Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has warned farmers in the state not to divert fertiliser.
Flagging off the product in Makurdi, the governor said that his government had procured 100 trucks of inorganic fertilisers, which would be distributed to farmers in all 23 local government areas of the state.
While lamenting the inability of farmers in the state to access the product due to the failure of the immediate past administration to provide fertilizer for farmers, the governor said the procurement of the product was part of his administration’s efforts to cushion the effects of the harsh economic challenges temporarily being experienced by the people of the state and Nigeria as a whole.
The Catholic priest-turned-politician said that his administration had engaged critical input suppliers in the agricultural value chain to kick-start the process of sustainably supporting farmers in food production.
According to him, “We have also completed arrangements to provide low-interest loans to twenty-seven thousand, six hundred (27,600) rural women across the state, to engage in various businesses that would improve their income.
“For the 2023 farming year, since we are already deep into the season, what we have done is the immediate procurement and distribution of 100 trucks of inorganic fertilizers, amounting to sixty thousand (60,000) bags to be distributed to our farmers in all the 23 Local Government Councils of the state. The number would go up in the future.
Speaking on insecurity in the state, the governor promised his administration’s desire to fight criminality, herdsmen attacks, banditry, cattle rustling, thuggery, and motivated political killings, which have made us refugees in our ancestral homes.
He said, “We are also against those who create fear in our people, including orchestrating false alarms, to make them abandon their farming activities. While we are prepared to defeat the enemies of our State and our people, we solicit your understanding and peaceful co-existence among farming communities,” he said.
Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Nats Adzuu, commended the governor for his efforts at ensuring that fertilizer was made available to Benue farmers at a subsidised rate.
He assured the governor of the ministry’s commitment to food security and fair distribution of the product across the state.
Chairman, Taskforce committee on Governor Alia’s 100 days in office, Moses Tule, disclosed that the governor had allocated one truck of fertilizer each for all the political parties in the state, insisting that the time for campaigns was over, hence, ‘everyone deserves to enjoy the dividends of democracy, irrespective of their political parties’.
Tule stated that fertilizers would be sold at the Ministry of Agriculture and at all the Agric departments across the 23 local government areas in the state.
Tule also said the governor had purchased 50 bags of fertiliser for the most vulnerable farmers in the state, to be distributed at the SEMA office.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
I study 10 hours, sleep 5 hours daily — Imo first-class graduate with perfect 5.0 GPA, Igboanugo
Igboanugo Annastatia, who graduated with first-class honours, in this interview, reminisced about memorable moments that…
PHOTOS: How Aquatech College was demolished ‘with students on site’
It was a traumatic experience for students of Aquatech College of Agriculture and Technology on Thursday, as…
Nigerians have slammed Former Governor of Ekiti State Ayodele Fayose over his sudden support for President Bola Tinubu, saying he only…
VIDEO: My father deflowered me at 10, made love to me thrice weekly, Lady opens up
A young Nigerian Lady identified as Precious has revealed the horrifying ordeal of how she has been sexually abused by…
Ronaldo beats Messi to become world’s highest-paid athlete
For the first time since 2017 (and third time overall), Cristiano Ronaldo has topped Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, earning…
THE ongoing horror in the South-East being perpetrated by suspected members of the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of…
and then