The Federal Government is aiming to reduce the cost of fertilizers for Nigerian farmers by fifty percent in a bid to achieve food security in the country.
Vice President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday stated this at the Fertilizers Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) stakeholders’ meeting with the Federal Government, on the 33,000 metric tonnes of Potash donated to the Federal Government by Russia’s Uralchem Group and UN Partners, in his office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to a statement by Olusola Abiola, Director Information Office of the Vice President, the VP said, “Our goal is to serve the Nigerian people. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very passionate about reducing the cost of fertilizers for the Nigerian public.
“No strings attached, no vested interest and the President will be happy if the price of fertilizers collapses by 50 percent after this exercise.”
The Vice President said President Tinubu gives high premium to achieving the agenda of food security in the country, noting that this accounts for the declaration of state of emergency in food security sector by the Tinubu administration last July.
According to him, “We have many challenges with food security in the country, we are however very lucky because the President is very empathetic and very passionate about achieving food sufficiency in the country.”
At the meeting which had in attendance the Minister of Agriculture, Senator Abubakar Kyari and Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, the Vice President expressed the seriousness attached to the donation and distribution of the potash from Uralchem Group.
He charged stakeholders that “there has to be transparency, equity and fairness in the distribution exercise for the reason that the end beneficiaries are the Nigerian farmers and their leadership is seated here.”
Senator Shettima assured stakeholders “that there will be transparency, there will be full disclosure and we are going to use our own blenders and the beneficiaries have to be the Nigerian people.”
On the entire exercise, the Vice President disclosed that the NEMA, World Food Programme (WFP) and AFEX, a commodity Exchange firm have the data base and other requirements that will assist the Federal Government in reaching out to the farmers in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security driving the process.
It will be recalled that at the last Russia-Africa Summit held in St. Petersburg Russia last July, the Federal Government delegation met with the leadership of Uralchem Group and WFP over the donation of a consignment of 33,000 metric tonnes of potash.
In attendance at the Stakeholders’ meeting were the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Ernest Umakhihe; Director General, National Emergency Management Agency, Mustapha Ahmed; President, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Arc. Kabir Ibrahim; President, Fertilisers Producers And Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN), Sadiq Kassim; the Country Director of World Food Programme, Kucro Jawed and representatives of National Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and Associated Foreign Exchange (AFEX).
