The federal government has been urged to utilise the opportunity of the nationwide protests against hunger to first address the challenges of food scarcity and then improve on the revenue of the country. The call is contained in a recent appeal by some Nigerian farmers. They are asking the government to consider setting up a new Presidential Initiative on Food Security. The body, according to them, should be given the mandate to end hunger and generate a huge revenue for the country.
The farmers expressed the belief that the agriculture sector is capable of generating between N10 trillion and N15 trillion in revenue for the country within two years. Their call was prompted by the current nationwide hunger protest by Nigerian youths, tagged #EndBadGovernance. The farmers, who operate in the large scale unit of the sector, made the e call at a press conference in Abuja. Led by a major rice farmer and businessman, Muhammad Abba Liman, they listed the categories of Nigerians who should be members of the presidential team.
The group said it was ready to assist President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration with strategic, achievable steps to ensure national food sufficiency and security within two years. Liman, their spokesperson, said the Nigerian government can generate between N10 trillion and N15 trillion in revenue from agriculture and its numerous value chains through the plan.
The farmers’ spokesperson, who is an executive member of the Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN), said, “There is a need for the federal government to set up a new Presidential Initiative on National Food Security made up of trusted and experienced bureaucrats, patriots, farmers, and reliable nationalists with unquestionable capacity and character to deliver on the country’s food sufficiency target.”
According to him, more than five million Nigerians will be empowered and funded to engage in productive and quality agriculture and its multi-trillion naira value chains, thereby creating more than 10 million jobs. Liman added that within two years, the presidential initiative shall produce not only what is sufficient for local consumption but will begin to export food to other African countries and the rest of the world.
Liman anchored his belief and that of his group on what they have observed in the new administration. He said, “At such a time we are in when Nigerians should quit the blame game, come together, and give full support to the Tinubu administration because I believe he has genuine intention towards reviving and building a better and stronger economy for Nigeria. “Until we do this, hungry citizens will continue to express their desperation and anger in the streets, thereby threatening our national peace and security the way we are currently witnessing.”