The National Project Consultants of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises for Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) has commended the Abia coordinating office for the ongoing projects in the state.
The consultants, who were in the state on Tuesday for joint supervision and inspection of ongoing LIFE-ND projects, said that Abia had set the pace among other counterpart states in the Niger Delta.
The consultants, had during the visit, traversed all the selected communities in different local government areas where LIFE-ND built facilities for its beneficiaries.
Mr Anthony Dibigbo, a national consultant, spoke with newsmen at the end of the tour.
“I must particularly commend Abia for the progress work done.
“When we go for conferences, we hear reports of six, eight, nine projects in many states, but here in Abia, we noticed that about 18 projects are ongoing.
“It has been consistent for the number of years I have been coming.
“It is like they are covering the whole of Abia which is a very good and positive indication of hard work being done.
“I have also seen the quality of work being done and I can tell you that there is effective supervision,” he said.
Another national consultant, Mr Samuel Obot, said that he was quite impressed with what they saw at the sites visited by the team.
He said there was progress compared to what happened the previous year and expressed optimism that the programme would yield better results.
Obot especially praised SEMA Resources Nig. Ltd., one of the project contractors, for being diligent in the discharge of its construction activities, and advised other contractors to emulate it.
A site engineer at SEMA, Mr Femi Akande, whose company is constructing a mini cassava processing centre at Okoko Item in Bende Local Government Area, appreciated LIFE-ND for the project.
“So far, we have been able to achieve 80 per cent job done with our own resources, which we believe that LIFE-ND will also do the right thing for us.
“LIFE-ND has never disappointed us because this is not our first project with them,” he said.
Akande allayed fear of insecurity in the area and said there had not been any challenge of insecurity in the community since the project commenced.
The State Rural Infrastructure Officer, Mr Chukwumaobi Otubuike, said that the team was in Abia to confirm the progress reports the project had been turning in for the past 11 months.
According to him, the reports they have been seeing have been confirmed to be correct reports.
“They represent the actual performance of the contracts Abia State Project Consultant has awarded for the 2022 projects and 2023 ongoing ones.
“It is a routine inspection and once in a while in the life of a particular project National Project Consultants will embark on this kind of measure”, he said.
LIFE-ND is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in collaboration with the Federal Government and the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The project, which is designed for youths and women-headed households as well persons with disabilities, is aimed at providing sustainable food security and job creation in the Niger Delta region.