The former Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party in Nigeria, Audu Ogbeh, has called on the Church of Nigeria to establish an agriculture-based NGO to generate income for poor people in the country.

|TOP|Mr Ogbeh appealed to the Church Thursday as he delivered a paper entitled “Agriculture opportunities” at a five-day economic empowerment seminar in Lagos organised by the church aimed at discovering ways to strengthen the ability of the church to tackle poverty in the developing world.

According to Mr Ogbeh, the church would be able to gain support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from agricultural development oriented donor agencies by way of the NGO.

“Reducing poverty is one of the cardinal missions of the Church, but the lack of adequate funding has stagnated some pilot projects initiated by some dioceses to empower low income earners,” said Ogbeh.

Mr Ogbeh said the Church could take life back to the rural areas by paying attention to micro, small and medium-scale enterprises.

He added that the Church should utilise the progress made by President Olusegun Obasanjo, who Ogbeh said had paid more attention to agricultural development than any other Nigerian leader in the last 20 years.

Mr Ogbeh criticised, however, state governors for “not responding enough”, as well as rebuking them for inconsistency in policy, poor seed quality, and outrageous bank interest as factors preventing efficient agricultural production in the country.