ASHENEWS reports that the Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago has been inaugurated as one of the members of the Presidential Food System Coordinating Unit by the Vice President, Kasim Shettima.
A statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Niger State Governor, Bologi Ibrahim said that the governor, while speaking during the inauguration of the committee in Abuja highlighted the efforts of this administration in enhancing food production.
“He also highlighted the huge investment his administration has made in procuring agricultural equipment and inputs for mechanisation and irrigation systems,” the statement said.
The statement added that the governor used the opportunity to solicit support from the Federal government, World Bank and other development partners to achieve good security.
Speaking earlier, the Vice President, Kashim Shettima said that Nigeria is currently facing a rare food crisis.
“The nation is facing a rare food security crisis and the sooner we come to terms with the reality, the better.
“Food insecurity endangers the very basis of our democratic experiment, and this is why all hands have to be on deck. We are in a food security crisis, but it also provides us the opportunity to re-engineer and reposition the nation on a firmer footing,” Shettima said.
The Vice President who explained that the unit was not created to usurp the functions of the Ministry of Agriculture, noted that the urgency and seriousness of the matter at hand requires the ideas and resources of all stakeholders.
Also present at the meeting were the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari; Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi; National President of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon. Maifata Aminu Mu’azu, and Executive Secretary of National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), Muhammed Abu Ibrahim.
Others include Managing Director/CEO of Flour Mills of Nigeria, Mr Omoboyede Olusanya; MD of SaroAfrica, Mr Rasheed Sarunmi; World Bank Programme Leader, Sustainable Development, Nigeria, Mr Vinay Vutukuru, and the institution’s Senior Agriculture economist, Mr Manievel Emmanuel Sene, among others.
