President Bola Tinubu stated that the current administration cannot rely on importing food to address the high cost of food production in Nigeria.
He believes that Nigeria has the potential to feed itself and even become a net exporter of food to neighboring African countries.
The president made this announcement during a meeting with the 36 governors of the federation in Abuja, with the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, representing him.
“A decision has also been taken that, in the interest of our country, there will be no need for food importation at this point. Nigeria has the potential to feed itself and even be a net exporter of food items to other countries.
“We also want to reverse some of the problems we are seeing in terms of food production in this country. What we are seeing now is just a temporary difficulty that we will face head on,” he said.
In addition, the President has instructed the national security adviser, the director general of the Department of State Services, and the Inspector General of Police to work together with governors to put an end to the hoarding of food supplies in the country.
During a press briefing after the meeting, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated that the Federal Government and state governors are considering the establishment of state police.
He clarified that this process is still in its early stages and will only take shape after further discussions among stakeholders.
“Now, there is also a discussion around the issue of state police. The Federal Government and the state governments are mulling the possibility of setting up state police.
“Of course, this is still going to be further discussed. A lot of work has to be done in that direction. Both the Federal Government and the state governments agree on the necessity of having state police. Now this is a significant shift. But as I said, more work needs to be done in that direction.
“A lot of meetings will have to happen between the Federal Government and the sub-nationals to see the modalities of achieving this. Now, these are some of the issues that have been discussed,” he said.
