The chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Production Services, and Rural Development, Senator Saliu Mustapha, said his committee has the approval to revamp agriculture within the shortest time.
In his address at the interactive session with officials of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and other agencies on Thursday in Abuja, he called for a collaborative effort with the ministry and other stakeholders to achieve food security in Nigeria.
Senator Mustapha said the Senate committee would work within its power of oversight to ensure that those challenges militating against achieving food security are identified and brought up for legislative attention.
He said: “The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Production Services, and Rural Development is charged with the oversight functions on the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and other agencies that have been invited this afternoon.
“All of us are stakeholders in the Agriculture sector and the entire nation looks up to us to produce the desired support needed to improve agriculture productivity, which remains the largest employer of labour in our nation
“Agriculture still remains the most important sector of our economy and will for a long time be the driving force of the national economy.
“Nigeria cannot survive as a nation without food security for her citizens. With the majority of the population residing in rural areas and predominantly farming as a means of livelihood, we as players in this all-important sector cannot afford to fail in meeting their expectations.”
He lamented the lack of implementation of many legislative steps taken to achieve food security for the nation, opining that the narrative would change this time.
He said: “Over the years, the Senate has made several remarkable interventions and passed several laws with a view to improving agriculture.
“However, despite all of these efforts, a lot still remains to be done to achieve our goals to revamp agriculture in Nigeria in the shortest time frame.”
The maiden interactive meeting was well attended by the ministry and its allied agencies’ officials.
