By Nna Anulumadu
Ojoto community members were in a jubilant mood last Friday, June 27, 2025, when the Federal House Member representing Idemili North and South federal constituency, Hon. Uche Harris Okonkwo, commissioned a newly built Catalytic Integrated Cassava processing plant he attracted to Ojoto town.
Speaking shortly after the commissioning, the lawmaker disclosed that the plant project, housing different cassava processing equipment such as peeling, grating, pressing, frying, and bagging machines, was built to enhance cassava processing for greater and speedier output.
According to him, the plant will industrialize the community and greatly assist in addressing food insecurity facing the country. He added that community members and neighboring towns who are into cassava farming will no longer encounter challenges in cassava processing.
The lawmaker stated that with the cassava processing plant, the community members will not only produce garri for local consumption but also for export purposes. The Traditional Ruler of the community, HRM Igwe Gerald Obunadike Mbamalu, represented by Chief Romeo Anyisia, poured encomiums on the legislator for attracting the project, describing it as a signature project.
He also posited that the project is a call to community members to return to farming to fight the current food scarcity hitting the masses. The Vice President of Ojoto Youth, Comrade Chidozie Muoghalu, Hon. Akachukwu Dominic Okonkwo, Hon. Augustine Egbuna, and a farmer, Mrs. Stella Ekumeku, expressed gratitude to the legislator for his good heart to his constituency.
They described the cassava plant as an empowerment for the community members and pledged to make good use of the plant to produce garri in larger quantities. They also revealed their readiness to protect the facilities from abuse and vandalism.
Meanwhile the project construction was handled by Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi ( FIIRO)
It is worth noting that the lawmaker has attracted and sponsored many projects in his constituency, including building schools, empowering youth and women in various capacities, and installing solar-powered lights in various markets within the constituency, all within two years in office.
