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“…farmers are very happy and seriously kicking against any move to tamper with their happiness by cutting down the high prices of farm produce for now”
Those were the words of Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, who spoke to the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development at the National Assembly on Thursday.
The minister assured the committee members that the federal government would soon see to reduction in prices of food items, going by the committee set up to that effect, but said farmers were already kicking against the move.
He said farmers were angry with him over the move because, they saw the situation on ground as very favourable economically to them.
Daily Post quoted him as saying: “The situation on ground as far as high prices of food items are concerned is one of a dilemma to me because, while the city dwellers are unhappy with us, farmers are very happy and seriously kicking against any move to tamper with their happiness by cutting down the high price of farm produce, for now”
Ogbeh said one of such farmers tackled him recently in Katsina not to tamper with the current price of food items, by claiming that he made N4million from the sales of Sorghum.
He added that another farmer in Anambra state also claimed to have made N1million profit from sales of rice as a result of the current market price.