Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun has affirmed that the state government rice plantation project in Magboro is real. In a chat with our source at Oke Mosan governor’s “the official flag off ceremony of the rice havesting season by the state government is authentic and genuine, not fabricated in any way,” the source said.
According to the source, Harvesting operations are still ongoing, which means a check on the site will show you a combine of harvesters working on the site at Magboro.
“I personally attended the flag off ceremony during whcih the governor acknowledged the participaton of farmers from diverse ethnic backgrounds working within the rice cluster. The project under which the governor conducted the ceremony is the “Ogun State Economic Transformation {roject, OGSTEP, a World Bank-assisted initiative signed by the State Government before the current administration came into office.”
A key aspect of OGSTEP is to boost private sector partici[ation in the state’s economic development, particularly in agriculture. As part of the implementation, farmers were encouraged to form groups or clusters to benefit from the project’s support programms.
One Alhaji Bello, ,along with 199 other farmers, was sensitized and organized into lten groups, forming a rice cluster. My consultancy firm was involved inthis process, which gives the authority to speak on this matter. We [prepared business plans for these groups, overing 200 hectres of land, which each farmer managing one hectare.
The Ogun State Government, through OGSTEP, supported farmers by covering 65% of the cost of land preparation and mechanization, while farmers contributed the remaining 35%.
The cost of agricultural inp[uts such as seeds, fertilizers, and agro-chemicals was shared equallly betweenthe Government and the farmers on a 50-50 basis.
Screened private sector serfice providers were engaged to deliver the farm services mentioned above.
Alhaji Bello, inhis interviedw, admitted to receiving government support,though he misrepresented the contribution ratios.
His financial assistance to fellow group members to cover their contributons is an internal group matter and has no bearing on the project itself.
Given the substantial support provided by the State Government through this project, it has every right to celebrate and publiciae the achievement. Additionally, the rice farm is located in Ogun State, not Kebbi State as misleading re[orts have suggested.Alhaji Bello is not the “real owner” of the rice project, as sensationally reported. The project belogs to “Alubarika Rice Cluster”, a group of 200 farmers brought together by the Ogun Sate Government under OGSTEP, consisting of members from different ethnic groups, including Yorubas, Igbos, and Hausas.
