Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti has urged Abia residents to go back to agriculture if they want to defeat food insecurity.

Governor Otti said this while speaking during the 2025 Ekponibro Cultural Festival, held at Etiti Abam Primary School, Atani Abam, in Arochukwu Local Government Area of the state, adding that if a society loses its tradition and culture, including farming, such society is dead and gone.

He said that agriculture must be taken seriously because in it lies stomach infrastructure and food security for the people.

He said, “I need not preach to you about agriculture. If you do not have the vision, this is the time. The planting season is about to start. This is one thing that God has given to us without much toiling.

“This event speaks to our tradition and culture. And any society that loses its tradition and culture is gone. In those days, societies begin to die when they lose their tradition. They begin to go into bondage and slavery.

“I am happy that Abam people did not forget where they came from. And I want to thank the UNUBIKO Foundation for remembering and also bankrolling all these, and my prayer is that God will continue to replenish your source a millionfold.

“You plant something in the ground and then by the time you reap, you reap bountifully. You can plant in tears, but when you are reaping, you reap in joy.

“So, I want to encourage all of us, if we were not taking farming seriously, this the time to do so because what you call stomach infrastructure is in your farm. And, it is what is in your hands that God uses to bless you.”

Otti also used the opportunity to thank Abam people for the support they are giving to the contractors working on the projects being done for them by his administration, stating that “the whole idea is to connect our communities and give them wings to fly.”

He told them that the road which was already in use would soon be commissioned.

Also speaking at the event, the Abia State Commissioner for Culture and Creative Economy, Dr. Matthew Ekwuruibe thanked the governor for his physical presence at the event, saying that under Governor Otti’s administration in Abia State, every sector is being given the needed attention, including remembering and preserving our cultural heritage.

He thanked the Founder of the UNUBIKO Foundation, Chief James Ume, for sponsoring the cultural festival, noting that he was looking forward to partnering and attending similar events in other parts of the state.

In his speech, the Founder of UNUBIKO Foundation, Chief Ume thanked Otti for honouring them with his presence at the event and for the endorsement of the event by the state government.

He said that the Ekponibro Cultural Festival is a heritage bequeathed to them by their fathers, which symbolizes their struggles, strengths, triumphs, and exploits. He thanked the governor for his good works in Abam and across the state.

The Rector of Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Engr. Dr. Christopher Okoro Kalu said that the 2025 Ekponibro Festival, themed ‘Long May They Reign,’ is a celebration to remember the difficulties and the triumphs of their forbearers in their sea trading business of agricultural products like cocoa, kernel, palm oil, etc.

He said, “Some of the challenges faced by the merchants included bad weather, the trunk of trees that fell into the sea that must be cleared for their canoe to sail through, hostile communities and criminals, wild animals, and so on. Upon return, the merchants trouped en mass to celebrate with families and friends in gratitude to the Supreme Being for a successful journey through the sea.”



https://punchng.com/embrace-agriculture-otti-charges-abia-residents/