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In order to ensure that Nigerians have access to food at this time of interstate lockdown and partial ease of lockdown in some states of the federation, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has directed all states to inaugurate a Joint Technical Task Team on Emergency Response to COVID-19 on the movement of food and Agricultural inputs.
The team will be saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that food items and agricultural inputs move freely without any hindrance, so that farmers will get value for their efforts and Nigerians will not be short of food supply.
CP Hakeem Odumosu, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, while speaking during the inauguration of the Joint Technical Task Team in Lagos, said that the essence of the committee is to facilitate free and unhindered movement of food, livestock and Agricultural inputs across the state.
He said that the team comprises of representative from the Police Force, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ), All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and Nigerians Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).
He said that the team has been inaugurated at the Federal level by Mohammed Sabo Nanono, the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, and has directed that all states should have their own team that will enhance the free movement of Agricultural products both intra and interstate.
On the terms of reference for the team, he said it would work with relevant agencies in the states and local government areas to develop a window that will facilitate the free and unhindered movement of food, livestock and agricultural inputs without compromising the security and health of the nation.
He also said it would issue out clear instructions to all the security personnel in the three internal security outfits that comprise of Police, Civil Defence and the Army on the need to all the free and unhindered movement of foodstuff, livestock and agricultural inputs to all parts of Nigeria.
Odumosu added that the team would ensure that adequate information clarifying the controlled movement of foodstuff, livestock and agricultural inputs is disseminated by the media to food transporters and security personnel.
The Commissioner of Police also noted that it would work with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to adequately educate its members in ensuring that vehicles conveying foodstuffs, livestock and agricultural inputs, excluding passengers, are allowed to pass.
Odumosu noted that there had been some concerns by members of the agricultural sector that they had avoidable delays along the line, mostly from the security agencies, stressing that agricultural products and produce are perishables and must not be allowed to waste in order to boost food security during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As you know, agricultural products have life span, and at the border of each state, we have health personnel who are stationed there to check the status of the produce before they would be allowed into any other state,” he said.
He also stated that the essence of having the transport unions is to sensitise the drivers not to put half farm produce and half human beings in their trucks, as it is in most cases, which usually cause problems.
“Our drivers should not put half agricultural products, half human being which always creates issue along the line. Equally if their vehicles breakdown or have any mechanical problem along the line, we can deploy our men to go and assist them so that area boys will not disturb them so that they will get to their destination faster, that is just the essence of it.
“Making sure that agricultural products now move in straight to their destination with little or no hindrance so as to mitigate food shortage in the country as well as the losses to the farmers because everybody need food to survive,” he added.
Olayinka Akeredolu, State Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development while speaking, said the inauguration is an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture at the instance of the Minister that there should be a joint technical team that will oversee and ensure that there will be free movement of Agricultural products and Agricultural inputs
“We are in the farming season now where a lot of activities are going on in the farms, they need inputs, and they need easy movement to the farm as agriculture is time-bound. There are some activities that should take place at a certain period of time and we don’t want a situation whereby farming activities would not be able to go on smoothly.
“Also many agricultural products are highly perishable; within a few hours they get spoilt and useless, so we don’t want a situation where Agricultural products that are coming from the farms would stay hours at checkpoints and get rotten. When they rot, the farmers don’t get value for the efforts, and they don’t realise Return on Investment (RoI), and they will not be willing to do more for the next year.
“They need money, after production they need to market and get revenue from it and this money is what they will use for their families and what they will put back to produce in the next season.
He added: “We want a situation where there will be seamless movement of agricultural products from the producers to the market. We don’t want bottleneck and problem especially from drivers”.
Akered Olu further stated that now that the team is on ground to facilitate easy movement of agricultural produce and inputs, farmers now have a team they can turn to for assistance to ease movement of agro produce and inputs wherever and whenever they are facing challenges.
“A lot of people don’t have access to information, and so many things are going on now on the social media platform. The things are no doubt creating fears in a lot of people which is unnecessary. With this team the NUJ will give the right information on what is happening so that Nigerians will be well informed,” she said.
Speaking further she said: “We need the corporation of everybody, we are seeing what is happening now, what of the long term implication, which is what we should be concern with. If farmers produce and they don’t get the products to sell they will not be encouraged to produce during the next season. What will happen next year if they produce and they cannot sell? It is very bad for the country, apart from that, they will not have the willingness to do farming,” she added.
She said that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture needs the corporation of everybody because farmers are very important.
“They are key to the development of our nation. If you are hungry you cannot do anything. We want everything to run smoothly as they are producing they should get it to sell,” she said.
Dr. Femi Oke, Chairman All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Lagos state chapter while speaking with DAILY INDEPENDENT said that is what farmers have been waiting for, that most farmers, especially those that deals with perishable produce who have most of their produce rotten because of the lockdown.
“We are happy with this gesture because we know that with this we are rest assured that we farmers can now move our produce across the country because we know now that there would not be any delay again; so we are happy, we want food on the table of every Nigerians and we will ensure we achieve that,” he said.
Qasim Akinreti, Chairman NUJ, Lagos State Chapter said that the NUJ will design a communication channel for the committee to work effectively.
“It is about public good and public interest, so the committee would have to work assiduously to ensure that we can get information to Nigerians especially farmers, the truck owners and the drivers. There must be symbiotic relationship between all these agencies so that we can effectively ensure that the term of reference is achieved.
“We would roll out the languages of communication and we will let them know because not everybody speaks English, those who speaks Hausa, we will let them know, and other local languages,” he said.
Members of the team include; CP Hakeem Odumosu, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Chairman of the team, Olayinka Akeredolu State Coordinator Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Femi Oke, Chairman All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Lagos State chapter, DCC Muhammad Waksha NSCDC, Dr. Qasim Akinreti, Chairman NUJ, Lagos State, Jimoh Buhari, NURTW and Kayode Odunowo NARTO.
Read Original Report Here By Independent
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