ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

By Gloria Ikibah

The South East Development Commission (SEDC) and the Enugu State Government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch the South East Agro Development Programme, marking the Commission’s first state-level implementation partnership aimed at transforming agriculture into a major engine of economic growth across the region.

The agreement, signed in Enugu on Thursday, after about nine months of technical planning, stakeholder consultations, field assessments and collaboration between both parties.

The initiative is expected to boost agricultural productivity, attract private investment, strengthen food security and stimulate inclusive economic development throughout the South-East.

The signing ceremony brought together senior officials of the Enugu State Government and the Commission, including the Executive Director, Projects, SEDC, Hon. Toby Okechukwu; Executive Director, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Cliff Ogbede; Secretary to the Enugu State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia; Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Osinachi Nnajieze; Head of Legal Services at SEDC, Barr. Nnanna Oketa, as well as traditional rulers, development partners, financial institutions, private sector representatives, community leaders and members of the media.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of SEDC, Mark Okoye, was represented by Hon. Toby Okechukwu, he described the agreement as a major step in translating the Commission’s regional development vision into practical action.

According to him, the success of the programme will not be measured by the signing ceremony itself but by the tangible benefits it delivers to communities.

He said: “The true measure of our success will not be today’s signatures, photographs, or announcements. The true measure will be what follows after today: the land prepared, the investments attracted, the jobs created, the communities empowered, and the impact felt by ordinary people.”

Speaking on behalf of the Enugu State Government, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said the partnership reinforces the state’s commitment to making agriculture a commercially viable sector capable of creating jobs and attracting large-scale investment.

He said that the programme aligns with Governor Peter Mbah’s economic agenda, which prioritises private sector-led growth, economic diversification and inclusive development.

Onyia also reaffirmed the state’s readiness to provide the policy, institutional and regulatory support needed for the successful implementation of the initiative while ensuring host communities benefit directly from the programme.

The South East Agro Development Programme is designed to unlock dormant agricultural assets across the region and position agriculture as a catalyst for industrialisation and long-term economic transformation.

Rather than focusing solely on farming, the initiative seeks to establish an enabling environment for commercial agriculture by facilitating land development, strengthening agricultural value chains, integrating host communities, promoting environmentally sustainable practices and attracting private sector investment.

The programme is built on extensive technical studies jointly undertaken by the Commission, through its Department of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Enugu State Ministry of Agriculture. The exercise included land mapping, physical verification and suitability assessments to ensure that implementation is guided by technical evidence and investment readiness.

Recognising that sustainable agricultural development requires broad collaboration, the initiative also brings together development partners, financial institutions, research institutes, universities, Colleges of Agriculture, host communities and private investors.

Financial institutions, including the Bank of Industry, are expected to help create financing mechanisms that will improve access to capital for qualified investors and project developers.

Youth empowerment forms a key pillar of the programme, with plans to expand opportunities in farming, food processing, logistics, aggregation and agricultural support services. The initiative is expected to generate employment while strengthening the productive capacity of the South-East.

The Commission said the programme would be implemented as a regional project, with Enugu becoming the first participating state.

Following the signing of the Enugu agreement, SEDC disclosed that it would move to conclude a similar partnership with the Abia State Government, while technical mapping activities are already underway in Ebonyi State.
The Commission plans to extend the programme across all five South-East states to create an integrated agro-industrial ecosystem capable of boosting productivity, expanding regional trade and driving shared prosperity.

Established under the South East Development Commission Act, 2024, the SEDC is mandated to spearhead the reconstruction, rehabilitation, integration and sustainable economic development of the region.

The South East Agro Development Programme is one of its flagship initiatives aimed at unlocking the region’s agricultural potential through strategic partnerships, coordinated planning and increased private sector participation.

Both the Commission and the Enugu State Government reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the programme through collaboration, transparency, community participation and measurable outcomes, expressing confidence that the partnership would serve as a blueprint for similar initiatives across the South-East.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More than 50,000 people were missing Friday after twin earthquakes in Venezuela, the United Nations’ aid chief told AFP as international rescue teams and sniffer dogs arrived to join a desperate search for survivors.

Interim president Delcy Rodriguez said the death toll was now at 589, a number that is likely to “rise significantly,” according to UN aid chief Tom Fletcher.

“We’ve got over 50,000 people missing, over 500 people dead, so a massive job to go through the rubble,” he told AFP.

Rescuers used heavy machinery, but also their bare hands, in a race to claw out people caught under rubble in the worst-hit earthquake zone, north of the capital Caracas.

At one of the flattened buildings, AFP saw workers using sledgehammers to break the debris and calling for “absolute silence” to detect cries from survivors.

Oil-rich Venezuela is facing its worst natural disaster in more than a century after more than a decade of economic collapse hollowed out hospitals and public services, driving millions to leave the country.

The country is still in a fragile transition six months after the United States ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.

Rescue efforts have been slow with desperate calls for more heavy machinery as families stand by helpless to pull out loved ones they could hear alive in the rubble.

“It is a lot of rock, and with bare hands it is impossible,” said Amparo del Giudice, scrabbling through rubble in search of her son.

Two earthquakes, measured at magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, hit northern Venezuela within less than a minute of each other on Wednesday night, sending hundreds of buildings tumbling.

Elsewhere in La Guaira, three people could be heard in the rubble of a collapsed building.

“They’re still alive… There’s nothing more we can do,” said one resident, Antonio Bermudez. “We don’t have any tools. We have no way to help.”

A doctor at the Domingo Luciani Hospital in the city, speaking on condition of anonymity, said children were arriving in ambulances alone after being pulled out of the rubble.
“Some children provide their names, while others arrive with identification tape on their arms,” he said.

Help Arrives

A man searches through the rubble of a collapsed building as he tries to recover belongings following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Caracas, on June 25, 2026.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said Thursday that more than 200 people were confirmed trapped alive.

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said search and rescue teams from at least 17 countries were being mobilized to help find survivors.
Spanish, Salvadoran, Swiss, Colombian, and Mexican rescue teams were already on the ground.

A senior US military official landed in Caracas to oversee Washington’s relief efforts.

The United States said it was deploying two warships, transport planes and helicopters and mobilizing $150 million in aid. Washington has also suspended economic sanctions on Venezuela that could have hindered rescue operations for four months.

“Even before the earthquakes, millions of people across Venezuela were facing food insecurity, collapsing health services, protection risks, and limited access to basic services,” the UN and other aid agencies said in a statement Friday.

“We have a whole-of-government response. It’ll be big, it’ll be fast, and it’ll be effective,” said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Washington is closely involved in oil-rich Venezuela after US forces ousted and arrested president Nicolas Maduro in January.

China, India, Brazil and even war-battered Iran offered help, while Pope Leo XIV has sent an initial 100,000 euros in aid to the country.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply saddened” by the disaster as the global body vowed to assist Venezuela.

The strongest quake to hit Venezuela in 126 years will require “massive collective efforts,” UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement.
Threatening to complicate relief efforts, the international airport is in La Guaira and has been closed after suffering serious damage.
Two Brazilians, two Chinese, an Italian and a Portuguese citizen were among the dead, authorities in those countries said.

Tremors felt in Colombia, Brazil

Venezuela’s northern coast sits on a boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, but has not experienced a significant quake since 1997, when 73 people died. Another quake in 1967 killed 236 people.

Wednesday’s 7.5-magnitude earthquake was the most powerful since October 29, 1900, when a 7.7-magnitude tremor struck offshore.

The quake was felt in neighboring Colombia, where residents in Bogota evacuated buildings as a precaution.
Tremors were also reported in several cities in northern Brazil, according to the country’s seismic monitoring network.

Scenes of panic and destruction also played out in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, where many spent the night sleeping on the streets or in their cars.

Rita Gomez, 60, travelled to the capital after seeing on social media that the building her daughter lives in had collapsed and that she was not answering her phone.
She told AFP that heavy machinery had arrived and there was “a lot of cooperation from the neighbors. We are trusting in God that they will find her alive.”

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The Nigerian Army has unveiled plans to recruit and train an additional 28,000 soldiers as part of efforts to strengthen its manpower and intensify operations against insecurity across the country.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Waidi Shaibu, disclosed this on Friday during a press briefing in Abuja ahead of the 2026 Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL).

Represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans (Army), Maj. Gen. Bamidele Alabi, the army chief said the recruitment expansion followed the establishment of a new training depot in Amasiri Edda, bringing the number of recruit training institutions in the Army to three.

“Manpower is as important as the equipment required to fight insecurity. To this end, we have expanded our recruitment scope by establishing another training depot at Amasiri Edda, making it the third institution to train able-bodied civilians for the Nigerian Army, thereby enhancing our manpower,” he said.

“With this action, the Nigerian Army is expected to recruit and train an additional 28,000 troops to help stem the tide of insecurity across the country.”

Shaibu also revealed that the Army had established additional brigades and units while reviewing its force structure to address deployment gaps and improve responses to emerging security threats.

“Accordingly, the Nigerian Army has established additional brigades and units to boost our operations while continuously reviewing our force structure to cover observed gaps in our deployments and address emerging security challenges across the country,” he said.

The COAS said the Army had continued to strengthen its operational capability through the acquisition of modern platforms, combat enablers and strategic partnerships.

He added that the service had also prioritised personnel welfare by institutionalising measures to recognise gallantry and undertaking extensive infrastructure development across formations nationwide.

Reflecting on his seven months in office, Shaibu said the Army had made significant progress in operational effectiveness, infrastructure, manpower development, professionalism and civil-military relations.

According to him, his command philosophy is focused on transforming the Nigerian Army into “a more professional, adaptable, combat-ready and resilient force capable of decisively discharging its constitutional responsibilities within a joint and multi-agency environment.”

He noted that the vision is driven by a “Soldier-First” culture that prioritises the welfare of personnel and their families as a key factor in achieving operational success.

“We are also improving our deployment strategies and employing modern technology as a force multiplier in our efforts to quickly degrade all forms of criminality across the country,” he added.

The Army chief maintained that troops remained actively engaged in operations nationwide, saying their efforts had significantly weakened Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, separatist groups and other criminal elements threatening national security.

He assured Nigerians that the Army would continue to carry out its constitutional responsibilities in line with the rules of engagement while respecting human rights.

Shaibu also announced that activities for the 2026 Nigerian Army Day Celebration had commenced under the theme, “Protecting the Nation and Serving the People: A Way Forward for the Nigerian Army.”

He urged Nigerians to continue supporting the military and other security agencies in tackling insecurity.

“I urge all Nigerians to continue to support the Nigerian Army.

“This Army belongs to you; it is your Army. Let us all demonstrate patriotism and commitment to the ideals of peace and unity for national development,” he said.

Highlighting activities lined up for the celebration, the Army chief said Juma’at prayers would be held across all Army formations and units on Friday, June 26, while interdenominational church services would take place on Sunday, June 28.

He added that public speaking engagements in secondary schools nationwide would be held on July 3 to educate students on the role of the Nigerian Army.

On July 4, Port Harcourt will host the NADCEL Lecture, the Chief of Army Staff Literary Competition award ceremony, an interaction with media executives and the Nigerian Army Officers’ Wives Association charity outreach.

The programme will continue on July 5 with a medical outreach offering free healthcare services to residents of selected communities in Port Harcourt and the commissioning of several Civil-Military Cooperation projects.

The week-long celebration will culminate on July 6 with a grand finale featuring a ceremonial parade, presentation of the Chief of Army Staff Commendation Awards, military equipment displays and a research and development exhibition.

Shaibu said the event would also coincide with the African Land Forces Forum 2026, themed “Securing Africa: Advanced Defense, United Efforts.”

According to him, the forum will bring together African army chiefs, senior military officers, policymakers, defence industry stakeholders and security experts to promote regional cooperation, strategic dialogue and the exchange of ideas on defence and security across the continent.