Kwara State Government on Wednesday, 18 September, 2024, flagged off the distribution of 42,000 bags of fertilisers to farmers across the state as part of the efforts to ensure bumper harvests and promote food security.
The fertilizers were donated to the state government by the Central Bank of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
Senior Special Assistant to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Community Development Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, who supervised the distribution, said each farmer will get at least three bags of fertilizers at no cost.
This is a federal government’s intervention that complements what the state government has already done on three different occasions, Olohungbebe said.
“Here we have 50 trucks of NPK fertilisers and 20 trucks of Urea fertilizers, making 70 trucks altogether, donated by the Central Bank of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to the people of Kwara State,” he told reporters in Ilorin at the flag off ceremony.
“This would be a continuous exercise. At the state level, we have distributed fertilisers and other farm inputs in three batches. But this one is coming from the federal government. The federal government has given it to the state free of charge, and we are giving it to real farmers free of charge, too.”
Olohungbebe said the distribution of the items will be handled by the Fertilizer Distribution Committees in each local government, headed by the Directors of Personnel Management and peopled by community leaders.
He listed members of the Fertilizers Distribution Committee as local government development officers, traditional and community leaders, community based organizations, representatives of CAN and Jama’atu Nasrul Islam, civil society organisations, people living with disability and farmers, among others.
He appreciated the federal government for the gesture and promised that the exercise would be properly monitored to ensure that the item gets to the real farmers.
“On behalf of citizens of Kwara State, led by the Chairman of NGF, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, CON, we appreciate the federal government for this gesture and we look forward for more collaborative efforts in the nearest future,” he said.
“We assure the federal government that these items would get to the grassroots. In Kwara, we don’t joke with the grassroots because we are running a community-based government.”
Directors of Personnel Management in Baruten and Kaiama Local Governments, Mrs Olanike Olashade and Comrade Mrs Aina Felicia, in their separate remarks, described the exercise as a welcome development, saying it will enhance farmers’ output and improve food security in the country.
Development Officer for Patigi local government, Hajia Fatimoh Asabe Jiya, for her part, said the intervention is laudable and will drive food sufficiency.
