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Nathaniel Gbaoron, Lafia
Worried by the food scarcity ravaging the nation arising from insecurity in the country, the immediate past Governor of Nasarawa state, Senator Umaru Tanko Almakura, has distributed 3000 bags of fertilizers to farmers within his constituency to boost food production.
MoneyCentral gathered that the Southern Senatorial zone comprises Lafia, Doma, Keana, Obi and Awe Local Government Areas of the state.
Al-Makura, who is the immediate past governor of Nasarawa State performed the flag-off on Monday in Lafia, the state capital.
According to him, the gesture was to complement the efforts of the state government under Governor Abdullahi Sule in supporting farmers to boost food production in the state.
“Recently, the state government distributed fertilizer across the state that benefited a tremendous amount of farmers. However, the demand for fertilizer is unlimited, the price is also exorbitant therefore, some of us that are supportive of this government and are part and parcel of the system go extra miles to see what we can do to support this administration.
“Apart from the five trailers of NPK fertilizer, we also have a lot of herbicides, insecticides that will complement the efforts of our farmers.
“If we want food security in the state, we need not only to expand the scope of their farmers but also to provide enough inputs so that we will have a better yield given the downturn in economic activities,” he said.
The senator noted that agriculture was one of the key sectors of the Muhammadu Buhari led administration, aimed at boosting agricultural production in the country, stressing that the gesture was also meant to fast track economic development through diversification to improve economic growth.
He, therefore, called on all farmers both small and large scale farmers to continue to step up efforts in agricultural production to ensure food security.
In his remarks, the acting Governor of Nasarawa state, Dr Emmanuel Akabe, said food was essential for human existence, saying that the government will continue to prioritise the agricultural sector of the economy for food security.
Akabe thanked Sen. Al-Makura for the gesture, describing him as a man of his people even as he urged other politicians to emulate the senator, in order to ameliorate the plight of the people of the state. He therefore urged the beneficiaries to use the items judiciously.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Executive Secretary, Nasarawa State Scholarship Board, Hajiya Sa’adatu Yahaya from Obi Local Government Area, thanked the Senator for the gesture, saying “we are overwhelmed and very happy for what you have done. We have never seen this kind of gesture before. We pray that God will reward you and meet you at your point of need.”
She assured that the items will be used according to the purpose it was given, in order to secure food sufficiency in the state.