Food Security: Union calls for state of emergency on insecurity
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has called on President Bola Tinubu to declare state of emergency on insecurity, to ensure food security in the country.
Its President, Mr Timmy Okon, made the call at a forum held for Labour Writers Association of Nigeria on Thursday, in Lagos.
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“It is insecurity that has chased people away from their farms, and no matter how much you want to come into agriculture, if you do not address security problem, there is no way you can be sure of food security; that is fundamental.
“So, when you bring in experts from other climes and are coming to address you, the way it works in other climes, cannot work in present day Nigeria because the security issue has affected a lot of things,” he said.
Okon, who is also the National Deputy President, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, called on the government to purchase mass transport buses and distribute them to the states and local governments.
According to him, such move will have a positive spillover effect that will cushion the challenges associated with the removal of fuel subsidy.
“The major challenge we are having now is on transportation, because once it is taken care of, it will reduce the cost of goods and services.
“Alternatively, the government can also cluster those in the informal sector, who are into productive venture, and then pump in money into them; that will have a turn-over effect that will make them employers of labour, which can also checkmate and reduce unemployment.
“It can also give them the capital they need and economic strength, which is money,“ Okon said.
