The Federal Government will start giving out 42,000 metric tonnes of grains for free in Niger State next week.
The Governor of Niger State, Mohammed Bago, made this announcement on Thursday after meeting with the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security in Abuja. Niger State will be the first state to receive the grains before other states.
“We are here to discuss with the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security with respect of the visit of Mr. President to Niger State as regards the commissioning of the mechanisation process that they have been able to provide for agriculture.
“We also discussed about the palliatives from the Federal Government in terms of food distribution from all the grain reserves that we have across the country using Niger State as a pilot in the North-Central so that it can commence in earnest.
“The distribution will commence by next week, what we are saying is that Niger State has provided itself as a pilot state in terms of giving the dividends of democracy with respect to agriculture and as such our sister states are coming on board,” Bago stated.
On February 8, 2024, President Bola Tinubu instructed the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to release approximately 42,000 metric tons of maize, millet, and other commodities from the national strategic reserves to help combat the increasing cost of food.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, shared this information in Abuja following a meeting of the Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention. Idris also mentioned that the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria had agreed to release around 60,000 metric tons of rice to the markets.
“The first one is that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has been directed to release about 42,000MT of maize, millet, garri, and other commodities in their strategic reserve so that these items will be made available to Nigerians; 42,000MT immediately.
“The second one is that we have held meetings with the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria. Those who are responsible for producing this rice and we have asked them to open up their stores.
“They’ve told us that they can guarantee about 60,000 metric tons of rice. They will make that available to Nigerians; to bring out to the market to make food available,” the information minister had told journalists.
On February 14, 2024, the Federal Government declared that it would give away 42,000 metric tonnes of grains to impoverished Nigerians for free.
The Department of State Services and the National Emergency Management Agency were tasked with distributing the goods to the intended recipients across the country.
During a press briefing in Abuja, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, also mentioned that the government planned to assist 500,000 farmers in growing and harvesting one million metric tonnes of rice.
Bago informed journalists that the Niger State Government had obtained 120 trucks of food to support the efforts of the Federal Government in reaching more people.
The Minister of Agriculture mentioned that the distribution of the grains would follow the guidelines of the National Emergency Management Agency and the Office of the National Security Adviser.
