The Kwara State government on Wednesday flagged off the distribution of 42,000 bags of fertilizers to farmers across the state as part of efforts to ensure bumper harvest and promote food security in the state.
The fertilizers were donated to the state government by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Community Development, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, who supervised the distribution, said each farmer will get at least three (3) bags of fertilizers at no cost.
“This is a federal government’s intervention that complements what the state government has already done on three different occasions.
“Here we have 50 trucks of NPK fertilizers and 20 trucks of Urea fertilizers, making 70 trucks altogether, donated by the Central Bank of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to the people of Kwara State,” he told reporters in Ilorin at the flag off ceremony.
He added that, “This would be a continuous exercise. At the state level, we have distributed fertilizers and other farm inputs in three batches. But this one is coming from the federal government. The federal government has given it to the state free of charge, and we are giving it to real farmers free of charge too.”
Olohungbebe said the distribution of the items will be handled by the Fertilizer Distribution Committees in each local government, headed by the directors of personnel management and peopled by community leaders.
He appreciated the federal government for the gesture and promised that the exercise would be properly monitored to ensure that the item gets to the real farmers.
“On behalf of citizens of Kwara State, led by the Chairman of NGF, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, we appreciate the federal government for this gesture, and we look forward for more collaborative efforts in the nearest future,” he said.