The federal government on Tuesday said it has set aside N200 billion to tackle Nigeria’s food insecurity.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who disclosed this at the ministerial press briefing Tuesday in Abuja, added that the amount would help to bring down food prices as well as inflation.
The National Bureau of Statistics in its April CPI report, said Nigeria’s 33.69% inflation rate in April 2024, was largely driven by the food inflation which stood at 40.53 percent in April of 2024.
Nigerians continue to lament the steady rise in the prices of goods and services partially fueled by the removal of petrol subsidy.
But, the minister said with 30 per cent of the world affected by issues of food security, agriculture will play a critical role in addressing global food insecurity.
According to the World Bank in its Food Security Update, Nigeria and other West African countries are likely to experience food scarcity between July and August.
He said, “Our success in this area is critical and efforts are being redoubled. N200 billion has been provided by the Ministry of Finance towards the intervention programme.
“But I was talking to the Minister for Agriculture and Food Security just yesterday, and he said that we are still in the midst of the dry season harvest, which portends well, for agricultural output and production and together with other initiatives, especially at the state level, where the farms are, where the land is, the special agriculture processing, zooms and other initiatives portend well for increased food production a better performance a better performance for agriculture which will immediately mean a faster growing economy and an attack on inflation in a substantial manner because as we know, the index on inflation is 50% made up of the food price index which is elevated.”
“So therefore, we are looking at a situation where inflation comes down with another good wet season to harvest more food available, and as inflation comes down, it gives the monetary authorities a chance to stabilize the exchange rate. That gives an opportunity for interest rates to come down and for investment to kick in, thereby increasing productivity creating jobs and thereby helping to reduce poverty, which is Mr. President.”
Speaking further, Edun said that in order to protect poor and vulnerable Nigerians with a view to lifting them out of poverty, the government introduced several intervention programmes.
According to the minister, this includes N60 billion for student loans, N500 million for 1 million nano industries at N50,000 each as well as a N100 billion for consumer credit.
“And first of all, let me highlight protection of the poor and the vulnerable at a time of heightened costs. Mr. President was committed to making sure nobody is left behind at a time of high inflation.”
“So as we all know, as the chair of the presidential panel on social investment programs, the all important direct payments to the poor, which is a veritable tool and the sharpest tool you can have for attacking increased living standards for helping people immediately that program has been restarted.”
“It involves helping at least 75 million Nigerians, 15 million households with payment of N75 billion in immediate term. And in order to make sure that the public trust is there in this process, we have a system that has been developed between the Minister for Communications innovation digital economy, the Minister for Health, the Minister of youth, and so forth.”
“We have come up with a globally at best standard in providing direct payments. On the one hand, each person must have and we’re hoping to get even to the lowest ward level village level to have a need that that individually identifies them.”
“Secondly, their payment most be through digital means, whether it’s a BVN which means a bank account, or a mobile wallet, and we have brought all the skills and technology to bear in Nigeria to help so the mobile network operators have all been recruited to ensure that we have a faster rollout of this program. And that is one of the key ways in which initially, the poor and the most vulnerable will be helped,” the CME said.
The Minister revealed to those present at the National Press Centre venue of the event that the federal government is set to roll out an Economic Emergency Plan that would be implemented in the next six months. The plan, he explained, would help stabilize the economy and set the country on the path of growth.”
“And then finally, we do have fresh on Mr. President’s table today an economic emergency plan for stabilizing the economy and implementing it over the next six months. And he has been put together by the President’s economic team, by the private sector representatives, by the sub national state governments. We have all sat together in recent weeks and we have a package on Mr. President’s desk this afternoon for his approval. And why it is only this afternoon because it was this morning. We got the final clearance from a state governor who had said he wanted to have a final chance to review an input with that clearance. We’re now good to go in terms of a major economic plan for Mr. President to approve,” he added.
Also, in her presentation, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, highlighted the achievements of administration of President Tinubu in the past year geared to unlock Nigeria’s industrial, trade and investment opportunities, in line with the laudable 8-Point Agenda, which are: ensuring food security; ending poverty; economic growth and job creation; access to capital; improving security; creating a level playing field on which people and particularly companies operate; ensuring rule of law; and fighting corruption.
Dr. Uzoka-Anite disclosed that within the period under review, federal government secured investment commitment to the tune of $30 billion.
“Nigeria’s investment landscape is now witnessing a significant influx of foreign capital, aligning with the Renewed Hope agenda. Led by the commitment of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we have secured Investment commitments of over $30 billion, so far across multiple sectors of the economy.
“In addition, the ministry is taking decisive and structured steps to attract capital investments which will transform our homegrown enterprises and industries into global players. We have concluded stakeholder engagements with our domestic private equity and asset management firms towards the launch of an Investment Mobilization Initiative aimed at increasing local and foreign investment as a catalyst for economic growth” she said.
According to her, under the auspices of the Ministry, the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex has recorded significantly increased revenue to the Federal Government, totaling over N430 million in the first quarter of 2024, which is significantly more compared to the N17,883,406 accrued in the same period in the previous year.
Also in speaking, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, on Tuesday, disclosed that the his administration had evolved Key policy thrusts and goals to drive the Ministry towards actualising developmental goals of the present government.
Oyetola also stated that a comprehensive four-year key results framework and implementation plan to guide the Ministry and its agencies had been developed.
He pointed out that a robust process for the finalization and validation of the policy was on-going, noting also that the national policy on Marine and Blue Economy would be concluded in December 2024.
“A core objective of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy (FMMBE) is the creation of a dynamic national policy framework aimed at creating the enabling environment required for the sector to thrive.
In this regard the Ministry has engaged all subsectors stakeholders, experts, academia, and research institutions in assessing the current state of the sector,” he said.
While marshalling the achievements of the new Ministry in the last one year, the former Governor of Osun State, revealed that the Ministry had made tremendous success in improving the revenue earnings of the sector.
According to him, the Ministry has attained a measure of success for the to increase the contribution of the Marine and Blue economy to national GDP, while generating revenue for government for the important task of national economic development.
He said: “A key measure of success for the Ministry is to increase the contribution of the marine and blue economy to national GDP, while generating revenue for government for the important task of national economic development.”
“To achieve this, we are currently implementing a 3-pronged strategy that is focused on (i) blocking revenue leakages; (ii) enhancing revenue generation from established sources; and (iii) identifying and rolling out new blue economy revenue sources.”
“The Ministry has achieved a ramp up of revenue to government in the last one year and is poised to do more. A comparison of Quarter 1 2023 against Quarter 1 2024 revenue performance across the Agencies reveals a 92% increase.
“The increase in revenue performance has largely been due to a 10% increase in the number of vessels calling our ports due to strategic investments in port infrastructure in the last one-year, mooring boats, patrol vessels and dredging of the port’s channels. We have also tightened revenue assurance by deploying technology.”
“Revenue generation is critical to us. In this regard, we have commenced the rollout of the following initiatives among others: Commissioning of revenue enhancement studies focused on the Ministry, its departments, and agencies. The objective is to further identify and block leakages while identifying recommendation to expand current revenue sources.
“Automation of revenue collection processes to eliminate bottlenecks and enhance transparency and accountability. Deploying revenue assurance technologies to ensure accurate and complete billings in line with established contracts and services rendered.”
“Ensuring the efficient utilisation of existing assets through concessions to the private sector and public private partnerships as required. Investment promotion campaigns targeting both domestic and international investors for investments in the marine and blue economy sub-sectors.”
Oyetola also related that the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy recorded some developmental strides in the area of Port Infrastructure and Connectivity, highlighting some of the key achievements of the Ministry in port infrastructure within the past year.
His words: “Promotion of Inland Dry Ports – we are promoting the development of inland dry ports in strategic locations across the country. They will have a combined capacity of 165,000 TEUs. The inland dry ports will help to decongest our seaports, deliver a net decrease in transportation costs and environmental challenges, and promote overall improvement in public safety through reduced road accidents.”
“Commissioning of Funtua Dry Port – we have finalised the Funtua Inland Dry Port which was commissioned on 9th May 2024. This will improve the ease of doing business and increase our share of the Sahel trade.”
“Seaport Infrastructure Upgrade – Fund has been sourced for the comprehensive modernization and reconstruction of Tin Can Island and Apapa Port Complex, and discussions are on for sourcing funds for the rehabilitation of Onne, Rivers, Delta, and Calabar port complexes. The port modernisation projects are expected to generate at least 20,000 jobs, decongest the ports, and improve ease of doing business.
“Port Equipment Renewal – alongside the port rehabilitation project, we are also modernising port equipment to as we strategically position to reclaim our sport as the maritime hub for West Africa. For example, we recently acquired the first-of-its-kind in Africa marine crafts such as the recently commissioned two units of Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) 8213 model 80 Ton Bollard Pull Tugboats to enable the berthing of very large vessels of 300 metres LOA (length overall) and above.”
“Dredging of Navigation Channels- The recurrent dredging of the channel to the various ports and terminals have continued. This has allowed bigger vessels such as MSC Maureen to dock, and will going forward improve our cargo throughput and share of the West Africa maritime trade.”
“Access and Connectivity to Ports – Collaboration with FMW and FMT has yielded the rehabilitation of access roads and connection ports to rail network respectively to reduce congestion and transit times.”
“Lagos-Calabar Superhighway – the Ministry commends the great initiative of Mr. President on the project. The superhighway is set to boost blue tourism and facilitate private sector investments in the development of beach resorts, marine transportation, water sports, etc. The project will create thousands of jobs and open up new economic opportunities in the coastal states.”
Also, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf M. Tuggar, spoke at the event stating that Nigeria has increased its Maritime boundaries by over 16,000 nautical miles.
He said the his ministry is also engaging others countries to ensure that Nigeria’s foreign students do not suffer rejection, by visa denial after being admitted by the schools.
•INDEPENDENTNG.