RAYMOND TEDUNJAYE, Lagos.
As the federal and state governments acknowledge home grown farming as panacea for food sufficiency, a Lagos lawmaker Hon. Lawal Aina Musbau has identified the menace of land owners popularly known as “Omo onile” as a major challenge to the programme.
Contrarily, most land owners in Lagos have been converting residential buildings to plaza, shops, without creating space for set back, car park or other miscellaneous.
However, the lawmaker implored land owners to evolve ways of buying into the programme and make space for home farming to enhance food sufficiency.
Hon. Lawal, representing Apapa Constituency 2, spoke Friday in a chat with newsmen at the 9th Constituency Stakeholders Meeting, held at the Secretariat of Apapa Iganmu LCDA.
His words, “We have the challenge of land and that of “omo onile” across the State. The citizens of the State need to sit back and look at the way forward for the eradication of insufficient land for home grown farming.”
While out lining the advantages of the home grown farming, Hon. Lawal emphasised that it will enhance easy access to harvesting of crops and reduce the pressure of buying at the major markets among others.
He lauded the “Every Home A Garden Competition” launched by the Nigeria’s First Lady Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, which aimed at promoting farming and increased food production.
The President’s wife has equally planted vegetables and other household crops in her garden located inside the Aso Villa, just as she earmarked the sum of N200 million as reward for women whose home -grown farming is the best in the Federation.
Speaking on efforts to address the unemployment challenges, the Lagos lawmaker implored the non skilled youths to take advantage of the vocational and skill acquisition programme of state government in order to be skillful and be self employed.
” Actually,we encourage our non- graduates, especially our youths to enroll for the vocational school training because we lack enough labour in Nigeria be it carpenters, plumbers, electricians, we’re short of them. This will make them useful and be readily available, instead of seeking for skillful labourers from neighbouring countries”.
The Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obada in a speech titled” Ensuring Food Sufficiency For A Sustainable Future: Youth Participation & Home – Grown Farming”, called on all Nigerians to collaborate with government at all levels to build a food security future for Lagos and Nigeria, where the youths are empowered, the farmers thrive and the communities flourish with abundant foods.
He reiterated that the Lagos State House of Assembly on its part has created an enabling environment for farming activities to thrive in the State, particularly through the passage of the anti-open grazing of livestock Law in September 2021.
In consonance with the United Nations sustainable development goals-eradication of poverty, zero hunger, good health and well being, Obasa noted that the Lagos State House of Assembly is committed to making Lagos a producing State and not just a consuming State in agriculture value chain to tackle the present day reality of food insufficiency.
Highlight of the occasion is the presentation of wheelchair to a physically challenged person, enlistment of 300 constiuents for the Ilera Eko Health Insurance Scheme to enjoy free treatment for the next four years and presentation of gifts by wife of the lawmaker to winners in a quiz.