DIOCESE OF BIDA AT 20

DIOCESE OF BIDA AT 20: EXPERIENCES AT RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION[1]

J N Nmadu

Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management

Federal University of Technology, Minna

Protocol:

It gives me pleasure to be invited to present a Keynote address at this Second Session of the Seventh Synod of the Diocese. I am extremely grateful to my lord Bishop, Rt. Rev. Jonah G. Kolo, for this singular honour. I also appreciate the strategic thinking, foresight and the solid foundation he has laid since the inception of the Diocese. The Diocese is now on a strong footing to forge ahead, strategize and ensure that when she celebrates her 40^th anniversary, the efforts on ground would lead to the emergence of a prosperous Diocese in which assessment payment would be a thing of the past!

Let me also congratulate the Synod for successfully holding Sessions every year and being part of history. Indeed, there were a lot pessimism when the Diocese was inaugurated in 1999 as if the journey would soon end. But today, we are here, almost at the verge of celebrating the 20^th anniversary. This is a clear testimony that God was, God is and God will be in the Diocese and we should be rest assured that God is never involved in a failed project.

At this point, let me outline some of the efforts of the Bishop in the last 20 years of the Diocese. In doing so, it is hoped that we shall learn from some of the successes and failures of these efforts and chart a progressive path to a prosperous Diocese at 40. Some of the efforts which I want to bring to the fore are:

1.   The New Cathedral Project,

2.   Setting up of the Agricultural Board of the Diocese

3.   Setting up of the Development Board

4.   Setting up of the Education Board (Our Saviour’s School)

5.   The Endowment Fund for the Diocese

6.   Starting various development project particularly the Guest House Project and the Rural Hospital Project now in the Diocese of Doko.

7.   Farm project (Bida, Loguma and Kudu)

8.   The piggery project,

9.   Zaworo rice project,

10.               Bayetin Microfinance Bank

11.               Tractor hiring project, etc.

From the above, it can clearly be observed that, if the stated goals and objectives of these various projects have been realized, the Diocese would have been at least a foot farther than where she is today. Part of the reasons of this apparent failure to be at the desired position today is attributable to a number of reasons including but not limited to:

1.   Lack of total believe in what God could do,

2.   Low morale among the generality of members,

3.   Lack of cohesiveness in the House of Clergy,

4.   Poor capital outlay including low responses to calls on members to contribute,

5.   High level of poverty in Nupe land generally and the church in particular,

6.   Poor perception of the importance of credit/loan in the process of development, etc.

The above listed problems are real, somewhat genuine, but not unsurmountable. I will encourage us at this Synod to critically examine each of them and others not listed so as to assist us strategize our path to the future. In doing so we must

1.   Trust God that he is able,

2.   Be pragmatic and practical, and

3.   Be willing to take risk.

According to risk experts, the utility level (level of satisfaction, level of benefit, level of development etc.) of those who take risk (managers/gamblers) is higher, whether they are successful or they fail, then those who are risk-averse (those who fear to take risk).

While trying to conclude, it is important to note that in the above mentioned list of projects, particularly the Microfinance Bank and the tractor project, we have abundant resources that we can leverage on as a way of stepping out towards a prosperous Diocese at the conclusion of this synod. In addition, there are low cost and low technology ventures that the Synod should consider going into, as a way of moving into a prosperous journey like the piggery project, fish project and broiler production. There is also opportunity in various agribusiness and value chain ventures like agro-input supply and value addition to raw agricultural produce before sales. For example, kuli-kuli, dankuwa production and packaging[2]. The Diocese also have abundant human and social capital[3] that can also be leveraged for this building project.

My lord Bishop and the entire Synod, it is time to build for God and let no man waiver in their faith and believe, so that this project will be a shinning light to the forces of evil and darkness in Jesus name. Amen.

Thank you for listening.

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[1] Being a Keynote Address presented at the Second Session of the 7th Synod of the Diocese of Bida holding at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, Gbadafu Archdeaconry, Gbadafu, Gbako Local Government Area, Niger State between June 06 -09, 2019. The views expressed in this paper are entirely my ideas and does not in any way represent views of any other persons or groups. Some specific names are mentioned in the paper only for purpose of illustrations only.

[2] See for example some practical suggestions in Nmadu, J. N. (2018). Potentials in Nupeland and how they can be harnessed for economic prosperity. Delivered at the 2018 Nupe Day Lectures Series held on December 13, 2018 University Auditorium, Ibrahim Babangida University, Lapai.

[3] The simplified meaning of CAPITAL is produced means (factor) of production.