Ex-Senator Urges Tinubu to Match State of Emergency on Agric  with Action

Gideon Arinze in Enugu

Former Senator, who represented Ebonyi Central district, Emmanuel Onwe, has urged President Bola Tinubu to provide adequate support for farmers to enable them increase production and tackle food insecurity.

The former senator and farmer also said that although the president declared a state of emergency on food security in 2023 to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal, food prices have continued to soar alarmingly.

In an open letter to President Tinubu yesterday, Onwe said that the situation was particularly worrying for farmers who cannot afford fertilizers and other farms inputs.

According to him, “It is also worrying that funds secured from donor agencies and meant to improve food production were taken and never given to farmers.

“We are not producing sufficient to feed ourselves but there are opportunities to escalate production,” he said, adding however that the situation can be remedied.

“The government can work with electoral wards to boost production just like it does during elections,” he said, adding that: “For instance, they can acquire 100 hectares of lands from wards and let farmers form cooperatives, and increase cassava production.”

He urged the government to also set up a farmers’ cooperative bank to make it easier for farmers to access loans “because Nigeria, with its vast arable lands, should not have any business with food scarcity or soaring food prices.