LA SUITE APRÈS LA PUBLICITÉ

The Enugu State Government is set to distribute free agricultural inputs to 63,000 registered smallholder farmers across its 260 political wards to significantly enhance food production this farming season.

Announced following a State Executive Council meeting, the distribution initiative will be officially flagged off by the governor on Tuesday, July 21. Beneficiaries will receive essential supplies including fertilizers, agrochemicals, as well as high-yield seeds for rice, maize, pepper, and tomatoes.

Designed to cushion the financial burden on local food producers, this year’s agricultural intervention marks a substantial expansion from the 40,000 farmers reached in the previous cycle. To guarantee transparency and accountability, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Dr. Patrick Ubru, emphasized that input distribution will be strictly restricted to verified smallholder farmers whose agricultural plots have been mapped and registered for continuous monitoring.

In a parallel move to transform the state’s primary education sector, the State Executive Council approved the recruitment of 4,698 additional teachers for its Smart Green Schools initiative.

The expansion aims to maintain uniform teaching standards modeled after the prototype campus at Owo across all 267 Smart Green Schools in the state. The recruitment will be supported by specialized training at the newly operationalized Centre for Experiential Learning and Innovation – CELI, situated within the Enugu State College of Education (Technical).

According to the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ndubueze Mbah, CELI will serve as an institutional hub to equip educators with experiential teaching methodologies rather than traditional rote learning. Beyond professional development for teachers, the center is designed to mentor and support young local innovators by helping them commercialize patentable ideas and technological solutions, ensuring long-term sustainability for the state’s educational reforms.

Addressing public health concerns, the state government has ordered the immediate reactivation of all isolation centers previously established during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proactive measure comes in response to reported Ebola outbreaks in parts of East Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Commissioner for Health Prof. George Ugwu noted that with Enugu functioning as an international transit gateway receiving direct foreign flights, rapid containment readiness is critical to prevent potential health crises.

Finally, the administration directed the acceleration of ongoing infrastructure projects across key state healthcare facilities, targeting completion before the end of the year. Prioritized sites include major expansion works at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (Park Lane) and the teaching hospital at the State University of Medical and Applied Sciences – SUMAS, Igbo-Eno. Additionally, state officials confirmed that the new Enugu International Hospital is scheduled for commissioning within the coming weeks.