The Federal Government said on Sunday that provision has been made for farmers across the country to have enough fertiliser to grow food throughout the year.
Chief executive officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr. Uche Orji, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
“Last year, fertiliser was sold as high as N14,000 a bag in the open market.
“And now we are selling it for N5,500, that is 30 per cent below what the market was. The price is boldly written on the fertiliser bag so you can’t be cheated.
“We have the capacity to blend what the nation needs and, this year, fertiliser will not be an excuse for farming in Nigeria.
“Anybody who tries to sell it more than that, there is a whistleblower number and when you call, then the National Security Adviser would be involved to investigate,” he said.
Orji said that this year would be different from last year, because Nigeria now has the capacity to blend and produce fertiliser locally.
He said, with the help of the NSIA, 12 out of the 28 fertiliser blending plants scattered across the country have been resuscitated. The plan is to refurbish six more blending plants by 2018.
“We used to import the whole thing completely blended. And there is a lot of physical labour involved in making fertiliser. So what we did was the Presidency said we should have a look and see how we can make fertiliser available to farmers on time and at a reasonable price.”