President Bola Tinubu has said that importing food items to address the soaring cost of food production in the country is not an option at this point for this current administration as Nigeria is potentially capable of feeding itself.
The president, represented by the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, made the announcement in Abuja during a meeting with the 36 governors of the federation.
According to the president, Nigeria can become a net exporter of food items to other neighboring countries in Africa.
- “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.
Furthermore, the President also directed the national security adviser, the director general of the Department of State Services, and the Inspector General of Police to cooperate with governors to end the hoarding of food commodities in the country.
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While briefing journalists after the meeting, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the Federal Government and state governors are considering the creation of state police.
He explained that the process is still in its infancy and would only take shape after more deliberations between 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.