Cross River State governor, Senator Bassey Otu, has assured the federal government that he would do everything within his power to ensure that there was strict monitoring in the distribution of fertiliser sent to the farmers in the state.
He promised to ensure that the intervention delivers “food price stabilisation, improved productivity and rural economic stimulation.”
The governor gave the assurance during last Saturday’s flag-off of the South-South Zonal Renewed Hope Farm Input Support Programme (FISP) in Calabar, with a firm demand for accountability in fertiliser distribution.
Represented by the speaker of the House of Assembly, Elvert Ayambem, Otu described smallholder farmers as “the backbone of Nigeria’s agricultural economy” and insisted that “every bag of fertiliser must reach the right farmer.”
He promised that strict monitoring would be enforced to ensure the intervention delivers “food price stabilisation, improved productivity and rural economic stimulation.
He lauded President Bola Tinubu, the Federal Government and NADF for the rollout.
Federal officials used the flag-off to commend Cross River’s agricultural direction and clarify the terms of the intervention.
Mrs. Maddy George Sampson, representing the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, called the state “a model for agricultural development in Nigeria” and said it is on a “seven-year trajectory” to lead in cocoa, coffee and oil palm.
She stressed that “the fertilizer being distributed under this programme is a grant and not for sale” and is intended to “close the productivity gap, increase yields, support indigenous fertilizer production and strengthen Nigeria’s food security.”
The National Agricultural Development Fund said 80,640 bags have been allocated to the South-South for 25,200 farmers across Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Delta and Edo, with each beneficiary receiving four bags.
Mr. Olalekan Alabi, representing NADF Executive Secretary Mohammed A. Ibrahim, described FISP as “a targeted intervention designed to deliver fertilizer to verified farmers at the right time” and confirmed that all bags are “fully subsidised, locally produced, branded, traceable and boldly marked ‘NOT FOR SALE.” He added that validation and monitoring mechanisms have been put in place to ensure the inputs reach genuine farmers nationwide.
