Victor EzejaAs the costs of food items and other things continue to rise in Nigeria, the Federal Government has been advised to take concrete actions to address it and save the citizens from excruciating economic hardship.
A former lawmaker, who represented Igbo-Eze North/Udenu federal constituency, Hon. Denis Agbo, who made the call said the best palliative the Nigerian government can give the citizens, especially the most vulnerable ones, to wrestle the high cost of food, is to take drastic steps towards boosting food production and supply.
There has been an unprecedented hike in cost of things in the country, especially within the last eight months due to some economic reforms embarked on by the current administration such as the removal of subsidies on petrol and floating of the naira in the foreign exchange market which saw the local currency’s value nosedive by over 40 per cent. The Federal Government had in response, promised to mobilise funds to distribute palliatives to the most economically vulnerable ones among the citizens and also create a scheme to offer low-interest loans to SMEs and domestic manufacturers to drive their businesses and boost economic activities.
However, the citizens are yet to see tangible results of these declarations as costs of things continue to be on the high side while insecurity also spreads across the country.
Hon. Agbo said the government has not taken any concrete action to tackle food inflation which is now over 30 per cent hence the unabated rise in costs that has inflicted so much suffering on the citizens, especially those on the lower wrung of the economic ladder.
The lawmaker, who appeared on Channels Television Sunrise Daily Programme on Thursday, urged the government to decisively deal with the threat of insecurity which has kept many farmers away from their farms, a major factor that has hindered agricultural production in the country.
Agbo suggested what he called “National Agricultural Development Initiative” which according to him, should be a marshal plan of declaring state of emergency on food production in the country.
He said: “what that means is to prioritise agricultural production in Nigeria in terms of resource allocation. Provide adequate security and encourage farmers to go back to farms.”
He further urged the government to do mapping of states to identify agricultural products each is endowed with and encourage them with vital interventions to boost food production.
He also stressed the need for full adoption of mechanised agriculture for large scale production.
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He added that to effectively achieve that goal of boosting agricultural production, the Federal Government must collaborate with states and also partner with and support private sector players to invest in agricultural production.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
