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The president of the Owerri Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OCCIMA), Anthony Amadi has called on Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma to declare a state of emergency in food production in the state.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen on Sunday, the industrialist pointed out that crisis was looming if some drastic action was not immediately embarked upon by the state government.
He said; “First, government should declare a state of emergence on the agricultural sector in Imo State. The state government should stop trucks loading with foods and agricultural produce to other countries for the next five to six months because of the adverse effects food exportations have on the country.
“There is a disaster waiting to happen which will be caused by hunger in the state and the country in general. That food insecurity is already a very big problem in the country. Food scarcity creates insecurity generally because a hungry man is an angry man.
Read Also: Cabinet: Imo Assembly Confirms Uzodinma’s Commissioners
The Eastern Updates recalls that a fortnight ago, President Bola Tinubu had directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to release about 42,000 metric tons of maize, millet, and other commodities in strategic reserves to address the rising cost of food in the country.
The OCCIMA Boss called on Uzodinma to encourage Imo youths to go into agriculture by equipping them with the right atmosphere and skills; “We are calling on the Imo State government to declare with immediate effect a state of emergency on the food sector. It is a must as a matter of policy. In fact, it will encourage more youths, and more people to move into agriculture.
“The government should find a way to subsidise farm inputs, seedlings, including yams, cassava cuttings, even fertilisers so that these people can produce at a lower cost. It may also help them to sell at a lower cost. In fact, in every simple economy, you have the public and private sector, the government cannot do it alone. That is why the Imo State government should enter into agreement with us, the members of the organised private sector. The government should partner with us to restructure, develop the economy, and attract new development to the state. But we will need to offer an alternative recommendation. To inform the state government to have a handshake extended to the organised private sector in the area of policy formulation, policy implementation, these are the critical issues to drive economic growth. The government can see things in a particular prism while we in the private sector will see it in a different prism. When we merge these two parties together, the private and the public sectors, we can have intellectual discourse on policy formulation that will positively impact on the economy of the state. We are calling on the state government to bring in the private sector and help it in sectoral reforms. Integrate the private sector in policy formulation and reforms.”
The naira currency has fallen swiftly against the US dollar since the government ended a multi-tier exchange rate system and freed up the local currency.
Before the reforms, the naira was trading at around 450 to the dollar, but on Monday it was trading at 1,400 to the greenback, according to the central bank.
