From Okwe Obi, Abuja
For the leadership of the National Council for Women Society (NCWS) it is time to to go beyond mere lipservice and make agriculture the main focus. In line with such resolve, the body last week rolled out drums in honour of some first ladies and other Nigerians that are promoting agriculture.
The president of the council, Gloria Shoda admonished the awardees not to relent in their effort to assist the country achieve self-sufficiency in food production.
Those who were awarded included the first ladies of Niger, Amina Abubakar; Rivers, Suzzette Wike; Katsina, Hadiza Masari; Borno, Nana Shettima; Kebbi, Zainab Bagudu; Imo, Nkechi Okorocha; Sokoto, Mairo Tambuwal; Adamawa, Maryam Jibrila; Taraba, Anna Ishaku and the Ministers of Women Affairs and Foreign Affairs (State) Aisha Alhassan and Kadija Abba respectively.
Others were the former first lady of Kogi State, Aisha Audu, Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Boboye Oyeyemi, Salmo Kolo, Salamat Atinuke, Ishiola Adeleye, Uju Peace, Bishop Junita Nwendu Ada Ozongwu, Kennedy Iyere, Lawan Bukar, Fati Gambo, Isuwatu, Mariam Yusuf Doofan Abu-Ali, Comfort Kamtey and Rabi Gruma.
Shoda stressed that there is so much to be gained from the sector: food security, creation of jobs, household income and the reduction of imported food.
“These present a variety of opportunities. The issue of imported food as we as all know has proved to be drain on the scarce foreign exchange, but the good news is that opportunities in the processing component of agriculture offers exciting openings in agro-processing and for those of us who haven’t fully explored it, should do so.
“As we drive past the rural communities and see some of our women processing cassava, there are opportunities to take such activities to the next level as suppliers to our big supermarkets and for export to the diaspora,” he stated.
She, however, called on government at all levels to support women to take the agriculture to an enviable height.
One of the awardees, Asaba Vilita, encouraged women to delve into the agricultural, adding that it is a profitable venture.