By Ogochukwu Isioma
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, and his Jigawa State counterpart, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, have said that Nigeria has become self-sufficient in fertilizer production, which will boost the country’s economic diversification drive.
Addressing journalists during a visit to Governor Obaseki, in Benin City, Abubakar who is also the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Fertilizer, said government is devising new ways to improve distribution of fertilizers to local farmers in rural communities at affordable prices.
He noted that with the current policies in place, fertiliser blending plants have been opened across the country with enough stock for the past 2 years, which the government will fashion out ways to get to rural farmers at subsidized cost.”
“Fertilizers have been available in the past two years, and still available now and I know of fertilizers blending plants that have stock and they could not even sell. In the villages, sometimes where there is no proper distribution, getting the product is really difficult,” he said.
The Jigawa State Governor further noted, “the Presidential fertilizer initiative pegs a margin for the distribution which is small. This is so that we can sell to the farmers at cheaper prices. We are working hard to make sure fertilizers are made available for the next season.”
On his part, Governor Obaseki commended the Jigawa State Governor for his role in ensuring that local blending of fertiliser was reviewed across the country, adding that with the revamp of the Edo Fertilizer and Chemical Company Limited, in Auchi, all stakeholders are working assiduously to ensure the product gets to local farmers.
He noted, “As chairman of the NEC committee on the diversification of the economy, Governor Abubakar has worked very hard and we have had opportunities of working very closely. The Auchi fertilizer plant is a compounded fertilizer blending facility. We have stock and what he said is true. Due to high cost of transportation and the pegged margin, sometimes distributors are not excited about taking these fertilizers at the price they have given them to the interior.”
On the diversification of the economy, Obaseki said, “It takes a while to diversify an economy. He is one governor I know that has the will and speaks up every time at our meetings on the need for us to begin to move our economy away from its dependency on oil, and unless we do that, things will be tough for us.”
