By Stella Odueme
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, has expressed commitment to enhance food security even as he charged agencies under the ministry to desist from including non agricultural projects in their budget proposals.
The minister stated this at the weekend at the inaugural meeting with the Board Chairmen of agencies under his ministry in Abuja.
He said every expenditure must align with the ministry’s core mandate.
“Before the recent budget defence, I urged the Heads of our Agencies, Research Institutes, and Colleges to avoid including non-agricultural items in their proposals. We must remain focused on our core mission.”
The Minister expressed optimism that the Chairmen would deliver on the tasks given to them and urged Research Institutes and Colleges of Agriculture to produce good seeds.
“We know how to make sure research works to the benefit of our country. We are heavily challenged today in terms of food security. We have had climate change, for instance, which is a natural phenomenon. We have to stay with that and do much about it. One way to adapt to it is to bring good variety of seeds.”
He underscored the critical need for discipline, accountability, and innovation, especially in the context of declining research output.
He stressed that Nigeria’s food security challenges require smart solutions like drought-resistant, heat-tolerant, high-yielding crops with shorter maturity cycles, telling the new appointees that, “With your leadership, I believe we can restore the discipline and innovation required to make our research institutions truly impactful.”
He also emphasised the importance of stabilizing food prices and improving the welfare of farmers and consumers, noting that while the administration has achieved a lot in under two years, the country is “not yet where we want to be.”
Also speaking, Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, assured the Board Chairmen of the support of the ministry in the discharge of their responsibilities.
He said that the focus of the Federal Government was to ensure food security for all Nigerians through the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Responding on behalf of the appointees, Cross River, APC Chairman and newly appointed Board Chairman of the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria, Benin, Mr. Alphonsus Eba, expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu for the appointments.
Eba assured the Minister of the Chairmen’s readiness to align with government priorities, describing themselves as “practical farmers, not just political players.”
He said, “That Mr President chose to send nearly 30 to 40 per cent of us to agencies under your Ministry signals a focused commitment to achieving food sovereignty, going even beyond food security.”
He said they were prepared to work with the Heads of the Agencies to ensure the success of President Tinubu’s promises to Nigerians on food security
“We know our task and that which you will add to us. We are prepared to work with them.”
“They should also open their hearts to work with us. We are not just coming as politicians. Like I have said, we are coming as farmers with experience.
“We are coming as people that are interested in ensuring the success of Mr. President’s promises to Nigerians to deliver on food security, to make us food sovereign,” he said.
Kyari charges agencies over including non agricultural items in budget proposals
