Urges action on looming food crisis : Atiku

 

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has called on the Federal Government and other stakeholders to initiate moves to address the looming acute food crisis in Nigeria, as predicted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.

The FAO had, in a report it released on Wednesday, warned of a looming acute food crisis in Northern Nigeria, obviously as a result of prolonged insurgency and bandit attacks in many parts of Northern Nigeria.

Atiku, in a statement he issued on Friday, said the warning by the international body should draw the focus of the Federal Government.

Noting that Northern Nigeria is the food basket of the nation, he warned that any famine in the region would have a national impact on the rest of the country and cross border impacts in the West African sub-region.

“The laissez-faire approach taken by the Federal Government to this most important issue is regrettable. Food security is a vital part of national security, and where this issue is not resolved, the resultant crisis may unsettle the nation and her immediate neighbours.

“Now is the time to proffer solutions, so that our countrymen and women do not starve in a land with so much prospective abundance. So, how do we avoid this looming crisis?

“The major cause of the present and looming dearth of food is insecurity. Farmers and other agricultural value chain workers cannot go to their farms due to the crisis of insecurity. I should know. I am heavily invested in large scale farming, and employ a workforce of over 10,000 in the endeavour.

“What ought to happen is that the Federal and State governments should establish a Food Security Military Taskforce to work in farming clusters, to provide security for the nation’s farmers. We must give confidence to our agriculture workers, so that the sector can get on with the job of feeding the nation.”