President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, in Abuja, declared a state of emergency on food security. Tinubu also approved that all matters pertaining to food and water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council. This is followed by an immediate release of fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after consultations with key stakeholders in the agricultural sector at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. He said, “We will immediately release fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.
As a direct and immediate response to this crisis, a number of initiatives will be deployed in the coming weeks to reverse this inflationary trend and guarantee future uninterrupted supplies of affordable foods to ordinary Nigerians. The President said the Central Bank of Nigeria will continue to play a role of funding the agricultural value chain.
He said 500,000 hectares of have already been mapped land to increase availability of arable land for farming. Tinubu said revenue from food and agricultural exports would be increased. Food prices have been on the rise across Nigeria in recent years. The situation deteriorated due to the impact of government policies such as the removal of subsidy on petrol, among others.
Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 22.41 per cent in May from 22.22 per cent in the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The food inflation rate also quickened to 24.82 per cent in May from 24.61 per cent in April. Mr Alake said some of the government’s steps as part of the state of emergency would be in the short, medium and long term.
Imosam (
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