The Former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, has said that he would retire to his farm and become a client of the ministry.
He said this in Abuja on Thursday, during the handover ceremony to the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Mahmoud Abubakar.
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Recall, that President Muhammadu Buhari had sacked Nanono after two years of service as the minister of Agriculture.
Nanono described the agric ministry as an institution with huge responsibility.
According to him, the major areas that need to be tackled are issues with fertilisers, fulani/herder clash, job creation among others.
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“It is when this ministry succeed that we will have food security, stability in this country.
“So when we focus on this priority areas we will be helping our country to achieve stability as well as secure our country food security wise.
“We can do it, we stopped importation of rice, I hope we will do that for wheat, I hope we will do that for fish, maize and other crop because these are the mandates of the ministry.
“I have already retired to my farm, I will become a client of this ministry,” he said.
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The new minister said that the ministry, under his leadership, will focus on livestock transformation as a tool to curb insecurity in the country.
According to him, his administration will prioritize creation of policy direction necessary to position the agriculture sector as the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.
“The priority of this ministry under my leadership will be to ensure that we provide the necessary policy direction and drive that will truly position agriculture as the mainstay of our economy as captured in the Medium-Term National Development Plan, and the President’s vision of lifting 100 million people out of poverty in 10 years.
“In this regard, a livestock transformation plan will be a priority, due to its implication. Not just on food security but also on the impact in tackling security in the country,” he said.
Speaking further, Abubakar urged Nigerians to patronize made in Nigeria produce, especially local agriculture produce.
This, according to him, would boost the National local production capacity and aid food exports.
“We should buy agriculture product, that is the only way we can support our farmers, during the border closure we eat local rice.
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“There is no reason why we cannot do this. We have the talent, and all that is needed to make Nigeria the number one producer and exporter of food in Africa.
“The job of keeping our environment safe is the responsibility of everybody, so is same with agriculture. I hope to do more than the previous minister have done,” he said.
