Imo Monarch Kicks Over CBN Agric Loan Policy

Veteran journalist and royal father in Imo State, His Royal
Highness, Eze Geo Anika, has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) to review its ongoing agricultural loan policy.

Anika, a former senior staff of Radio Nigeria, is the current
traditional ruler of Atta ancient kingdom in Ikeduru local
government area of the state.

He told journalists in his palace that the requirement of a
large expanse of land as a condition for qualification for an agric
loan in certain areas of agriculture was detrimental to mass
participation in food production in the country.

The monarch maintained that such a policy must be reviewed if
the Apex bank wants most people of the Southeast to participate in
improving agriculture and food production.

While describing agriculture as key to the economic development
of any nation, Anika attributed the low participation of the
Southeast in the Central Bank CBN agric loans to the condition.

According to him, “The requirement of the huge expanse of land
by the CBN as qualification for loans in certain aspects of
agriculture was a big hindrance to farmers from the Southeast to
access agric loans offered by the Apex bank.

“I’m calling on the CBN to remove the requirement of a large
expanse of land in most cases to accommodate the people of
Southeast region which does not have large expanses of land as the
North where a farmer can own large expanse of land for
agriculture.

“I think the CBN should rather accept the merger of different
fragments of lands owned by either individual farmers or
communities to make up for a single stretch of large expanse of
land which the bank sets as one of its criteria.”

Veteran journalist and royal father in Imo State, His Royal
Highness, Eze Geo Anika, has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) to review its ongoing agricultural loan policy.

Anika, a former senior staff of Radio Nigeria, is the current
traditional ruler of Atta ancient kingdom in Ikeduru local
government area of the state.

He told journalists in his palace that the requirement of a
large expanse of land as a condition for qualification for an agric
loan in certain areas of agriculture was detrimental to mass
participation in food production in the country.

The monarch maintained that such a policy must be reviewed if
the Apex bank wants most people of the Southeast to participate in
improving agriculture and food production.

While describing agriculture as key to the economic development
of any nation, Anika attributed the low participation of the
Southeast in the Central Bank CBN agric loans to the condition.

According to him, “The requirement of the huge expanse of land
by the CBN as qualification for loans in certain aspects of
agriculture was a big hindrance to farmers from the Southeast to
access agric loans offered by the Apex bank.

“I’m calling on the CBN to remove the requirement of a large
expanse of land in most cases to accommodate the people of
Southeast region which does not have large expanses of land as the
North where a farmer can own large expanse of land for
agriculture.

“I think the CBN should rather accept the merger of different
fragments of lands owned by either individual farmers or
communities to make up for a single stretch of large expanse of
land which the bank sets as one of its criteria.”