The Enugu State Government has approved the distribution of Enugu farm inputs to 63,000 registered smallholder farmers as part of efforts to increase agricultural production during the current planting season. The State Executive Council also approved the recruitment of 4,698 teachers for Smart Green Schools and ordered the immediate reactivation of isolation centres in response to the Ebola outbreak reported in parts of East Africa.
Speaking after the State Executive Council meeting in Enugu, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Dr. Patrick Ubru, said this year’s intervention represents a significant increase from the previous year when about 40,000 farmers received support. According to him, beneficiaries will receive free fertilisers, agrochemicals, rice seeds, maize seeds, pepper seeds and tomato seeds aimed at reducing production costs and improving farmers’ incomes.
Ubru explained that only duly registered and verifiable smallholder farmers whose farms have been documented will benefit from the programme to ensure transparency and effective monitoring. He added that Governor Peter Mbah will officially launch the distribution exercise on Tuesday before supplies are extended to all 260 political wards across the state under strict supervision.
The Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ndubueze Mbah, announced that the approval of 4,698 additional teachers is designed to strengthen learning across the state’s 267 Smart Green Schools.
He said the government is also expanding the Centre for Experiential Learning and Innovation (CELI) at the Enugu State College of Education (Technical) to sustain education reforms through continuous teacher development. According to him, the centre will ensure every teacher receives specialised training to deliver practical, skills-based education while also supporting young innovators with commercialising creative ideas and patentable solutions.
On the health sector, Commissioner for Health Prof. George Ugwu said the government had directed the immediate reactivation of all isolation centres established during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He explained that the decision followed the Ebola outbreak reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and parts of Uganda, noting that Enugu’s status as an international gateway requires proactive health preparedness. Ugwu said the measure is intended to strengthen the state’s emergency response capacity and ensure it is adequately prepared for any possible public health threat.
The Executive Council also directed contractors handling ongoing hospital expansion projects to accelerate completion before the end of the year.
Projects receiving renewed attention include the high-rise development at Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, Park Lane, and the teaching hospital at the State University of Medical and Applied Sciences (SUMAS), Igbo-Eno. The commissioner disclosed that the Enugu International Hospital is also expected to be commissioned within the next few weeks as part of the state’s broader healthcare improvement programme.
Officials at the briefing maintained that the Mbah administration remains committed to delivering its development agenda despite the political season, insisting that governance, agricultural support, education reform and healthcare expansion will continue without interruption.
