… AS Association calls for emergency food security plan, following food price hike***
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has declared a three-day prayer for the peace and unity of the country in the face of mounting insecurity.
The General Secretary of CAN, Mr Daramola Bade-Joseph, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Lagos.
Bade-Joseph said that the event which would hold from May 28, until May 30, had become necessary following the spate of insecurity in parts of the country.
He said that the prevailing circumstance had made it imperative to seek God’s intervention to restore peace and progress in Nigeria.
According to him, all participating denominations are expected to gather in the evenings of each of the days set aside for the prayers.
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He appealed to CAN members to pray God to give the political leaders in the country the wisdom to do justice and show fairness to all manner of persons irrespective of ethnic group, creed and religion.
“We should also pray that the law enforcement officers rise to their responsibilities by providing the necessary security we need in Nigeria,” Bade-Joseph said.
In another development, The Nigeria Young Farmers Network says an emergency national food security plan that actively engages the private sector is crucial to forestall the nation’s imminent food crisis.
The Director General (DG) of the network, Mr Promise Amahah, made the assertion while speaking with the newsmen in Abuja on Saturday.
Amahah spoke against the backdrop of the relentless increase in prices of food and agricultural produce in Nigerian markets which he warned might lead to a national food crisis very soon.
He said that government alone could not achieve reasonable progress in this regard adding that more intensive action was required to address the challenge.
Amahah said the Federal Government needed to provide the enabling environment for companies and startups providing solutions like storage facilities, logistics, payments, among others.
The DG explained that such enabling environment could be through giving them tax breaks, and off takers agreements among others, to enable them deploy their offerings effectively.
According to him, such measures will immediately reduce the impact of food shortages and cost of foodstuffs which will in turn strengthen the efforts towards addressing food insecurity in Nigeria.
Amahah noted that so far, efforts had been made by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to ensure the nation’s grains reserve was restored to full capacity through the grains buyback process.
He said there had been focus on the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme to make it more efficient while recently, rice pyramids in Kebbi and maize pyramids in Katsina had become prominent.
According to Amahah,
these are emergency measures put in place by the government to enable poor Nigerians survive hunger during food crises.
“However, I am yet to see proactive national awareness and sensitisation directed towards public enlightenment on the current food crisis and providing an inclusive strategy thrust to address the issue,” he said.
