By; JOSEPH I. EGBODO, Abuja.
The House of Representatives has called on the executive arm of the federal governmen to urgently design a sustainable food policy that would guarantee food security for the citizens.
When designed, the policy is expected to be presented to the House Standing Committee on Agricultural Production and Services for possible legislative input.
This was fallouts of the unanimous adoption of a motion under matters of urgent public importance, introduced by Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Emmanuel Orker-Jev.
The lawmaker un the motion, expressed concern that Nigeria lacked a sustainable food security policy, thereby exposing the country to needless food importation, expressing worries that the cost of neglect was high as the country losses a lot when people cannot feed themselves.
“If each state can be self sufficient, I think this issue of food insecurity will be a thing of the past We should take this auspicious moment of constitutional amendment to remove agriculture from the concurrent list. The Federal Government has too much to do. If we do this it will be much easier to achieve food security,” he noted.
Contributing to the debate, Minority Leader, Hon Leo Ogor said; “we are being reminded to day that we have a major challenge.
Our land is blessed that we can even feed this nation and other country, we have abandoned this because we discovered oil.
“Agriculture worked for us some years ago and it can still work for us. We should go back to the drawing board and there is need for us to look inward,’ he said.
