Agric minister urges citizens to patronize Nigerian farmers

Agric minister urges citizens to patronize Nigerian farmers

By Matthew Eloyi

The new Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Abubakar, has urged Nigerians to buy Nigerian produce to support farmers while committing to prioritizing the National Livestock Transformation Plan.

He said this on Thursday during the handing and taking over ceremony at the ministry’s headquarters.

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The new minister also emphasized the need for food security, stating that Nigeria has what it takes to be food sufficient as well as the leading producer and exporter of food.

In his words, “Buy Nigerian produce wherever you can because that is the way to support our farmers so that they can continue to produce. We just find out that we can do that because, during the border closure, there was sufficient rice.

“Even Mr President eats the same rice. So, there is no reason why we cannot patronize our farmers. Food security is everything and can make a difference. There is no reason why we cannot do this.

“We have the resources and all it takes to make Nigeria the number one producer and exporter of food and not just in Africa even outside this continent.”

Earlier, he stated that his priority is to advance the National Livestock Transformation Plan.

He also expressed optimism to do better than the former minister.