FG To Expand Ban On Food Importation List

Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has said the Federal Government might soon expand the ban on importation of food items, which currently included rice, to other items.

The minister made the disclosure in a keynote speech he made at the Eighth Annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium, with theme: “Agriculture: Action, Work and Revolution” in Abuja.

Chief Ogbeh, represented by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr. Heineken Lokpobiri said, acting on the advice of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), a list of some injurious imported food products was been compiled.

However, The minister did not mention the likely food products , but hinted that the list, when concluded would be passed on to President Muhammadu Buhari for  his consent.

Lokpobiri argued that the impending ban was necessary due to the increasing health hazards been suffered by Nigerians, including   kidney problems and others related to organ failure.

He added that the nomadic farming was no longer sustainable, hence the efforts to have a more enduring method of cattle rearing that would cut the huge foreign exchange spent on importation of milk.

The junior minister further disclosed that the nation spends the equivalent of N198.5 billion annually on importation of milk.

He concluded the future of the nation’s agriculture sector was very bright, adding that the country would, in three years achieve self-sufficiency in rice, sorghum and millet production, self-sufficiency in tomato paste would be attained by the end of this year.

He said part of the government’s strategic plan to reposition agriculture would be subsidising fertiliser, while the states would be encouraged to provide extension services and build feeder roads to facilitate evacuation of agricultural produce.

Lokpobiri also said the ministry would in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources move agriculture from a seasonal business to an all-year round enjoyment “to enable us put into proper use, the over 200 under-utilised dams scattered across the country”.