President Muhammadu Muhammadu Buhari has revealed why there are ballooning prices of foodstuff in the country in spite of the investments of his administration in agriculture.
The News reports that Buhari spoke in his Eid-el-Kabir message to Nigerians as contained in a statement released by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement on Monday, July 19, in Abuja.
Buhari says his administration will address food scarcity in Nigeria.
President Buhari has revealed why prices of foodstuffs are on the increase in Nigeria.
VAM News gathered that the president also assured that his administration is working hard to address food inflation occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect of floods on agricultural activities in the country.
large-scale destruction to agricultural farmlands, thereby “impacting negatively on our efforts to boost local production in line with our policy to drastically reduce food importation.
“No government in our recent history has invested as heavily as we are doing to promote local production of about 20 other commodities, through the provision of loans and several other forms of support to our farmers.”
Middlemen take advantage of local rice production to exploit fellow Nigerians
Buhari noted that apart from the destruction caused to rice farms by floods, middlemen had also taken advantage of the local rice production to exploit fellow Nigerians.
He said this has further undermined the government’s efforts of supporting local food production at affordable prices.
“As an elected president who enjoys the goodwill of the ordinary people that gave us their mandate, let me assure you that we are continuing with measures to bring relief to Nigerians, including making fertiliser available at affordable prices to our farmers.”
Inseurity in the country has produced severe and adverse effects on agriculture because farmers are prevented from accessing their farms by bandits and terrorists.
He, however, restated the determination of his administration to create a just, harmonious and prosperous country in which the safety of life and property is assured.
While reflecting on current challenges facing the country, the president stated that the “COVID-19 pandemic had taken a heavy toll on the economies of all countries, including Nigeria.”
Buhari reassured Nigerians that his administration had taken measures to address the nation’s security challenges.