Gov. Tambuwal directs security agencies to arrest, prosecute fertiliser middlemen

Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has directed security agencies to arrest and prosecute fertiliser middlemen across the state.

Tambuwal gave the directive in Shuni town, Dange/Shuni Local Government Area of the state on Sunday at the launch of the sale of fertiliser to farmers in the area.

The governor was represented on the occasion by his Commissioner for Solid Mineral and Natural Resources Development, Alhaji Bello Goronyo.

He said: ''With this directive, the security agencies should accost anybody they see with fertilisers and verify its source.

''You should seize any fertilisers you see without any valid, duly signed allocation papers.

''Such nefarious persons should also be immediately arraigned.in courts.''

The governor said the state government had subsidised each bag of the commodity by 70 per cent.

According to him, the fertilisers are of three brands; Urea, SSP and NPK.


''We bought them for between N6,500 and N7,000, per bag, while they will be sold for between N 2,100 and N 2,300.

''The gesture is aimed at assisting the farmers to produce more food, reduce unemployment and poverty, among other socio-economic malaise.

''So, the state government will not fold its arms and allow any unscrupulous persons to sabotage this noble gesture.''

On his part, the state Health Commissioner, Dr Balarabe Kakale, said the state government had accorded top priority to the agricultural sector.

Kakale warned the beneficiaries against selling the commodity and urged the youth to engage in farming as a way helping to diversify the nation's oil-dependent economy.

The Chairman of the local government, Alhaji Mode Dantasallah, said that the council had set up various sub-committees to ensure that only genuine farmers got the commodity.

The Director of Agriculture for the council, Alhaji Abubakar Jabbi, said that the state government had allocated 4,800 bags of fertilisers to the council area.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tomato disease outbreak: Institute appeals for research funding

The National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, has appealed for funding to carry out research and create awareness on the tuta absoluta pest on tomatoes. The Institute’s Head of Vegetable Programme, Dr Olagorite Adetula, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday that there was an urgent need to tackle the problem to save the economy. Adetula said the institute needed money to do surveillance survey of the pest/damage, ascertain the impact of the damage and proffer solution for eradicating the pest. She appealed to the Federal Government to help the institute get pheromones to lure and trap the pests and distribute to farmers. ``Spraying insecticides is not the best, the pest has high production rate, some of them can escape while spraying it and they will be resistant to the insecticide thereby causing us more cost. ``The pheromones can be used for six to eight weeks before changing it, it is very effective, the pest has short life cycle, wit...
Read more

10,000 women farmers to be engaged in ECOWAS rice project – official

Image
 Mr Richard Olafare, the President, Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN) says 10,000 women will be engaged in the recently inaugurated Rice Seed Up-Scaling Project. This is contained in a presentation on the project made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday. Olafare said 8,000 youths would also be engaged in the scaling project. According to him, the number of women and youths represented 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of the 20,000 farmers that will participate in the project. NAN reports that the project is an initiative of the West Africa Seed Programme (WASP) in support of the ECOWAS Rice Offensive Programme that was inaugurated in 2014. Among other objectives, it is targeting the production of 60,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice for Nigeria by December 2017, using 1,200 certified seeds. The project is being implemented by SEEDAN in collaboration with the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultura...
Read more

Monsanto Nigeria Launches 3 Conventional Maize Hybrids

Maize farmers across Nigeria now have 3 high yielding conventional maize hybrids to choose from the DEKALB ® brand as Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited launches 3 conventional maize hybrids. The launch held in Abuja on Tuesday May 17 2016 had in attendance farmers, development partners, government regulatory bodies and other stakeholders from both the private and public sectors of the economy. The launch of these hybrid seeds follows their registration by the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries in February 2016. The white maize hybrid, DK234 alongside the 2 yellow maize hybrids, DK920 and DK818 obtained registration approval for use in Nigeria after testing across various agro ecological zones on multi-location farms. The white maize hybrid DK234 with yield potential of 13 tonnes per hectare is well adapted for the Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna ecologies and shows tolerance to Maize Streak Virus, ...
Read more