The high prices of food which had begun to fall in some northern states may once again skyrocket, according to a new alert by the federal government.
The Cable reports that minister of agriculture and rural development, Audu Ogbeh has issued a warning to farmers about locusts and quelea birds which are coming into the country from Niger Republic.
Ogbeh, who is calling for vigilance and urgent action, has expressed huge fear that the current hunger in the country could be aggravated if the alert about the locust invasion from Niger was not taken seriously.
“We have called you here for two major reasons. There is a warning we received that locusts and quelea birds are messing up in Niger Republic, from where they normally attack us in Nigeria,” Ogbeh said. “We know how dangerous quelea birds and locusts can be. If they arrive within hours or days, they will have wiped out everything the farmers would have put in the field. “We already have maize crisis, and we may have food problems if we are attacked. This country would be in turmoil. We can’t allow that.
“Prices of food today are high and Nigerians are troubled. People are angry and they want this high cost of food items to be resolved in no time. “I believe that with the effort you are making, we are approaching the promise land. We are recording high yield in some states now.”
Ogbeh told farmers that the ministry is ready to help them battle the invasion of the pests in order to protect Nigeria’s food security.
“We must have an emergency team put in place between you and us at the federal ministry, so that we can tackle these issues very swiftly. “Now that we know they will come, we have to design a strategy where chemicals are available in all the states and contingency steps can be taken quickly,” Ogbeh said. Interesting? You can also read about how Police nab ‘bonanza rice’ thieves who sold a bag for N7,000.
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