The Vice President of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima has again said that President Bola Tinubu is very passionate about reducing the cost of fertilizers for Nigerian farmers in the overall interest of achieving food security in the country.
Vice President Shettima made the declaration on Tuesday at a Fertilizers Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) stakeholders’ meeting with the Nigerian Government at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting was organised to deliberate on how to utilize the 33,000 metric tonnes of Potash donated to Nigeria by Russia’s Uralchem Group and UN Partners.
In his words: “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 per cent after this exercise.”
Vice President Shettima also disclosed that President Bola Tinubu gives high priority to achieving the agenda of food security in the country, noting that this accounts for the declaration of a state of emergency in the food security sector by the Tinubu administration last July.
Stressing that though “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.”
Speaking to stakeholders at the meeting which included the Minister of Agriculture, Sen. Abubakar Kyari and Minister of State for Agriculture, Sen. 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.”
The Vice President further disclosed that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA,) World Food Programme (WFP) and Associated Foreign Exchange (AFEX,) a commodity Exchange firm have the database and other requirements that will assist the Government in reaching out to the farmers in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in driving the process.
It would 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).