In the Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi years, Songhai Farms (Rivers Songhai Farms Initiative) was about the most exciting story in Rivers State.
It became the place to go to when one needed the best chicken (Rhodes brand) to buy at Christmas, the best place for big eggs, fish, vegetables, on-farm milled rice, beef from on-farm cows, leisure, hotel rooms, and on-farm conference facilities.
Toward the end of the Amaechi administration, the farm complex which had gulped about N3.6bn out of the planned N5bn investible funds from the state government, was quietly put up for acquisition for sake of sustainability after the operators, the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) was said to have successfully test-run its commercial viability.
At moment, political crisis or instability set in when the then Minister of State for Education, now Minister of FCT (Nyesom Wike), picked a fight with his former boss, Amaechi.
The fight continued until Wike took over as next governor in 2015 and the Farms complex was allowed to rot away for all of the eight years. The next governor, Sim Fubara, showed interest in the project and this is said to have greatly angered his political godfather. Now, many claim it was one of the early reasons for the dispute between Fubara and Wike.
Now, Ibok Ekwe Ibas, retired vice admiral, who took over as Sole Administrator (Solad) of Rivers State, has visited the place at Bunu Tai in Tai local Council Area and hinted about readiness to revive it.
The Solad told newsmen about his plans to implement strategic measures to revive the state-owned project, aiming to use it to boost food production and create sustainable employment opportunities for the youths of Rivers State.
The Amaechi administration had partnered with Songhai International in Porto-Novo, Republic of Benin, to develop a version 20 times the original, and the biggest Songhai farm complex in the world.
John Deere of the US had showed huge interest in the complex, intending to use it to set up its tractor assembly plant for West Africa, but the fierce political crisis was said to have scared them away.
Now, the Solad has also commended the initiative.
The Administrator was accompanied by Tammy Jaja, the farm’s coordinator, and Morrison Ogolo, the Permanent Secretary of the Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture. Many Rivers people look up this prospect, a lot.
