The state governors of Ondo, Taraba, Kwara, and Kogi met with the federal governments over the shortage of food and inflation in Nigeria.
The meeting was held in Abuja, the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, with the aim of tackling food inflation and food shortages and ensuring an increase in crop production to ensure food security in Nigeria.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, expressed excitement over the state governors’ plan on food security programmes which were to be rolled out through the Federal Ministry.
While addressing the governors, the minister said there was strong political will and synergy in the agricultural sector:
“This visit is without a doubt a huge endorsement for the progressive drive towards the much-needed collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and state governments, with a view to creating an agricultural sector fit for a nation as endowed as Nigeria with massive arable, fertile land, abundant water resources, and an agricultural labour force.
“Your Excellencies, we are aware that in your respective states, agriculture has witnessed noticeable development over the years. The bigger picture we seek to create now is to vastly increase agricultural production year-round with the cardinal objective of driving down food inflation, creating employment, reducing poverty, engendering economic growth and development, and promoting inclusivity. We are confident that we can partner in the realisation of these objectives.
“There is no question that if we get things right now, and without an iota of doubt with all hands on the plough, future programmes and projects will enable us to more seamlessly achieve all-year-round agricultural production with beneficial consequences for economic empowerment, inclusiveness, and ultimately wider opportunities for value addition, food and nutrition security, as well as industrialization,
“It implied, Your Excellencies, that the more involved the sub-national governments are, the more sustainable agricultural production becomes, and the higher the chances of realising the interconnected 8-Point Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR,” the minister said.
Related Posts
- Protests: Nigeria Addresses Food Security Concerns
- Gov. Lawal Distributes Farm Inputs to 3 LGAs
- Covid-19: Reps give Fire Service 7 days to refund N1.484bn
Furthermore, on behalf of the four governors, the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum and the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, noted it was high time the Tinubu-led administration returned all agricultural programmes under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) back to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security for meaningful impact.
According to Abdulrazaq, the Anchor Borrowers Programme was a failure and never met the aims and objectives of its purpose, hence has a lot of indebtedness recorded.
He also added that Nigeria can feed itself and the entire West Africa, pointing out that the cheapest food in West Africa is in Nigeria; hence, most West African countries come to buy food from Nigeria.
However, he asserted that with the population and huge arable land God has blessed Nigeria with, she can comfortably feed herself and also export to India, China, and other established countries.
More so, he called on other states governments to massively monitor their data bases in order to fish out ghost farmers and their excesses in order for real farmers to have access to agricultural inputs for massive food production.
Meanwhile, the chairman commended the Minister and his team for the initiative to closely work with the state governments to achieve the long-expected food security under the ‘Renewed Hope’ Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
He however called for the resuscitation of the moribund Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) in some states, River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs), including the National Agricultural Lands Development Authority (NALDA) to embark on land clearing for more agricultural activities along various value chains.
The governors that were in attendance were: the governor of Kwara, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; the governor of Ondo State, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa; the governor of Taraba State, Dr. Agbu Kefas; and the governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Usman Ododo.
