President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Daura, Katsina State, disclosed
\nthat he has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop providing
\nforeign exchange for importation of food into the country, with the
\nsteady improvement in agricultural production, and attainment of full
\nfood security.<\/p>\n
The President, who hosted All Progressives Congress (APC) governors to
\nEid-el-Kabir lunch at his country home in Daura, said the foreign
\nreserve will be conserved and utilized strictly for diversification of
\nthe economy, and not for encouraging more dependence on foreign food
\nimport bills.<\/p>\n
“Don’t give a cent to anybody to import food into the country,” he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
President noted that some states like Kebbi, Ogun, Lagos, Jigawa, Ebonyi
\nand Kano had already taken advantage of the Federal Government’s policy
\non agriculture with huge returns in rice farming, urging more states to
\nplug into the ongoing revolution to feed the nation.<\/p>\n
“We have achieved food security, and for physical security we are not
\ndoing badly,”he said.<\/p>\n
President Buhari said he was particularly delighted that young
\nNigerians, including graduates, had started exploring agric-business and
\nentrepreneurship, with many posting testimonies of good returns on their
\ninvestments.<\/p>\n
President Buhari said the incoming ministers will be “taught” and
\nthoroughly guided to ensure they meet the targets of the APC-led
\ngovernment for the people, with regular monitoring of their performances
\nand scaling up of targets by the Office of the Secretary to the
\nGovernment of the Federation (OSGF).<\/p>\n
The President assured that he will attend the Presidential Policy
\nRetreat organized for the ministers by the OSFG, and insisted on
\ncompliance with laid down targets on key sectors of the economy that
\nwill directly impact on the livelihood of Nigerians.<\/p>\n
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and
\nGovernor of Ekiti State, Dr John Kayode Fayemi, said the President’s
\nsense of justice, fairness and forthrightness had turned a major
\ninspiration to governors on the way forward for the country.<\/p>\n
He said the challenges faced by states “were enormous”, but the
\ngovernors had remained undaunted, assuring the President of strong
\nsupport and “the very best effort” to overcome all the obstacles.<\/p>\n
The Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Governor of Kebbi
\nState, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, appreciated the President for the unique
\nleadership style of maintaining a healthy relationship with governors on
\nindividual and collective basis, pointing\u00a0 out that they had been
\n“energized” to do more in their states.<\/p>\n
The governor commended the President for making bold and courageous
\nefforts to reposition the economy for majority Nigerians through
\ninclusive policies.<\/p>\n
“The country is more secure than in 2015, and the country is more
\nprosperous than in 2015 because you are working for the majority of the
\npeople,” he added.<\/p>\n
The governor said the party had been repositioned, after the 2019
\nelections, to work for the benefit of the majority of Nigerians, noting
\nthat “there will two elections this year and we need to work towards
\nwinning the two states.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Daura, Katsina State, disclosed that he has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop providing foreign exchange for importation of food into the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n