By Fatima Saka
The issue of food security is not just about policy but rather it has become part of the Constitution that was signed and Amended at the ninth National Assembly, says Senator Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi.
Food security and food supply is a constitutional right, he added.
The senator who is the Former Senate Leader and Chairman Committee of Agriculture and Rural Development representing Kebbi North Senatorial District of Kebbi State disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja, saying that it’s no more business as usual now and that the new amendment Bill is existing, it’s better for any executive of the government to leverage on it.
Senator Abdullahi lamented that in Nigeria today, eating has become a big issue and the government can be taken to court for allowing anybody to starve under the Constitution.
He said; “If anybody in any Nigerian dies of hunger, the government of the day can be taken to court and people can now seek redress so that food as part of the human rights of Nigeria is enshrined in our Constitution.
“So, the removal of subsidies is very good. In order to have resources that are going to be released as a result of subsidies, they are going to be used to make sure that people don’t die of hunger.
“Agriculture is a much more complex subject. It transcends both the issue of petroleum subsidy and several others, it has a lot of bearing on society and economy.”
Speaking on the removal of subsidy reiterated that the position of the President is very right, saying that subsidy is not sustainable. It is best for this administration to remove it, because the way in which it is being administered does not reach those people who need to benefit from it.
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“So why don’t you capture the resources like the president said, capture those resources that are use on subsidy and spend it on other issues like health, education, and agriculture.
He added that that Nigeria can establish a foundation for food security.
Speaking of food insecurity, the Senator said that the headers and farmers clash with the adversities is more complex.
He further called on the President to look at the problem that is the harding the community, “this is one area that has been completely mismanaged.”
“The citizens have been talking, talking, talking about the clashed and this has led to a lot of insecurity, because we have not managed the livestock sector properly.
“And the people who are engaged in livestock production, I have more or less been completely abandoned by the government policies over the years.
“They’re being killed by the farmers and then they are being abandoned by the government.
“The way the government is managing the Herdsmen in the societies has led to violent. A lot of them became violent because they don’t have the space to have their animals. No any arrest by castle theft and they were completely devastated.
Their livestock were taken, so therefore this will be on a level I was told by the criminals.
“So the criminals came back, and turned them into bandits. This is what happened.
“So the issue is the management of land resources, and management of lives of the communities. Don’t abandon any Nigerian communities to its own, every Nigerian has equal rights as well as the community’s importance, like any other community. So make sure that you look at the occupational structure of the country, and make sure that you uplift the level in which people live.”
