Farmers, Agro Dealers raise the alarm over scarcity of fertilizer in the north

**Accuse three indegenous producers of sabotage

From Ahmed Rufa’i Dutse

Farmers and Northwest Inputs Agro Dealers Association of Nigeria (NIADAN), Jigawa chapter, have called on president Muhammadu Buhari and chairman presidential committee on fertilizer initiative to wade in to the crises of scarcity of fertilizer to ensure UREA fertilizer is available to farmers.
The association made the call through its chairman in the state, Alhaji Yusif Baba Muhammed represented by his deputy, Alhaji Haro Shehu.
While speaking to news men in Dutse, the state capital, Alhaji Dhehu said the current shortages of UREA fertilizer would affect rainy season farming which may result in poor harvest in the country.
“We are appealing to president Muhammadu Buhari and the chairman presidential committee on fertilizer initiative who is also the governor of Jigawa state, Alhaji Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar to take appropriate action on the three major UREA fertilizer producers in Nigeria to make the commodity available to indigenous dealers in the country for easy access by farmers with out further delay”.

The NIADAN chairman accused the three producers of UREA fertilizer of deliberate refusal to supply the indigenous dealers who have deposited their monies for more than three months and in some cases about a year now.
He said the producers prefer to export the products despite the urgent need for the products in the country.

Alhaji Shehu said “This is the best time for the use of the commodity by farmers and yet it is out of markets in most parts of the country “Not because they are not producing, but they just want to deny the Nigerian farmers through non supplies to dealers where farmers will get it”.

“This attitude by the producers is sabotage against national food security which is also against the policy of government that said, ‘We should eat what we produce’ of president Muhammadu Buhari’s administration”
“It will also create hunger in the country in addition to already worsening national economic crises”.
He pleaded with the federal government to intervene.

He lamented that, the three major producing companies of UREA fertilizer in the country which includes Dangote, Indorama and Natore are busy exporting the fertilizer abroad while deliberatly denying indigenous dealers across the country.

“We feel this is intentional move to create hunger for the citizens in the country, this month of August is the peak for consumption of fertilizer in the country both for dealers and farmers for farm use.
“As registered dealers, we deposited our money with some of the above mentioned manufacturers but yet, they have not released our allocation of fertilizer for months, while the companies are busy producing the fertilizer and shipping them abroad. We feel this is intentional” , the chairman said.

“Our farmers are in need of the UREA fertilizer at this season of August-September for their farm use but, the fertilizer is not available even when the fertilizer plants are in the shores of the country, they are of no benefit to the nation or I can even say it is aimed at sabotaging president Buhari’s effort of diversifying the economy through agriculture”.