…as Ogun starts N5bn interventions.
The Federal Government, on Wednesday, has announced that it would freely dish out 42,000 metric tonnes of grains approved by President Bola Tinubu to the poor Nigerians.
This was disclosed immediately after Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun on Wednesday announced his plans to release over N5bn intervention plans to help the residents of the state stay afloat the biting effects of the country’s struggling economy occasioned by the rising inflation and currency devaluation.
Govetnor Abiodun revealed that the intervention was a direct reaction to the fact that the government was never oblivious or insensitive of the hard times Nigerians were going through while ensuring<span;> the intervention plans covers education, health distribution of food as well as deliberate welfare packages for the workers.
He also said that whatever the country was experiencing were necessary sacrifices had to be made towards ensuring a greater tomorrow.
Abiodun lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for his continuous efforts in navigating the complexities of the nation’s economic landscape saying that his dedication to steering the ship through turbulent times had not gone unnoticed.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government also announced that the Department of State Services and the National Emergency Management Agency had been engaged in the distribution process of the 42,000MT of grains approved by Tinubu in order to ensure that the commodities get to the targeted citizens nationwide.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, who disclosed this at a ministerial press briefing in Abuja, further revealed that the government would be supporting 500,000 farmers to cultivate and produce one million metric tonnes of rice.
He said this would increase Nigeria’s rice production from the current seven/eight million tonnes annually to a new level, adding that the government would offtake the 60,000 metric tonnes of rice being produced by millers.
Kyari also revealed that 15 state governors had expressed interest to participate fully in this year’s dry season farming, adding that this would help in ameliorating the food crisis being experienced in Nigeria.
On February 8, 2024, President Tinubu directed the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to release about 42,000MT of maize, millet and other commodities from the national strategic reserves in order to address the rising cost of food in Nigeria.
Providing explanation on how the 42,000MT grains would be distributed at the press briefing on Wednesday, the Agric minister said it would go to poor Nigerians for free.
Kyari said, “This 42,000MT is going to the needy free of charge. It will be directly to the needy at no cost.”
Asked to state how the government would identify the needy, Kyari replied, “We’ve met with NEMA and DSS to give us the index. These are where to gather intelligence report on where it is needed the most. And we are going to look at those indices.”
(Punch)