In his speech to mark the 64th independence of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu scored the five governors of the South East states zero in terms of agriculture.
While explaining what his administration is doing in the last 16 months to contain the hunger and suffering in the land, Tinubu thanked the governors he said, have keyed into the federal government’s agricultural programme.
While the governors of Kebbi, Niger, Jigawa, Kwara, Nasarawa and the entre Southwest got commendation of the president, no south east governor has done enough to attract Mr. Tinubu’s attention.
“I commend the Governors particularly, in Kebbi, Niger, Jigawa, Kwara, Nasarawa, and the Southwest Governors that have embraced our agricultural production programme. I urge other states to join the Federal Government in investing in mechanised farming,” part of the statement reads.
He went further to state; “We are playing our part by supplying fertilizer and making tractors and other farm equipment available. Last week, the Federal Executive Council approved establishing a local assembly plant for 2000 John Deere tractors, combine harvesters, disc riders, bottom ploughs and other farm equipment. The plant has a completion time of six months.
“Our energy transition programme is on course. We are expanding the adoption of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas for mass transit with private sector players. The Federal Government is ready to assist the thirty-six States and FCT in acquiring CNG buses for cheaper public transportation.”
More than 24 hours after this speech, the South East governors are yet to make a statement though we have reported some of the agricultural efforts of the governors of Enugu and Ebonyi States in this sector.
