Food would soon be made available to Nigerians from the national food reserves, if the assurance of the federal government is anything to go by.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris who gave the assurance on behalf of the government while briefing State House correspondents after a closed door meeting called at the instance of Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, with the National Security Adviser, NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and some ministers at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, over food security and protests in some states, expressed President Bola Tinubu’s worry over the development.
He said that the President has directed that the situation should be arrested by the Presidential Committee in order to reduce hardship on the populace.
The Minister, who said that there is enough food in the country, added that some elements are trying to take advantage of the high food prices and the depreciation of naira to cause havoc.
His words, “We just rounded off a meeting. It is a special presidential committee to address the issue of food shortage or lack of enough food on the table of most Nigerians.
“This is just the beginning of that meeting. It is going to continue tomorrow and day after tomorrow. The government is very concerned about what Nigerians are going through, especially what has happened in Minna yesterday, and therefore government is taking some action to ensure that Nigerians have some relief in terms of the availability of food on the table.
“Of course, this meeting is not by itself exhaustive. It’s just like I said, the beginning. It is going to continue tomorrow and the day after.
“Now, some of these will involve unlocking the foods that are available in most of the storage facilities (National Food Reserve) around the country. You know that the Federal Minister of Agriculture has some food reserves. That is going to be made available to Nigerians.”
The meeting was held on the heels of the protests by women in Minna, Niger State, and that of angry youths in Kano over the rising cost of living in the country.
A group of women in Minna, Niger State, had on Monday, blocked the ever-busy Minna-Bida Road at the popular Kpakungu Roundabout and called on the administration of President Bola Tinubu to address the problem of ‘hunger in the land.’
Youths in Kano also protested over the hardship in the country and the state governor, Abba Yusuf, assured them that he would take their complaints to the President.
