Kunle Adelabu
Residents and sellers in lkorodu, most of whom are farmers, have welcomed the Ikorodu Farm Fair initiated by the Ikorodu local Government, in conjunction with the United Apex Farmers, Ikorodu.
The two-day sales, which were held at the premises of the Ikorodu LG Secretariat, between Thursday, June 22 and Friday, June 23, was staged to make farm produce and items available to residents towards the Eid – il – Kabir (Ileya) celebrations.
At the maiden edition of the fair, which was themed, ‘Safe Food Today For Healthy Tomorrow’, council functionaries who spoke with THE IMPACT, said that the initiative is necessary to make food items available to residents at affordable prices.
Alhaji Musbaudeen Alejo, Supervisory Councilor for Agriculture, Ikorodu LG, speaking with our reporter, said that the initiative will assist to bridge the gap between the farmers and residents.
“The concept behind the farm fair is to bridge the gap between the farmers and the people. We are trying to provide an enabling environment for the farmers and the members of the public to meet”, he said.
“This is a two-day fair and we are expecting people to patronize the farmers that have brought their produce”.
Acting Head of Agriculture and Social Service Department, Ikorodu LG, Mrs Omole Olubukola, also speaking, said that the fair is aimed towards making farm produce available directly to residents, and also to support the THESE Plus agenda of the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo – Olu.
“It is part of our efforts in supporting Mr Governor’s THESE Plus agenda at the Ikorodu Local Government. The concept is to make farm produce available for residents of Ikorodu at low rates”, she said.
“This is the first edition of the programme and the turnout is impressive. I will rate it 70%, and I can assure that the next one that we will be having will be better than this”, she added.
Omole also said that the council is planning to have the fair at least twice a year.
“We plan staging it twice a year, during the Ileya and Christmas festivals. This is our way of assisting our farmers who are many and through this avenue, we are developing another market for their produce”, she said.
Alhaji Lukman Shonibare, Chairman, Community Development Committee (CDC) and General Secretary, Lagos State Community Development Advisory Council, commended the initiative and charged that it should be staged from time – to – time.
“This is first of its kind and a welcome development to members of the CDC/CDAs and the generality of residents of Ikorodu, because I expect that prices of commodities here will be lesser than what we used to have in the regular market”, Alhaji Shonibare said.
“In addition, it is an avenue for people to have residents to buy food items for the Ileya festival at cheaper prices. In this market, we have rams, rice, groundnut oil, palm oil, vegetable and maize and a host of other things. It is a good programme in the right direction, and I want to advise the management of the Ikorodu Local Government to continue having this type of fair.
“It should not be on a quarterly basis and should be better organized. We have more farmers in Ikorodu, because we are an agrarian society. A trade fair of this nature should involve more people and farmers. We are supposed to have pigs, rabbits and others that we are rearing here”, he said.
A ram seller at the fair, Imam Adesanya Abdul-Hakeem, also welcomed the idea.
“This is what is expected of a council which is an agrarian area and we must have a food surplus. This initiative is designed to prove and let the world know that Ikorodu is an agricultural area capable of feeding its people and also exporting to other areas”, he said.
“The market will also help residents ad prevent them from going out of Ikorodu to Mile 12 and other markets where they are paying higher prices for items, with stress.
“The council should ensure that the market fair is constant. I also want to implore our farmers to always make their produce available at fair prices for people”.
Average rams were sold at N140, 000 and N90, 000.
Mr Olakunle Onabanjo, a representative of the Lagos State Agric Input Supply Authority (LSAISA), an organ of the state government saddled with the responsibility of providing inputs to farmers and also assisting in moving end products for farmers in the state, also commended the council’s initiative.
“Of course, it is a good initiative. This is the first of its kind ever since I was born and bred in Ikorodu Local Government. We are expecting that there will be improved patronage in the subsequent editions. It is a laudable venture and we are expecting the Local Government to continue with it”, he said.
He also appealed to farmers to patronise LSAISA products for better outputs.
“We are calling on registered and unregistered farmers to patronise LSAISA for their inputs. Our office is at the Fish Farm Estate, Odogunyan. We are there to serve by providing them with quality products at affordable prices”.
