By Gabriel Ewepu
ABUJA – The Federal Government on Wednesday mobilised a $500 million Niger Delta Agricultural Investment Fund to galvanise food production, employment generation, and industrialisation in the Niger Delta region.
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima while delivering his speech at the Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Summit, jointly convened by the Office of the Vice President and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja acknowledged the Nigeria’s development before the advent of oil and gas discovery was driven by an agrarian economy, and the foundation of Nigeria was laid upon it, which “before the barrel, it was the soil that paid our bills.”
Meanwhile, the Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Summit 2026, with the theme ‘Unlocking Investment for Sustainable Agricultural Transformation in the Niger Delta’, was attended by all nine governors of the Niger Delta region, Federal Ministries, traditional rulers, development partners, the diplomatic community, and other stakeholders.
He said: “This is why we have gathered here today, with the governors of all nine states, upon three pillars: to launch a dedicated investment fund, to coordinate the commitments already pledged to this region, and to inaugurate the institution that will steer them, summoning the capital of the world to this corridor.
