Tinubu Urges Governors To Collaborate On Food Security – Independent Newspaper Nigeria
In an effort to ensure that Nigerians are freed from suffering, President Bola Tinubu has asked state governors to collaborate in order to address the requirements of the populace. He has also pledged to supply the necessary resources.
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja at the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, the president emphasized how urgent it is to increase the nation’s food output.
According to him, the country has to increase agricultural productivity, develop the economy by fostering possibilities in the manufacturing, construction, and agriculture sectors, and urgently assist Nigerians with their financial needs.
The states along the Sokoto-Badagry Highway constitute the country’s food belt, and Badagry is a major route for food export, according to Tinubu, who stated that the project was crucial.
“Our states must work together to deliver on the critical reforms required of us to meet the needs of our people. Time is humanity’s most precious asset. You can never have enough of it. It is getting late.
“We are ready and able to support you in the form of the mechanisation of your agricultural processes and the provision of high-quality seedlings.
“We are prepared to provide solar powered irrigation facilities to support our farmers across seasons, but we must now produce,” he said.
The president went on to say that in order for there to be enough food produced in the states for everyone to consume, NEC members would need to work together and intentionally.
“There is nothing we are doing that is more important than producing high-quality food for our people to consume, buy and sell.
“We create jobs in the production of it. And that is before we generate wealth by exporting the excess. It is not beyond us to achieve this for Nigerians.
“How much support do you need from me and in what form? I am prepared to provide it. But we must achieve the result. We must deliver on our targets at all levels.
“Please report back following your consultations and submit to my office within seven days,” Tinubu said.
The National Construction and Household Support Programme will now be implemented immediately throughout all of the nation’s geopolitical zones, according to the president’s approval.
He stated that the Sokoto-Badagry Highway, which would pass through Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Kwara, Kebbi, Niger, and Sokoto, was given priority under the initiative.
Other road infrastructure projects would also be given priority, according to Tinubu. These include the Trans-Saharan Highway, which connects Enugu, Abakaliki, Ogoja, Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, and Abuja, and the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is currently under construction.
The Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Railway, which would cross Rivers, Abia, Enugu, Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, and Borno, has also received full counterpart financing from the president.
Additionally, he gave his approval for the Lagos-Kano Standard-Gauge Railway’s Ibadan-Abuja section, which would pass through Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Niger, Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano.
Tinubu said, “The Sokoto-Badagry road project is specially prioritised for its importance as some of the states it will traverse are strategic to the agricultural sustainability of the nation.
“Within the Sokoto-Badagry Highway corridor, there are 216 agricultural communities, 58 large and medium dams spread across six states, seven Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), 156 local government areas, 39 commercial cities and towns, and over 1 million hectares of arable land.
“In addition, other items under the National Construction and Household Support Programme include one-off allocation to states and the Federal Capital Territory of N10 billion for the procurement of buses and CNG uplift programme.
”Others are: delivery of N50,000 uplift grant each to 100,000 families per state for three months, provision for labour unions and civil society organisations and deployment of N155 billion for the purchase and sale of assorted foodstuffs to be distributed across the nation.” (NAN)
