Niger State Government said it has vowee to sustain the existing partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in order to give agricultural sector its deserving attention and make it the mainstay of the state’s economy.
The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ahmed Ibrahim Matane stated this when the Director of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Niger State Officer, Salihu Bello, paid him a courtesy call in his Office.
The SSG stressed that Government would continue to accord farmers the deserving support and ensure that the state assumed the number one position in Agricultural productions.
Matane disclosed that Agriculture used to be the largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the largest employer of labour in Nigeria but the advent of oil caused attention to shift away from the sector, therefore all hands must be on deck to ensure that we return to the old glory in order to maximized agricultural productions in the State and Nigeria as a whole.
He stressed the need for the restructuring of Mariga Market in Mariga Local Government Area of the State so as to make it more responsive.
Earlier in his remarks, Mr. Salihu Bello, told the SSG that they were in his Office to felicitate with him on his recent appointment as the Secretary to the State Government by Governor Abubakar Sani Bello.
Mr. Bello said the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was leading in the provision of rural projects in the State and enjoined the State Government to always request for capital projects from the Ministry especially solar or motorized boreholes, feeder roads as well as earth dams.
The Director called for the establishment of cottage groundnut milling centre by the State Government in the areas where groundnuts are largely produced.
