Equip farmers with adaptable knowledge to boost food production, foundation tells FG
Irked by the hardship being faced by citizens in the Niger Delta and in the country, as well as the slow start by the President Bola Tinubu administration to address the current economic crisis, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has vowed to shut down the country with the ‘mother of all protests’ in the region.
According to the youth body, the decision to embark on the protest, which will cripple activities in the region, including the oil and gas industries, was taken after a critical evaluation of the state of things in the country.
The umbrella body of Ijaw youths said that the decision to embark on the impending protest was taken after a due consultation with critical Ijaw stakeholders, and after analysing the unfriendly policies of the Tinubu administration.
According to a statement by IYC spokesman, Binebia Princewill, the Ijaw youth body resolved to embark on this protest as the only available option after a review of the inimical political attitude towards Ijaw people and Nigerians.
He said: “We are using this medium to inform our few Ijaw sons in Tinubu’s government that they should not be surprised to see thousands of Ijaw people storming the streets in demand for a better living condition for our people, since they are appearing to be insensitive to the plight of our people. It should be noted that when the protest will start, there will be no sacred cow, and they cannot claim not to be aware.”
MEANWHILE, as a way to provide solutions to the economic hardship experienced by most Nigerians, the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has urged the Federal Government to make efforts to equip farmers with adaptable knowledge to boost food production in the country.
The foundation proposed that community farmers should be recognised, supported and protected, stressing that Nigeria has farms and farmers that can produce what can sustain the country, as well as export to derive forex.
It said that if the Federal Government can leverage the benefits of biofertilizers and Agroecology, which, according to the foundation, are cheaper than exorbitant chemical fertilizers, the cost of food production would reduce.
Speaking after a one-day farmers’ training on Agroecology and Mangrove Restoration, in Eteo Community, Eleme Council of Rivers State, the Project Manager of HOMEF, Stephen Oduwari, called on the Federal Government to remediate polluted communities in the Niger Delta, saying that communities cannot produce enough food if their lands continue to be polluted.
