By Dele Ogbodo
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security on Thursday allayed worries on the planned distribution of the 42, 000 metric tonnes of grains next week.
Senator Abubakar Kyari, he Minister overseeing the ministry assured that the exercise will be done transparently across the 774 LGAs with the National Security Adviser (NSA), DSS, NEMA, Police, the Military, Labour Unions and CSOs will be involved in the template and matrix laid down for the distribution.
Meanwhile, the Governor of Niger State, Mr. Mohammed Bago, while field questing questions from journalists said his state has additional 120 trucks of grains for distribution for its citizens besides the palliatives that is being exoected from the federal government.
Bago, said: “I’m here at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in respect of the visit of President Bola Tinubu to Niger State in commissioning the mechanization that we have provided for agriculture.
“And also to discuss the issue of palliatives of food distribution from the federal government’s grains reserve that we have across the country and also to use Niger State as the pilot state in the North-Central so that it can commence in earnest.
“Niger State has provided itself as a pilot scheme in terms of delivering the dividend of democracy in terms ofagriculture and Mr. President’s Agenda on Agriculture and Food Security and as asuch our sister states are coming onboard but we are leading but the Ministry of Agriculture is giving us the necessary support and also giving us the necessary input and also extension services so that we can push it further.
On beneficiaries, the governor, added that the template is with NEMA, adding: “I’m sure it will cut across thousands of thousands of people but the state government in its own efforts has has acquired 120 trucks of food to compliment what the federal government is doing so that it can reach more people. We are looking at assorted grains from rice, millet, guinea corn, soya beans etc etc.
So we are doing a lot of sensitization, education to our farmers and rural dwellers that the only way to solve this crisis is to go back to agriculture and it is vast like animal husbandry and acquaculture is another.
He revealed that the state will cash on the enormous bodies of water that it has to venture into acquaculture, adding that the state encouraging its people to go into it.
On partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to boost food production, he revealed that the state will match naira for naira what the federal government is investing in agriculture.
While answering questions at the sideline, the Minister, said: “For distribution, it is 42,000 metric tonnes of assorted grains maize, millet and garri and sorghum etc etc, however, delivery is another issue as soon as possible we are going to start making deliveries and we are targeting local governments.
“Anyway and it will be on the template of NEMA and they are going to do the distribution and the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA).
To checkmate hijack of the process, he reassured, adding: “like I said, the NSA is heavily involved and Security Agencies like Police, Armed Forces NSCDC and it is going to be a very robust processes and even the media will be involved, religious groups, CSOs and other unions will oversee that distribution.
“I assure you that it is going to be very transparent I have seen that robust matrix that have been drawn out and as soon as it is out we are going to declare to everybody where what is going to where and how.
“Those issues will be clearly addressed and I know that everybody is worried about is the issue of what had happened in the past. We would set out a template that will make a worthy exercise.”
