Senate pushes quarantine, soil science, food security bills for an act

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

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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 8^th 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 8^th 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.