Abuja, March 25, 2024: The ministry of agriculture has warned commodity traders against hoarding and speculative trading as the Federal Government intensify efforts to scale-up food production in Nigeria.
Mr Abubakar Kyari, the Agriculture and Food Security minister, stated on Sunday in Abuja at a special Ramadan lecture organised by the SA to the President on Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Mufutau Yinusa and the Asiwaju Project Beyond 2023, an NGO.
The lecture had as its theme “Gratitude, Patience and Vision: Embracing challenges with Optimism”.
The minister who decried the increasing cost of food items, said that apart from insecurity that has affected agricultural production, the issue of hoarding has exacerbated the problem.
“Some of the problems we are facing is also man made, hoarding for instance and speculative trade by commodity traders is also very huge.
“We have seen and discovered some ware houses in big commodity areas where even gates are removed and walls built just to hoard food stuffs inside.
“So when you look at those things and say it’s Bola Tinubu, I think we are not being fair to the administration of this government.
“So we have to look inward, we all have a role to play,” he said.
Kyari said the Federal Government would continue to work round the clock to ensure to food security for the nation, while addressing the insecurity challenge frontally.
Earlier, Mr Aliyu Abdullahi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security urged Muslims to use the Ramadan period to pray for the nation and it’s leaders.
He reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to working with relevant stakeholders to address the economic challenges facing the nation.
Sheik Muhammad Kabir, Imam of Abuja National Mosque in his lecture admonished Muslims to shun corruption, while contributing positively to nation building.
He stressed the need for Nigerians to continue to pray and support the current administration in addressing the myriad of problems confronting the country.
The SA to the President on Agriculture and Food Security, Mufutau Yinusa said the lecture was part of efforts to support the current administration and reach out to the grassroots.
