The Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for directing the Central Bank of Nigeria to stop allocating foreign exchange for food importation.
Governor Ortom believes this will help ensure that Nigeria is a nation that can feed itself
Imports to Nigeria rose 2.6% year-on-year to 1002 billion naira in March 2019, boosted by purchases of energy goods, manufactured goods, solid minerals, raw materials and agricultural goods.
Meanwhile, The value for Food imports in Nigeria was 17.03 percent as at 2014.
Not pleased with being an import dependent nation, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele to stop allocating foreign exchange for food importation.
Being the food basket of the Nation, the state government believes Benue will greatly benefit from this, as will farmers across the country, since agricultural returns would also increase.
Economists are in agreement with this, saying it is a bold step towards boosting the country’s economy
With these steps taken by the federal government, farmers are expected to leverage on this opportunity provided by the Federal Government by being
more productive and quickly bridging the gap that will be left by the imported goods, now under ban
