is underway, with plans for a housing estate at the site.
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He said Akwa Ibom generates about 700,000 metric tonnes of solid waste annually, equivalent to roughly 2,000 tonnes daily, prompting engagements with consultants from India and the United States on waste-to-energy and waste-to-wealth initiatives, including energy generation, plastic recycling, household waste segregation and organic fertiliser production.
The Commissioner added that the state was implementing afforestation projects covering 10 hectares at Itak, Ikot Ekpene, with about 6,250 trees, and another 20 hectares of mixed-species planting in a forest reserve in Ini Local Government Area, representing approximately 12,500 trees.
He said the state had also installed more than 10,000 solar-powered streetlights and incorporated clean energy into projects such as ARISE Compassionate Homes and model schools, alongside the deployment of CNG buses.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Information, Rt. Hon. Aniekan Umanah, said the ministerial briefing was designed to close information gaps and enable citizens to scrutinise government policies, figures and interventions directly from the officials responsible for implementing them.
Chairman of the NUJ, Akwa Ibom State Council, Comrade Nsibiet John, commended the initiative, but called for stronger interaction between commissioners and journalists and greater support for media practitioners.
Speaking to THEWIL shortly after the briefing, Nsibiet John, NUJ Chairman, Akwa Ibom Council, said the ministerial briefing is a welcome platform because it gives journalists access to the officials implementing government policies and allows us to interrogate the figures and claims presented to the public.
“However, we need deeper engagement between commissioners and the media. On the environment, government must strengthen enforcement and ensure that companies coming into Akwa Ibom are properly engaged so that their commercial activities do not undermine the interests of host communities or damage the environment”, he stated.
