Tinubu, Governors Meet Today Over Food Crisis In Nigeria

President Bola Tinubu and the 36 governors of the federation are reportedly meeting today, Thursday, February 15, 2024, to proffer solutions to the food crisis currently plaguing the country.

Polity Reporters gathered the president will have a closed-door meeting with the governors at 11:00 am before he leaves the country for Ethiopia for the African Union meeting.

Confirming the meeting, a source in the presidency revealed that “The President will meet all the governors tomorrow (today, Thursday) before he leaves for Addis Ababa. He will meet them between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm. It’s a crucial meeting and governors from the APC (All Progressive Congress), the PDP and other parties must be here.”

Also confirming the meeting to ThePunch, the Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda, said the economic hardship Nigerians are facing would be the focus of the meeting, adding that the meeting would bring succour to the country.

Radda said, “We are aware of the responsibility on us as governors. We are also aware of the economic hardships people are going through. We will do everything possible to bring succour to Nigerians, especially the poor.

“Tomorrow( today), all the 36 state governors will meet President Bola Tinubu over the current economic hardships to discuss ways to bring succour to the hardship the people are experiencing.”

This is coming after governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) likened Nigeria’s economic situation to that of Venezuela.

The economic crisis in the South American country is marked by hyperinflation, disease, starvation, crimes and mortality rate.

Reacting to this, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga in a statement on Twitter, charged state governors to wake up to their responsibilities and tackle the food crisis in their states.

“The Federal Government is not the only actor in town. You have your duties cut out for you. Imagine each state making efforts to boost food production in its domain, build one world-class hospital, good roads, good schools etc. Imagine what our country would have become,’’ Onanuga said.

Since President Bola Tinubu removed fuel subsidy in May 2023, the Nigerian economy has been hit with inflation with fuel and food prices skyrocketing.

While the value of the national currency continues to fall, insecurity in many parts of the country negatively impacts the country’s food sufficiency and security.