The hunger that pervaded Nigeria and made many people to endure a dry festive season in 2023 will soon give way to a handsome supply of food in the country. Scores of Nigerians could not afford to celebrate in grand style, as the prices of food items went up so sporadically towards the end of last year. But the federal government said that occurrence would be temporary. It said that notwithstanding the challenges, the government’s commitment to increased productionof food remains unwavering. This reassurance was given by President Bola Tinubu in his maiden new year broadcast as the president of Nigeria.
He said his administration puts a premium on food production and provision of stable electricity. Towards this end the federal government has made efforts for the provision of farmland for Nigerians to plant food crops among others. Conscious of the need for farmers to operate under a safe atmosphere, the president said his administration will intensify effort to tackle insecurity in the country. This assurance is coming in the wake of the incessant attacks on farmlands and agrarian communities in Ekiti and Plateau states. In Ekiti, over 30 farmers were forced out of their farmlands by rampaging criminal herders, who fed the crops to their cattle. The farmstead said to cover several hectares were used to plant cassava and yams. In Plateau state, people were killed in communities by intruders suspected to be criminal herders, and their house razed. Tinubu said, “To ensure constant food supply, security and affordability, we will step up our plan to cultivate 500,000 hectares of farmlands across the country to grow maize, rice, wheat, millet and other staple crops.”
The president recalled the launching of the dry season farming with 120,000 hectares of land in Jigawa State in November 2023. The project which is under the National Wheat Development Programme was launched by the minister of agriculture and food security, Senator Abubakar Kyari. According to the president, the programme was designed to “enablefarmers produce sufficient certified seeds, aligning with the nation’s target of cultivating between 200,000 and 250,000 hectares of wheat under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-pocket project.” He said, to ease the burden of farmers, his administration will ‘support 150,000 to 250,000 farmers with 50 percent input subsidy to cultivate between 200,000 and 250,000 hectares’. He expressed the optimism that from that programme the federal government expects that the country would get a yield of 1, 250,000 tonnes of wheat.
If this is achieved, it would be a step in the right direction. The war between Russia and Ukraine has affected supply of wheat to most parts of the world, thereby raising the cost of wheat, primarily used to produce bread. A heavy production of wheat in Nigeria will not only address the dwindling local supply, but also position Nigeria to minister to the needs of other countries.