Nigerian farmers have been advised to increase their food production as Nigeria has “no money” for food importation.
This was the position of President Muhammadu Buhari while addressing journalists after observing this year’s ‘Eid’ prayer at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, on Sunday.
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The President, in his address, stated:
I wish them the best of luck. I hope the rainy season will be bountiful, to get a lot of food.
I wish the farmers could go and stay in their farms so that we can produce what we need sufficiently so that we don’t have to import. In any case, we don’t have money to import so we must produce what we have to eat.
The words of President Buhari are coming at a time Nigeria is facing economic degradation following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nigeria, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, restricted food importation as the country strived to produce a lot of the food she consumes.
The Federal Government also shut its borders with neighbouring countries, largely to prevent the importation and smuggling of items such as rice, poultry products and petrol.
The countries first citizen’s reference to the economy is in connection with the position of the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, who, last week, said that the country’s economy would go into recession soon.
Nigeria is one of the countries hardest hit by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, following her dependence on crude oil which also suffered a crash as a result of COVID-19 outbreak.
A large part of its budget is funded by oil revenue which makes up over 90 per cent of its export. The sharp drop in oil prices globally has meant reduced income for the West African country.
Nigeria also closed a large part of her economy to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, with all airports still closed except for essential flights while businesses are only partially reopened.
Meanwhile, the President ordered the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, and other key players in the sector to join the already existing 12-member Presidential Task Force (PTF) as a strategy to minimise the impact of COVID-19 on farmers.
He also directed the ministers to develop a comprehensive policy for a ‘Nigerian Economy functioning with COVID-19.
