As this year’s wet season begins, President Muhammadu Buhari has tasked farmers across Nigeria to upscale agricultural activities and produce more food for the country.

According to President Buhari, Nigeria must continue to produce what she consumes as a nation, as she has no wherewithal to embark on food importation.

The president gave this task while speaking with State House Correspondents on Sunday, after observing this year’s Eid El-Fitri prayer with his family and aides, at the presidential villa in Abuja.

Reports had it that the president and his family observed the Eid prayer in line with the guidelines of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, prohibiting mass gathering, while also practicing social distancing during the prayers.

With the impact of the novel COVID-19 pandemic on economies, it beckons on Nigerian farmers to take the bull by the horn to help eliminate any form of food insecurity.

Recognising this, President Buhari had earlier directed the Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, to work in tandem with the PTF to develop a comprehensive policy for a ‘Nigerian Economy functioning with COVID-19.’

The president also exempted farmers from the nationwide lockdown, while Nanono, on the mandate of the president, instated a Joint Technical Task Force to ensure unhindered movement of agric produce and livestock.

Charging farmers to rise to the occasion, president Buhari hoped that this year’s farming season would be bountiful so that Nigeria can produce en masse.

“I hope the rainy season will be bountiful, to get a lot of food.

“I wish the farmers could go and stay in their farms so that we can produce what we need sufficiently so that we don’t have to import.

“In any case, we don’t have money to import so we must produce what we have to eat,” President Buhari said.

It was also the president’s wish that the impact of the pandemic on Nigerians is alleviated. He said the disease had severely impacted both developed and developing nations.

He urged Nigerians to strictly adhere to the guidelines endorsed by the taskforce on COVID-19, to curb the spread of the disease.

He said, “Nigerians can see that the COVID-19 has reduced us, both the developing and developed countries, to the same level. In fact, we have the least casualties than we have.

“So, it’s a very frightening development and I advised Nigerians to be very careful and take the advice of the Ministry of Health. Ministers of Health have been doing very well, speaking and educating the citizens on the deadly virus.

“So Nigeria, we should be very careful.’’

Speaking also, the First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Buhari who expressed gratitude to Allah for the Ramadan period, implored Nigerian women to continue its activeness in the fight against the deadly COVID-19 disease

“We must thank the almighty Allah for the successful completion of the Holy Month of Ramadan, despite the current difficult circumstances we found ourselves.

“I wish to thank the Federal Ministry of Health and also the NCDC for their efforts in combating the pandemic,’’ she said.