Chief Audu Ogbeh and Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki |
In a spirited heart to reposition nation’s economic
productivity and diversify from mono economy oil, the Nigerian Senate Chamber
has hosted stakeholders to a public hearing on three strategic different bills
in agriculture towards effective mandates’ performance that will give the
sector global best practice of checkmating produce rejection, safety from
diseases, soil testing before fertilizer application and right to quality and
affordability food in Nigeria
.
The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki in the hearing
ceremony said that all efforts would be put in top gear to ensure proactive
regulative acts for development of agricultural sector and repositioning of the
nation’s economy from mono oil to real sector of agricultural backwards
integration policy of the present administration.
Dr. Saraki encouraged stakeholders to make a meaning
contribution that would enhance the speedy passage of the proposed three bills
for an act saying “for the past few months the 8th senate has
deliberated extensively on the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service bill,
food security bill and Institute of soil science statutory bill. These three
bills though encompassing under agricultural sector as all subcommittee groups
have since made impacts to strengthening the functionality and efficiency of
Nigerian agriculture as we transit to economic diversification. I am also aware
along these bills; there are other bills the committee has been busy working
on. I know two other bills the committee is busy with like credit guarantee and
access to farmers. All these are effort by the 8th senate to truly
reposition our agricultural sector as the time cannot be better than now with
the present President of the Federal Republic Nigeria that is very passionate
in the reposition of the nation’s economy with agriculture”
In his argument for the support of the three bills for
passage the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) Chief Audu Ogbeh
pointed to the distinguished senators and other stakeholders the need to rescue
millions of Nigerians from food poison through standard packaging of crops and
animals produce for export and local consumption stressed that many lives are
exposed to various types of terminal diseases as long as there is not act in
place to properly regulate and ensure standard packaging.
Chief Audu who condemned the use of cellophane nylons for
food packaging said the use of jute bag was more preferable for agricultural
produce of grains and beans adding many lives have been lost to using
improperly washed fertilizer bag to package these produce to the market thereby
supporting the passing of the Quarantine bill into an act so as to checkmate
all this with effective law just as he advocated for the establishment of the
Institute of soil science and food security bills.
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