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AUDU Ogbeh, minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, on Sunday, March 5, promised that a bag of fertiliser would soon cost less than N6,000.

Ogbeh, who gave the assurance when he appeared on News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Forum in Abuja, said efforts were also underway to establish extension offices in all the local government areas.

“We’ve just signed an agreement with Morocco, the President and a few of us went to Morocco and had a good agreement for phosphate imports. Morocco has the largest deposit of phosphate in the world.

“And with potassium, those two formed the three major ingredients in agriculture, although the soil contains 16 nutrients for the plants, the three big ones are the nitrogen, the potassium and the phosphate.

“Adding all these up with the fertiliser we are getting from Morocco, we will put fertiliser on the market now for less than N6,000.

“But we are also insisting that there will be blenders in every part of the country so that the cost of transportation doesn’t compromise the integrity of this programme.

“At N6,000, the farmers are not complaining because they are now making quite some money.”

The minister assured the farmers of early distribution of fertilisers, particularly for those who would engage in this year’s dry season farming across the country.

He also denied the reports by some United Nations, UN, agencies of imminent famine in Nigeria, saying there was no threat of starvation.

Three UN agencies, namely, Food and Agriculture Organisation, World Food Programme and International Fund for Agricultural Development, reported that Nigeria would suffer famine, food shortage and malnutrition.

Ogbeh said it was virtually impossible for Nigeria to face famine or starvation because the country remained a major source of food for other African countries such as Algeria, Libya and the rest.

“I think there’s a danger of mixing the situation in the North-East with the situation nationwide; I have seen that on CNN, starvation in Somalia and Nigeria, and then they go on to talk about the civil commotion in the North-East

“I don’t think that the rest of Nigeria is facing any threat of famine. That is not true and I think these agencies have to be a little more careful in their prognoses.

“I think there are challenges in the North-East because this is a huge part of Nigeria which for five years has not engaged in food production.

“That’s not the same in the North-West or North-Central or South-West or South-South.

“So, I think there is some degree of exaggeration and a mixture of situations, there’s no threat of starvation because we have been feeding Africa.

“People come down from Algeria to buy food in Nigeria, they come from Libya, they come from Sudan and they come from Chad.

“So, to suggest that this country that is feeding the rest of Africa is almost to go totally hungry is not true.

—  Mar 6, 2017 @ 15:20 GMT

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