Hardship: Nigerians are angry – Bauchi Governor declares

Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has expressed concerns over the state of the nation’s economy.

He said the common man is experiencing hunger which is translating into anger, adding that inflation and food insecurity are contributing to the hardship.

Mohammed stated this during his opening remarks at the State Executive Council emergency meeting.

The governor disclosed readiness to engage stakeholders for the development of aquaculture and dry-season farming in the state, particularly at the Gubi Dam site at the Ganjuwa Local Government Area, aimed at addressing hunger and poverty among citizens of the state.

He added that the state has approved a roadmap for the development of the process.

His words “ I call this meeting because it’s almost an emergency because there is hunger and anger and the common man does not differentiate between the federal and the state government’s responsibilities. It is not easy to just pass the buck and say it is the federal government’s responsibility –it is all our responsibility.

“Our food security is in jeopardy and we have to look at things passionately. Of course, we are at the centre of the country and we are almost the food basket. Every day, trailers of food are leaving this state and going to other places. And what are we doing to make sure that we have some relief for our people? The best we can do as a government is to make sure that we pay salaries and wages even though they are grossly not enough to put food on the table.”

Addressing journalists after the council meeting, Commissioner for Agriculture, Professor Simon Madugu Yalams, said the government has noted with great concern, the challenges of food security and availability in the state.

According to him, fishing activities at the main Gobi dam processing plant were approved by the Council as well as the organization of its activities to meet the challenges of land encroachment in various places.

Simon Yallams said further that the Council discussed the Special Agricultural Processing Zone to process local food locally with the help of the African Development Bank to add more value to local production.

The Commissioner stressed that the government is worried about hunger which is causing anger among people, assuring that efforts are made to avoid a crisis in the state.