Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, has
warned of an imminent food crisis following
the possible invasion of quelea birds, locusts
and grasshoppers from neighboring Niger
Republic into the country.
Ogbeh gave the warning during an
emergency meeting with state commissioners
of Agriculture in 12 states in Abuja.
According to the Minister, the invasion of
army worm from neighboring countries into
some farmlands in Nigeria have resulted in
large scale losses of grains, a situation that
has led to the increase in the price of maize
to N15,000 a bag.
Commissioners of Agriculture in Kebbi,
Zamfara, Sokoto and Jigawa states who
spoke at the meeting, confirmed the presence
of quelea birds in about six -seven local
governments areas in their states. Ogbeh
said Nigeria is already facing maize crisis,
adding that if the birds are added to the
crisis, the country would be in turmoil.
“There is warning that we have
received that locusts and quelea birds
are massing up in Niger Republic from
where they normally attack us in
Nigeria. We know how dangerous
quelea birds can be and locusts. If
they arrive within hours and days, they
would have wiped out everything the
farmers would have put in the field.
We already have maize crisis. We may
have food problems if we are
attacked. This country would be in
turmoil. We can’t afford that. The
army warm is another problem. We
already have severe shortages of
maize. You know the price rose to
N15,000 as a result of that. Most of
the poultry farms are in trouble and
many families are hungry. We have
got to start working together like this
to deal with these things as soon as
there is any sign of them. We must
have an emergency team between you
and ourselves to tackle these issues
very swiftly. Now we know they will
come. We have to design a strategy
where chemicals are available in all
the states and contingency steps can
be taken quickly.”he said
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