President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that his government is working hard to ensure adequate food for all Nigerians before he vacates office in 2023.
More importantly, the number one citizen said Nigeria would be more united, prosperous, and secure than he met it when he took over the government in 2015.
Naija News understands that Buhari made the declaration on Sunday when he was represented by his Chief of Staff (CoS), Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, during a working visit to Nasarawa State.
The CoS visited the state to inspect the level of work at the Agriculture Machinery and Equipment Development Institute (AMEDI) in Lafia, the state capital.
To ensure food availability in the country, the president said his administration was committed to developing the agriculture sector to raise agriculture production and its value chain.
The president said that enormous steps had been taken to realize an increase in agriculture production as one of the key priorities of his administration was to transform the sector from subsistence to a very sophisticated machine driven.
He said this would bring about food sufficiency and food security in the country and also provide for the exportation of agricultural products.
Buhari commended the leadership of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) for the commitment and progress made on the project.
”President has asked me to come here to inspect and see the tremendous physical development that is taking place in NASENI, particularly one of the six Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Development Institutes.
“President Buhari regards agriculture as something very close to his heart because he believes that the time has come when we must produce what to eat and to eat what we produced and to ensure food sufficiency and food security.
“He is very proud to be associated with this state; he is very proud of the significant development that has taken place in this state; God willing, by the time of the end of his administration, he will leave Nigeria more united, prosperous, and secured than he found it,” Gambari said on behalf of the Nigerian leader.
NASENI Impact
In his remark earlier, the Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI, Prof. Mohammed Haruna, said the institute was one of the six approved by the president in 2021, one per political zone to guarantee food security and apply modern tools and equipment for mechanized agriculture.
According to him, the institute would guarantee technology for food processing, food preservation and application of food availability and artificial intelligence for efficient and multi-crop seasons.
Haruna said NASENI was collaborating with partners from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Czech Republic, and Italy to equip the institute and five others in the country with state-of-the-earth research and manufacturing facilities, targeting the best and the highest technology in the world.
“Science, technology, and innovation have always been the source of development and prosperity of all nations.
“The yardstick of measuring the willingness and readiness of Nigeria to transit from a community-based economy to a manufacturing economy is the degree to which NASENI’s role is applied to all aspects of our socio-economic endeavour,” Haruna noted.
Prof. Haruna expressed gratitude to President Buhari, Gov Abdullahi, and the Emir of Lafia, Justice Sidi Bage, for their generosity, guidance, and support, leading to the success achieved in the construction of the Institute.
“You will recall that foundation laying ceremony was performed in August; despite the volume of rain in September and October, we have been able to fence the 20 hectares of land, construct a gatehouse, roads, the administrative block, and the two workshops are about 90 per cent completion.
“God willing, it will be ready for commissioning between January and February 2023; with this development, all that is needed for modern farming in food processing, packing, and preservation are to be locally produced by NASENI.
“NASENI is among the best legacy that President Muhammadu Buhari will bequeath to the next and subsequent administration in Nigeria,” he said.
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