By Gabriel Ewepu – Abuja

The Federal Government, yesterday, hailed Nigeria Farmers Group and Cooperative Society, NFGCS, over the concept, investment, and impact on improving food security, wealth and job creation with massive investment.

The commendation was made by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mustapha Baba Shehuri, during a visit to the 3, 500 hectares of Gaate Farm City, Gaate, Kokona Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, which is owned and managed by agro investors under the auspices of NFGCS.

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Shehuri who was overwhelmed by the effort of the investors and their determination just in two years said this has actualized the dream of President Muhammadu Buhari in diversifying the economy to agriculture, which was the country’s earliest economic mainstay and foreign exchange earner.

He said this demonstration by determined Nigerian agro investors is an indication that the economy is being taken back to its right track and would go a long way to boost food security and self-reliance of many agro products in no distant time.

Gaate Farm City is located along Keffi-Makurdi road and it is an investment of over N2 billion within two years by NFGCS, and its National Coordinator and Managing Director is Retson Tedheke.

He said: “The move is a public-private partnership, one that is in tandem with one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s strategies to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty in the next decade through the agro value chain.

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“I have heard a lot about you people and I said to myself that I must see to believe. I am really overwhelmed with what I see here today and words cannot express how I feel right now.

“You have successfully taken yourselves out of hopelessness and gave hope to yourselves and other Nigerians. This is the dream and vision of President Buhari and the ministry is ready to partner to ensure that we have something like this in every local government in Nigeria.

“This is the first of its kind in this part of the world. I will sit with the directors in the ministry to discuss how we can come over to learn from you. The Ministry of Agriculture will come and learn from you. I will be here again, not just for the purpose of visiting or inspection but to relax.

“You have offered a solution for a community to live a purposeful life. I can see the entire community is engaged in every section of the farm.”

Meanwhile, the Minister disclosed that the model he had seen in the Gaate Farm City-owned and managed by NFGCS, the same will be considered for all local government areas, which will be in a memo to the Federal Executive Council.

“Every community in Nigeria needs something like this the Ministry would immediately commence the process of developing a working memo for the President to begin the process of nationwide youth agro training”, he said.

He also acknowledged the approach used by NFGCS to tackle herder-farmer clash in the area that has brought about peace to farmers and herders, which he said would be considered for replication across the country for peaceful co-existence.

“The template to stop the herdsmen and farmers clashes nationwide is less than an hour drive from Abuja and we don’t know all these while”, he added.

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