The Guild of Public Affairs Analysts of Nigeria (GPAAN) on Saturday held a Public Lecture at the Citadel Global Church, Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregon Ikeja, Lagos, to round off the year 2024.
The lecture titled, “The Way Forward for Nigeria’s Food Security” was delivered by an erudite scholar, and Director General of the Premier Agribusiness Academy, Dr. Toromade Francis.
In his lecture, Dr Toromade Francis said food security was critical to Nigeria’s development, noting that with a population of more than 200 million, it was crucial to evolve sustainable food systems that would address the challenges posed by population growth, urbanization, climate change, infrastructural deficit, policy inconsistency, technology and insecurity.
According to the Guest Lecturer who is also the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Supernumerary Unit, he noted that it was imperative to boost agricultural productivity by using mechanized farming and better seed varieties to increase crop yields for food staples like yams, rice and cassava.
Furthermore, he called for more investments in irrigation to promote climax-smart farming for drought-affected crops like millet and sorghum.
On infrastructure development, Dr Toromade canvassed for the building of more roads, storage and processing facilities for the efficient distribution of cash crops like cocoa and oil palm.
On policy and investment, he called for increased agricultural budgets to attract private sector investments in value chain development for all geographical zones in the country.
He called for proper management of insecurity through the provision of security in conflict zones to ensure consistent farming of key food and cash crops.
He opined that the country’s six geopolitical zones are blessed with distinct agricultural strengths that can contribute significantly to Nigeria’s food security if the above strategies are implemented effectively.
In his welcome address, the President of GPAAN, Analyst Ayo Oyoze Baje, welcomed participants to the public lecture and thanked the guest lecturer for coming and for picking up the bill for hosting the event.
The president disclosed that Nigeria is currently ranked 110 out of 127 countries on the Global Hunger Index (GHI) for 2024.
He reeled out the achievements of the GPAAN under his watch including Book donations, INEC accreditation as Election Observers, partnership with the Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Lagos and the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, Women ARISE for Change and the establishment of zonal centres in Enugu, Port Harcourt and the FCT, Abuja.
Analyst Baje applauded the contributions of all GPAAN members for their continued support and encouragement in the face of adversity. Such members include Achike Chude, Dipo Olayokun, Lekan Sote, Victor Anya, Sola Adesanwo, Richard Inumah, coordinator of the End of Year meeting, Steve Aya, Dr Ambrose Igboke, Cami Ezenwa, Kalu Emerson and Moyo Oyatogun, all of whom are strong pillars of the group.
He specifically thanked Patrons such as Steve Ojo of President of Galaxy TV, Chidi Orazulike Comfort Coleman as well as two notable members who have hosted several of the group’s meetings namely Amaechi Ikechukwu and Jide Akintunde for their continued support through the years.
