The Lagos State government through the Ministry of Agriculture has promised that it will surpass the revenue target of over 1 billion Naira it generated in 2022.
The State is confident that it would come out stronger in all other sectors of the economy in the coming years.
State Commissioner of Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya gave this assurance at the continuation of the Agricultural Value Chains Enterprise Support Programme for food production and processing clusters held at Surulere Local Government.
The Empowerment Enterprise Activation Programm according to Olusanya is supporting processors, producers and marketers, with the hope to increase food production as this will lead to an increase in revenue generation for the State Government.
She said; “We have Live Birds Marketers here walking away with food trucks and de-feathering machines, the hope is with this people register with the Lagos Internal Revenue Service, LIRS the entire Lagos revenue pool will increase just as the plank and building association said that they pay their taxes through the LIRS.
“The Stakeholders here today, not all of them will pay in terms of revenue generation to the Ministry of Agriculture to Lagos State, some will go directly to LIRS, so you have direct and indirect revenues to the state coffers.
“The most important thing is wealth and job creation and creating an enabling environment that ensures that our food systems are more secure.”
“Towards revenue generation, we have another pool of stakeholders, this is where we have Agric asset; wether being concessioner or you have private sector partner doing the build, operate and transfer or just build, operate and you have a revenue sharing formula with the Government,” the Commissioner said
Decline revenue
Olusanya explained that “the State revenue generation was recently in decline as a result of electoral activities and this affected investment, but with the inauguration ahead there will be more stability in the system and the second half of 2023 should see an increase in the revenue generation across the board in Lagos State.”
The Commissioner said that food is one binding factor that brought all tribes together, emphasising that Lagos State does not discriminate when issues of securing food systems of the State are concerned.
Olusanya stressed that the gesture is Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s way to continue to support the food system and to ensure that all value chain actors are catered for.
Reason for empowerment
She said: “Without food, there is no culture and tradition is but halfway, so Lagos State Government realize this and doesn’t discriminate because food is one thing that binds us together, it is indeed a binding factor for all and sundry irrespective of your status and tribe, and you will see it here today with all major tribes in the country represented to benefit from this support Programme.
“The State is ensuring that the farmers are happy and have a sustainable livelihood across the 20 Local Government and 37 Local Council Development Areas.”
“The reason for the empowerment is as a result of the feedback we received during the election campaign period that things are not reaching the grassroots as it should, because doing everything in a centralised manner may be marred by hiccups,” Olusanya said.
She said; “In tacking the value chain, we have so many value chains of advantage in Lagos, we can not cover everything every time we want to do enterprise support, so we pick value chains of importance at that time and when we do the next one we move to different value chains”
Olusanya said that “the Ministry of Agriculture stakeholders’ base is huge and the mandate is to continue to support every group for optimal performance.”
“I want to appeal to every group to work hand in hand with ourselves and local government and also date towards ensuring that we have more food secure Lagos.
“This asset will be given out today never be enough because we have too many people to cater for and with the population continuing to increase in Lagos we will continue to expand on what we do with regards to our food systems,” she stated.
Olusanya, therefore, urged the beneficiaries to use the asset well and maintain them, stressing that the State would come back before the end of the year to empower more people.
Promise kept
Also at the event is the Chairman of Surulere Local Government, Mr Sulaimon Yusuf who appreciated the gesture of the State Governor Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu for bringing such programme to the local area.
He said that it was a promise kept by his government as residents looked forward to another marvellous year ahead.
The Chairman, represented by his Deputy, Mr Muiz Dosumu acknowledged the consistent support of the government to farmers and other stakeholders in the Agriculture ecosystem.
Some of the Agriculture inputs handed down to the beneficiaries include Smoking kills machines, de-feathering machines, fertilizers, Trucks, Branding Machines, Cutting machines, Table saw machines among others.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
