Food production should be prioritised over building estates — Ojokoro stakeholders
…As Olotu empowers 600 constituents with N50,000 each
Lagos State stakeholders gathered on Friday at the 9th Constituency Stakeholders’ Meeting held at Ojokoro in Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency 02, Lagos, emphasised the need to prioritise food production over building estates to address the current food insecurity in the state.
Recall that the meeting was held simultaneously in all the 40 constituencies of the state.
The theme of the edition was “Ensuring Food Security for Sustainable Future: Youth Participation and Home-Grown Farming.”
Addressing the stakeholders, Hon. Emmanuel Olotu, a member representing Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency 02 at the Lagos Assembly, who is also Chairman, Committee on Agriculture, said that the current hunger warranted attention being shifted from other demands towards food production.
According to the legislator, Hon. Olotu, the clamour for food sufficiency lately has been on the increase, hence, the need for all residents and stakeholders to prioritise food production, using all available land spaces and homes.
He said that addressing food insecurity had become “number one” for the people and all efforts should be concentrated on resolving the hike in food prices and scarcity.
In his surprise gesture, Hon. Emmanuel Olotu empowers Six Hundred (600) people in his Constituency with Fifty Thousand Naira N50,000 to boost their business and well being, which consists of Artisans, Party Members, CDC, CDA, Youths, Iyalojas, Babalojas and others.
Delivering a lecture on the aforementioned theme; Mr Omolade Balogun, who is a representative from the Ministry of Agriculture, said that the issue of food production remained a collective business, hence, each Community Development Association (CDA) must focus on its area of comparative advantage.
Also,the Deputy Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State, Mr. Shakin Agbayewa, said that it was high time to de-emphasise allotment of lands to building of estates rather than farm settlements to ensure food security.
Also speaking, the Executive Chairman, Ojokoro LCDA, Hon. Hammed Idowu Tijani, said that the council remained committed to supporting people interested in food production, especially in this economic hardship.
Hon. Tijani, who highlighted many of his interventions and achievements, said, “food production should not be left for the elderly.”
Meanwhile, former Lagos lawmaker Hon. Rasheed Makinde criticised the community’s over-reliance on white-collar jobs, arguing that urban agriculture thrives in advanced countries.
