By Munachimso Obienyi
Following the rising incidents of flood in several states, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday said though Nigerians could express concerns over the devastating floods across the country, there should be no panic over threats to food security.
This is coming after the federal government confirmed yesterday that at least 500 persons had died in the last few weeks due to the devastating impact of the natural disaster.
The figure was released at a meeting in Abuja convened by the federal government comprising all relevant agencies of connected to tackling the menace in the country.
Aside the 500 persons that have now died as a result of the national disaster, the federal government also revealed that 45,249 houses have been totally destroyed while 70,566 hectares of farmlands have been damaged.
Speaking at a media briefing to mark the 2022 World Food Day celebration with theme: “Leave no one behind, better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and better Life,” he maintained that the federal government was doing everything humanly possible to ensure that Nigerians do not go hungry.
He said this was why the country has large quantities of grains stocked in the Strategic Grains Reserves, adding a lot of strategies were being put into action to ensure Nigerians don’t go hungry.
He said, “We don’t have a shortage of food in Nigeria at this point and we want to make sure there is no shortage. But yes, prices have risen”
But the minister’s assurances came on a day the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Oxfam highlighted continued threats to the country’s food security.
The minister said the government had also invested so much in the agricultural sector and created employment for Nigerians, insisting that President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty was still on course.
