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You are Welcome back. Fulfill your duties as a Muslim to Allah, your family (ies), neigbhours and Society at large. And never forget to Pay your Dues and Zakat.
Press release on National Discourse 2019
Pre-event to the National Discourse was the press release by the National Amir of The Companion, Alhaji Thabit Wale Sonaike who revealed that no fewer than 113 million people are experiencing high levels of food insecurity in the world.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos State House of Assembly Mosque Hall, Alausa, Ikeja, The National Amir, who quoted the Global Report on last year’s Food Crisis, said Nigeria was named as one of the eight most affected countries in the world.
“These eight countries accounted for two-thirds of the total number of people facing acute food insecurity, amounting to nearly 72 million people,” he quoted the report.
Speaking on the theme, Food security: Unleashing Nigeria’s Natural Potential for Self-Sufficiency, Alhaji Sonaike said it is regrettable that Nigeria despite ranked as the highest producer of yam and cassava worldwide, is categorised as a food-insecure nation with heavy reliance on importation of grains, livestock products and fish.
“With a projected population of over 233 million by 2025, the concern for food security in the nearest future is palpable and calls for concern and immediate action by the populace and the government at all levels,” he said.
He said the association focus on food security for this year’s discourse “because food undoubtedly is the most basic of all human survival needs and the starting chain of the economy as well as the base for daily life.”
Food and agriculture by extension, he added, is also a fundamental pillar for economic growth and development as a nation can hardly achieve and sustain its economic growth without a strong agricultural base and the reasons are obvious.
“Nigeria has correctly identified food and agricultural production among others as one of the areas to focus on the growth and diversification of the economy. This has started to yield results to the extent that Nigeria has become the largest economy in Africa, yet ironically, the country is still categorised as one of the few countries with high incidents of extreme poverty. This is paradoxical and calls for an expert investigation. In the light of these, we felt that experts should be called together to engage in a meaningful discourse to proffer solutions,” he said.
Alhaji Wale Thabit Sonaike urged the federal government to take more drastic measures towards combating insecurity in the country, adding that incidents of community invasion, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, among others have become so rampant that lives and property are no longer safe.
“Millions of farmers have either been displaced from their farmlands or dispossessed of their farmland. All of these have a negative impact on food production and constitute a major threat to food security no matter the beauty of agricultural policy put in place.
“While we commend the government on the decision to recruit 10,000 policemen, in a bit to combat this menace, it is unfortunate, however, that many years after this pronouncement; the recruitment is still in progress. What does it really take to recruit 10,000 policemen in the midst of millions of unemployed youth in the country? Those concerned should be called to order,” The National Amir of The Companion said.