Niger State Governor, Hon. Mohammed Umaru Bago, has, during the flagging-off of the sale and distribution of fertilisers, warned officials against diverting the products as relevant security agencies, including the EFCC, DSS, ICPC, and the Police, were invited to monitor the exercise.
The governor, who was accompanied by the Deputy Governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba, and other top government officials, said anybody caught diverting fertiliser and other farm inputs would be severely dealt with.
He said his administration was poised to boost agricultural activities, disclosing that each of the 25 local government areas will soon get ten tractors.
The governor then announced that 60,000 bags of fertiliser had been procured to be sold to farmers at a subsidised rate of N18,000, revealing that his farming policy of each government official cultivating one hectare of land was a sure way of boosting agricultural activities in the state.
Gov. Umaru Bago enjoined civil servants to go back to farming, as he himself will soon be acquiring land to farm.
He said, "Every civil servant who doesn't want to suffer must go back to the farm. I enjoined you today to at least cultivate one hectare of land because I myself will go back to farming".
He said the entire farming space would be cultivated as measures were put in place to ensure the lives and properties of farmers were protected, and he announced the donation of 300 hand pumps to farmers by the Bago Foundation.
Earlier in his remarks, the chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Alh. Shehu Yusuf Galadima, expressed appreciation to the governor for the gesture. He said the scheme will help crash the prices of foods on the market.
He pleaded with officials in charge of the distribution of the fertilisers to put God first and ensure that only genuine farmers benefitted from the products.
He then advised farmers against selling the products and called on the government to renovate the 13 irrigation sites in the state to encourage dry season farming in the state, while also commending the governor for taking measures that help improve security in the state.