Invest in Agriculture to Reduce Poverty, Niger NACCIMA DG Advises

Laleye Dipo in Minna

The Director-General of Niger State Chapter of the Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce Industries Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) Mr. Salihu Adamu, has identified massive investment in agriculture by the government and positive involvements of Nigerians in agriculture and farming as the shortest road to reduce poverty, which the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), recently put at 130 million people.  

Adamu, who spoke in Minna yesterday against the backdrop of the disclosure by the NBS, said that government should directly clear hundreds of hectares of land and allocate same to Nigerians for farming in addition to giving them free farm inputs for planting.

He said that schools across the country should compulsorily have farms to be managed by pupils and students.

He said that apart from these farms producing enough for consumption, surpluses to be recorded would be available for export thereby generating income and reducing poverty.

Adamu said: “Our surest way out of poverty is farming, we should take cultivation of food and cash crop more serious.” 

He also urged government to intensify its war against insecurity, which he said is a major contribution to the increase in poverty in the country.

Adamu said that many able bodied Nigerians, especially youths, have migrated from the rural areas to the urban centres for their safety but are jobless with nothing to eat.

Describing the newly redesigned national currencies as the best thing that has happened to the economy, Adamu suggested that the government should not place any ceiling on the quantum of the old notes Nigerians could deposit in the banks. 

The NACCIMA DG announced plans to organise a debate for all governorship candidates in the state in January 2023.