By DADA AYOKHAI
The Okpe kingdom, located in the hilly part of Akoko Edo local government area of Edo State, is a beautiful place to behold. A first time visitor to the place will not it’s mistake its unique natural topography formed by intricate ring of rocks, valleys and hills, which provide natural defence system to its inhabitants.
The largely agrarian community is one of the oldest kingdoms in Nigeria.
The good people of the Okpe Kingdom, one of the oldest kingdoms in the Edo North district, will not forget in a hurry how Engr Saliu Ahmed added his midas to change their situation in the community.
The Federal Government in her efforts to diversify the nation’s economy away from over dependence on oil, opted to establish Integrated Farm Schemes across the country which Edo State is a beneficiary.
The idea of an integrated farm settlement, modeled after the Shanghai Integrated Farms in Port Novo, Benin Republic, also the product of a successful coliaborative effort, was considered an anathema before the duo of Engr Ahmed, the Managing Director of BeninOwena River Basin Development Authority, BORBDA, and Hon Peter Akpatason who represents the Akoko Edo federal constituency and on whose shoulder the decision as to the suitable location for the farm lies, took the bull by its horn.
Today, that farm settlement stands as a major federal presence in the whole of Okpe Kingdom.
Before the establishment of the integrated farms, the first of its kind in the entire Edo North, the okpe Kingdom was largely an agrarian community where the inhabitants engaged in subsistence farming. Root crops such as cassava, yam, oil palm, and other variety of cash produce are common in the area.
The location of that singular project in the Okpe Kingdom, a linear settlement in Akoko Edo local government area situated along the federal highway road which connects Ondo State with Edo state, has completely transformed the face of the hitherto sleepy and rusty community into a stling town with all the trappings of commercial activities on the town.
The transformation also turned the hilly community, a natural beauty to behold, into a beehive, with visitors and others trooping in and out.
other communities which also benefitted from the Integrated Farms were those sited in Obayantor, near Benin; Auchi, Etsako West; Uneme N‘Ekhua, and Okpe, both in Akoko Edo local
The ‘four integrated farm settlements, located in the agricultural belt zones of the state, were conceived in 2017 to serve as the hub for the production, processing, and research of farm produce and have had their installed facilities already certified fit for operations.
The prospect of the jobs to be created are endless, not to mention the value opportunities that will be opened.
The minister of agriculture, Alhaji Adamu Suleiman, was on hand to commission the projects.
