Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari has said that traders hoarding food commodities and engaging in speculative trading are not fair to Tinubu’s Government.
This he said as he assured that the Federal Government is intensifying efforts to scale up food production in the country.
The minister stated this in Abuja at a Ramadan lecture organised by the SA to the President on Agriculture and Food Security, Mufutau Yinusa and the Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023, a major support group of the president during the 2023 presidential election.
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The lecture had as its theme: “Gratitude, Patience and Vision: Embracing challenges with Optimism”.
The minister who decried the increasing cost of food items, said that apart from insecurity that has affected agricultural production, hoarding of foodstuffs has further exacerbated the situation in the country.
“Some of the problems we are facing is also man made, hoarding for instance and speculative trade by commodity traders is also very huge.
“We have seen and discovered some warehouses in big commodity areas where even gates are removed and walls built just to hoard food stuffs inside.
“So when you look at those things and say it’s Bola Tinubu, I think we are not being fair to the administration of this government.
“So we have to look inward, we all have a role to play,” he said.
Kyari said the Federal Government would continue to work round the clock to ensure food security for the nation, while addressing the insecurity challenge frontally.
Also, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, in his goodwill message at the event urged Muslims to use the Ramadan period to pray for the nation and its leaders.
“We don’t have any country than Nigeria and President Ahmed Tinubu has said it times without number, he is here to make a difference and he wants everybody to support him,” Abdullahi said.
He reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to working with relevant stakeholders to address the economic challenges facing the nation.
The SA to the President on Agriculture and Food Security, Mufutau Yinusa said the lecture was part of efforts to support the current administration and reach out to the grassroots.
The Director-General, Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023, Barr. Realwan Okpanachi expressed optimism that Nigeria will soon surmount its challenges looking at the track records and experience of President Bola Tinubu.
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