The Muhammadu Buhari administration has approved the setting up of integrated farm estates in all the senatorial districts across the country.
Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Prince Paul Ikonne, announced this at the weekend after a meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
But to make the plan successful, Ikonne urged state governments to make arable lands available for the project.
The NALDA boss said the land provided for the project would enable the youth to leave the unemployment market and help the country to achieve food security within a short time.
He said the Kogi State government had donated 700 hectares of land to NALDA for the integrated land estate, while the 100 hectares of land donated by the Ogun State government had been cleared.
Ikonne said the President was committed to and working towards ensuring that the country achieved food security.
“What you see is that agriculture is one of Mr. President’s heartbeat projects. He wants to see that we achieve food security in the country, and NALDA is purely under the supervision of Mr. President. That is why you can see the progress that we’re making.
“I believe that the inauguration of the Daura Integrated Farm Estate in Katsina State, which has the capacity to take in 1,500 young farmers, is a stepping stone or an eye opener to Nigerians towards Mr. President’s passion in achieving food security.
“Now, we didn’t stop at the Daura project. As we speak, the Integrated Farm Estate in Borno State is 75 per cent completed. We are also doing, in 40 locations, fish villages to engage women to take in those people who are coming, the Internally Displaced people (IDPs), in order to get them reintegrated and get them engaged, thereby providing jobs for them.
“As Mr. President is pursuing food security, he is at the same time creating job opportunities for Nigerians. That is what we are achieving or we are doing, using the NALDA platform,” he said.
Ikonne said Nigerians would live to remember the foundation President Buhari is laying to make the country achieve food sufficiency.