The people of Nimbo in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State have appealed to the state government to make available to them all documents relating to the acquisition of 7,221 hectares of farmland at Ugwuijoro Nimbo for a proposed cashew plantation.
The people through a statement by the Concerned Nimbo Stakeholders, made the request ahead of a stakeholder engagement with officials of the state government led by the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Patrick Uburu.
The Concerned Stakeholders in the statement signed by the Chairman, Barr. Ambrose Okey and the Secretary, Mr. Okey Enechi, said the people are deeply troubled by the process surrounding the proposed cashew plantation project in Nimbo and the widely reported acquisition of 7,221 hectares of farmland at Ugwuijoro Nimbo without the people being carried along.
This view was also amplified by the traditional ruler of Nimbo, Igwe John Akor, Agaba Idu the 24th in his address at the said stakeholder meeting held on Friday January 31 2025.
According to him, “I wish to inform our esteemed guests that the proposed farmlands are comprised of inherited lands owned by families, clans, and villages. Nimbo, as a community, does not collectively own land. The proposed area includes lands belonging to clans and families in Ugwuijoro, as well as lands belonging to other distinct families, clans and villages within Nimbo. “Therefore, the proposed 7,221 hectares are not solely owned by Ugwuijoro. To ensure the project’s success and avoid potential conflicts, it is crucial that this stakeholder engagement is robust, transparent, and inclusive of all families, clans, and villages whose farmland falls within the proposed project area’s survey map.
“I respectfully request access to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the survey map of the proposed project area. These documents will enable the community stakeholders to thoroughly review them, identify the respective landowners, and ensure their appropriate participation in the engagement process. This will guarantee transparency and inclusivity.”
The Concerned Stakeholders noted that on January 27, 2025, through a letter, it formally requested from the President-General (PG) of Nimbo Town Union, all documents pertaining to the Ugwuijoro farmland, as widely reported in the media. It said the request was based on the PG’s statutory role in the community and their collective and individual stake in these farmlands.
The statement reads thus: “Despite the importance of this request, the PG has failed to respond. Instead, he traveled to Enugu and proceeded with arrangements for the purported stakeholder engagement held today (Friday January 31).
“We are astounded that our people are expected to participate effectively without access to these crucial documents, which are fundamental to any meaningful discussion,”
“We believe these documents are essential for informed participation in any stakeholder engagement with the state government and the partner company, a meeting the PG himself announced and we acknowledged.
“ Our intervention aims to prevent future disputes and conflicts. Nimbo community does not collectively own farmland; rather, individual villages, clans, and families hold it. “Therefore, any stakeholder engagement must be robust, transparent, and inclusive of all families, clans, and villages whose land falls within the proposed project area. Our people who are the owners and make use of the farmlands should be able to exercise their right of choice and participate in the decision-making process.
“ We reiterate our request: before any meaningful stakeholder engagement process can be achieved, all relevant documents, including consent agreements, the reported MOU, and the project area map, should be made available to all stakeholders. These documents are crucial for informed participation. Without them, Nimbo stakeholders will be participating blindly, rendering the process a mere formality.
“ Consequently, we, the concerned Nimbo stakeholders, are deeply concerned that the impromptu nature of this meeting will prevent meaningful participation from key stakeholders. The short notice for the meeting fails to consider the travel time required by stakeholders living far from home to attend. Furthermore, the relevant documents related to the farmland we requested have yet to be released, hindering informed participation and complicates the transparency of the process. We urge all Nimbo stakeholders to continue demanding the release of these documents for review.
“ We wish to remind the Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture that farming is Nimbo’s sole means of livelihood. Depriving our people of their farmland will further impoverish the community and exacerbate existing security challenges.
“ We also wish to remind the Honourable Commissioner that Nimbo has a history of land donations to the Ministry of Agriculture, including Demonstration Farm center (DFC) at Jidebreak – Nimbo and vast farmlands for the late M.I. Okpara’s legacy farm settlement policy. These past donations followed proper, transparent, and inclusive processes. Why is this instance different? We urge the Honourable Commissioner to review the ministry’s archives regarding its assets in Nimbo and how they were acquired.
“Finally, we urge those few Nimbo stakeholders who are misleading the Honourable Commissioner and the partner company to reconsider their stance. We implore them to lead the Honourable Commissioner to adopt a more transparent and inclusive approach. We will hold them responsible for any intra-community disputes and conflicts that may arise from this process. We wish to remind these stakeholders that history will definitely, not be kind to them and their families.”
Recently, the news broke that Enugu State Government and Fungtai Engineering Ltd. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), for the production of cash crops on 7,221 hectares of agricultural land at Ugwuijoro, Nimbo, in Uzo-Uwani LGA, in line with Governor Peter Mbah’s vision to ramp up agriculture and agro-industrialisation, boost security, and create employment.
Earlier last year, the state government had muted the plan to site a ranch at the same location, a plan that was vehemently rejected by the community, saying it is a way of secretly handing their ancestral land over to Fulani herdsmen, the same people that unleashed mayhem on the community in 2016 killing over 50 persons.