The Federal Government has commissioned a 200,000 Capacity Yam Storage Facility at the Zaki Biam International Yam Market, Benue state.
The newly reconstructed Zaki-Biam Yam Market and the 200,000 capacity Yam Storage Facility which was built by the Federal Government was Commissioned online, on Tuesday, by the Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo.
Speaking in a virtual message, during the commissioning, Mr. Osibanjo said Zaki Biam in Benue state accounts for over 70 percent of the cultivated yams in the country as over 200 trucks of yam goes out from the state on weekly basis.
He observed that the market lacks adequate storage facilities hence the need for the construction and commissioning of the storage facilities.
He said the market will serve as a meeting point for all regulatory bodies like Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON, National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Bank Of Industry, BOI, among others adding that the shared facilities are meant to expand production by the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs.
Osinbajo promised that the federal government will provide the needed facilities such as solar street lights, motorized boreholes and access roads among others. He also promised that Government will keep its words in construction of homes for displaced persons in the State.
Earlier, Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom had expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari, for making the project a reality saying as Chairman of the National Economic Council, the President has made remarkable efforts towards reshaping the economy of the country.
Ortom said the facility which is being inaugurated today has direct impact on millions of poor households and will go a long way in supporting livelihood, preventing post-harvest loses and ensuring food security in Benue State and beyond.
According to him, the location of the project in Zaki-Biam (the traditional yam producing area of Benue State) is therefore strategic as the facility will serve as hub for Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States.
“The Programmes initiated under your leadership as Chairman of the Council are geared towards diversifying the economy, empowering Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), enabling Nigerians to survive economically during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
Ortom who also applauded Federal Government’s recently announced implementation of the Agricultural Revolution in the country called-The Green Imperative, advised that Government should take on the entire Agric Value Chain from land preparation to improved seedlings; Mechanized Farming to harvesting and storage to processing and marketing saying: “This alone can provide millions of jobs to our teeming youths.
“We equally appreciate the Federal Government for the relative peace and security in Benue and the North Central geo-political zone through the activities of Operation Whirl Stroke and other security outfits.
“But we are worried about the resurgence of armed Fulani herdsmen attacks on Benue people especially in the rural areas. Between April and June this year, over 60 Benue people have been killed by herdsmen attackers across the State.”
He stated that Benue State was ready to provide food security to the entire country but the activities of the Fulani herdsmen have continued to thwart this effort.