Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa State has expressed optimism regarding Nigeria’s potential to achieve self-sustainability in wheat production in the near future.
He conveyed this sentiment during discussions with journalists at the Presidential Villa in Abuja after meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Thursday.
Namadi’s visit aimed to express gratitude to the President for granting Jigawa State access to cultivate 40,000 hectares out of the total 120,000 hectares allocated for wheat farming across Nigeria.
In his briefing to the President about the project and broader developmental issues in Jigawa State and the nation, Namadi emphasized Nigeria’s capability to become a wheat exporter, thanks to the deliberate governmental efforts to achieve self-sufficiency.
Regarding Jigawa State’s impact on Nigeria’s wheat production, he highlighted their leading position in the country’s wheat cultivation. Namadi pointed out that their allocation of 40,000 hectares out of the national 120,000 hectares demonstrates their significant contribution, underscoring the difference they’re making in the sector.
While expressing confidence in the state’s capacity to attain wheat sufficiency in Nigeria, the governor said: “We have a FADAMA land of over 400,000 hectares. So, that is only FADAMA land that we can cultivate in both the rainy and dry seasons.”
On the possibility of exporting wheat, Namadi said: “We are going to export wheat over time. We’re doing the first one, and then after this one, we’re going for rice, and the next one, we’re going for wheat. That’s how the cycle will continue to go. Definitely, we’re going to have food sufficiency and we’ll definitely have surplus to export.”
In a projection about the number of tonnes of wheat to expect from Jigawa State, the governor said: “The issue is what we’re doing now; the minimum we’re expecting is about four tonnes per hectare. Now we’re doing four tonnes per hectare and we’re doing 40,000 hectares. In fact, these 40,000 are the ones for which we have received support from the federal government. We are doing more than that. We can have about 50,000 hectares of land from people doing it on their own.
“So, at least with the essential services we have provided and with all the support we have provided for land clearing, especially for harrowing that we have supported the farmers, that has allowed them to cultivate more. Somebody who was doing one hectare now is ready to do more hectares because of the support he has from the federal government and from the support he has from the state government, multiply that by 40,000 hectares, the official one, we are doing plus about 10,000 hectares. We are doing a minimum of four tonnes per hectare; some people are making six tonnes per hectare, but we are taking just the minimum, so definitely, I think the future is very bright.”
