The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to achieving food self-sufficiency in Nigeria through strategic collaboration with state governments and private investors.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made this known on Tuesday during a visit to Kainji Aquaculture Resources Limited’s Tilapia Fish Farm in New Bussa and the Hydropolis Free Trade Zone in Amfani, Magama Local Government Area of Niger State.
Accompanied by the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Nura Rimi, and a representative of the Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Ugochukwu Akagaogu, Idris commended the projects as shining examples of effective public-private partnerships.
Highlighting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reforms in the agricultural sector, Idris praised the creation of the Ministries of Marine and Blue Economy and Livestock Development as visionary moves aimed at strengthening regulation, encouraging investment, and reducing the importation of fish and dairy products.
“President Tinubu has taken deliberate steps, including the establishment of key ministries, to position food security at the core of national development,” he said.
“With over 800 kilometers of coastline and inland waterways, Nigeria has enormous aquaculture potential, and we are determined to harness it through private sector involvement
.”The Minister lauded the efforts of Kainji Aquaculture Resources Limited, which currently produces 1,000 metric tonnes of tilapia and aims to expand to 5,000 metric tonnes within four years.
He described the project as a significant step toward reducing fish imports, creating employment, and promoting youth empowerment.
At the Hydropolis Free Trade Zone, Idris urged both local and international investors to leverage the infrastructure being developed, including two power substations, a university, hospitals, and recreational facilities.
The Zone’s Managing Director, Dr. Abdulmalik Ndagi, disclosed that over ₦30 billion has already been invested and appealed to the Bank of Industry for a ₦10 billion intervention to fast-track further development.
Senator Enoh echoed the importance of the private sector in achieving Nigeria’s food and industrial goals. “The licensing of the Free Trade Zone shows the government’s readiness to support industrialization, but its success ultimately rests on private investment,” he said.
He emphasized the need to ramp up local production to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on food imports and preserve foreign exchange, noting the Bank of Industry’s role in supporting such ventures.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of Kainji Aquaculture Resources Limited, Mr. Sa’adu Baloni, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to boosting economic development through sustainable fish farming and called for government support to scale operations.
The visit underscored the Federal Government’s resolve to drive agricultural transformation and industrial growth through enabling policies and targeted partnerships with the private sector.
