Niger State Governor Umaru Bago launched the 2023 wet season sales and distribution of fertilisers and other agricultural inputs to farmers in the state on Monday.
Bago stated that each beneficiary was entitled to 10 bags of fertilisers and urged the competent MDAs in charge of distribution to ensure equal distribution.
He cautioned that security personnel had been told to deal firmly with anyone found wanting, adding that 60,000 bags of fertilizer had been delivered to begin with, with 120,000 more bags on the way.
The governor also committed to purchase 300 tractors, 10 of which would be allocated to each of the state’s 25 local government units.
He announced that the Bago Foundation, led by his wife, Fatima Umaru Bago, had donated 300 water pumping devices to help farmers in the state with irrigation.
The governor encouraged everyone, especially civil officials and youngsters, to participate in the state’s agricultural agenda by taking up farming.
“This is our way as a government to encourage farming and agriculture in the state. We must gravitate from subsistence agriculture to commercial agriculture,” he said.
“We have put in place structures and machinery for distribution. We have made it a policy that only 10 bags can be sold to an individual.
“Bank details and BVN of individuals will be taken into consideration and we have invited the EFCC, ICPC, and also the police to make sure that this is done rightly.
“We are bringing subsidy in agriculture and it must be sustained.”
Idris Gbogan, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, explained that the state government had approved a 20% subsidy on 100 trucks (600 tonnes) of fertiliser, and that each bag of 50kg of fertiliser would be sold for N18,000, as opposed to the open market price of N24,000-N30,000.
He stated that the sale will take place in designated stores around the state, and that internal control systems would be put in place to ensure that only resource-constrained farmers benefited.
Gbogan also stated that the monitoring teams for all zones of the state included the Ministry, Local Government Directors of Agriculture, Niger State Agricultural Mechanization Development Agency (NAMDA) Zonal officers, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Security operatives, and Sarkin Nomas, among others.
