By Stella Odueme
The Federal Government has said that the it will commence the distribution of the 42,000 metric tonnes of assorted grains released from the National Strategic Reserves across the country this week with the flag off in Niger State.
The Governor of Niger State, Mohammed Umaru Bagot stated this on Thursday after he met with the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari in Abuja.
Bago said that President Bola Tinubu would be in Niger State to flag-off the distribution of the food palliative as well as commission Agriculture Mechanisation initiated by the State Government.
He said his state has also procured 120 trucks of grains comprising rice, millet, sorghum, guinea corn and soybeans which would complement the intervention of the Federal Government palliatives in the state.
The governor expressed optimism that the vulnerables people would receive the palliative.
Already, he disclosed that the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA) and Office of the National Security Adviser(ONSA), and other security operatives, have been assigned the task of distributing the palliatives to the people free of charge.
Bago assured of his state readiness to partner with the federal ministry of agriculture and Food Security to boost food production in the country.
We will continue to cultivate because we are tired of collecting handouts from any other person, so we are doing a lot sensitisation of our farmers and rural dwellers to see that the only way to succeed is to go back to agriculture. Aquaculture is the next line of farming we are encouraging our people to go into,” he said.
Also, Senator Kyari, who stated that the distribution of the palliatives would be transparent based on the penal assigned the exercise, disclosed that the second phase of the dry season farming would be flagged-off by this week.
Kyari assured that only vulnerable Nigerians will receive the palliatives as NEMA and Office of the National Security Adviser(ONSA) have developed a template for seamless distribution of the assorted grains.
“On the distribution of the 42,000 metric tonnes of assorted grains, we are going to start delivering and as we go, we are targeting local government, so we take to the states and to local government . Is going to be on the template of NEMA, NEMA is the one doing the distribution and the Office of the National Security Adviser. I assure that it is going to be transparent, ” he affirmed.
