The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has said that Governor Uba Sani has transformed the agro-industrial landscape of Kaduna State within two and half years.
Speaking when he led a delegation of Commissioners of Agriculture from the 36 states of the country on a courtesy call to Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on Wednesday, he noted that the Governor had become a point of reference in the agriculture and agro-industrial sector in Nigeria.
The Minister recalled that Kaduna used to be a textile hub which was an agro-based industry because its raw material was from cotton but ‘’today we are seeing a very different value addition to some of our staple crops.’’
According to him, what Governor Uba Sani is doing to agriculture in Kaduna State aligns with what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu ‘’ has been talking about on food security and food sovereignty.’’
Senator Kyari noted that apart from just production of raw materials, the Governor was also adding value to agriculture, maintaining that Kaduna State was the first subnational where the Special Agro-Processing Zone (SAPZ) was launched in April.
The Minister said that he and his delegation went round Kaduna State as part of the 47th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Agriculture since, they arrived on Monday and were impressed with the governor’s giant strides in Agriculture.
He said that they had visited OLAM Poultry Farm and Feed mill, TMDK, a company involved in agro-allied processing, Tomato Jos and the Agricultural Quality Assurance Centre(AQAC).
According to the Minister, these agro-allied companies are located outside Kaduna town, which will create jobs in rural areas and check rural-urban migration.
Senator Kyari commended Kaduna State and other sub nationals, for aligning with President Tinubu’s clarion call on food security, which is defined ‘’as the availability, accessibility and affordability of diverse and nutritious food.’’
The Minister also applauded Governor Uba Sani for his inclusive style of Governance, which has attracted prominent members of the opposition to the ruling APC in Kaduna State.
‘’We were quite impressed with what we saw and we had no doubt whatsoever, that our brother Distinguished Senator Uba Sani will perform wonderfully well,’’ he said.
He recalled that when the party primaries were held to nominate the APC gubernatorial candidate, he was the Deputy National Chairman (North) and ‘’I had no doubt whatsoever that you will come and be a reference point in Nigeria’s politics.’’
In his remarks, Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, commended the Governor for exceed the Malabo declaration, by exceed the 10% budgetary allocation to Agriculture.
According to him, Governor Uba Sani may even exceed the 12% that he has budgeted for Agriculture, to 20% by the end of his two terms in office.
Responding, Governor Uba Sani thanked the two Ministers for choosing Kaduna as the host of the National Council of Agriculture and Food Security, describing it as a great honour.
He disclosed that the duo were his colleagues in the Senate and they supported him when he decided to contest the governorship of Kaduna state.
The Governor maintained that Kaduna State was the only subnational in the entire north that had AQAC, which would help in certifying farmers’ produce for export.
Governor Uba Sani also said that Kaduna State was the only state to have launched the SAPZ in northern Nigeria and the first to launch it in the country, followed by Cross Rivers and Oyo states.
‘’We are investing heavily in agriculture because it contributes about 43% of our GDP and 60% of our workforce. When we came in, the agric budget was just 0.5%. But today, I am glad to say that our budget for agriculture is 12.5%,’’ he disclosed.
According to him, Kaduna State is the only state in the country that has distributed 900 trucks of free fertilizer to smallholder farmers in the last two years.
‘’We formed a team that included our traditional owners, our religious leaders, our community leaders, as well as our farmers, the association of farmers in the state.
‘’ We didn’t allow politics to guide us. We did it without looking at which party you belong to. What place you come from. We distributed bags of fertilisers to deserving small holder farmers free of charge and across the state,’’ he added.
