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THE President, Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr. Victor Iyama has asked the Governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade to discontinue his plan to regulate cocoa and other agricultural produce, stating that it will be be economically retrogressive to farmers and other stakeholders at the value chains of productivity and marketing.
Dr. Iyama during session with the media, frowned at the step being taken through an Executive Order Bill intiated by Governor Ayade to deprive farmers from freely selling their cocoa produce to buyers of their choice.
Dr. Iyama said the issued would be officially reported to the National Chairman of the Action Peoples’ Congress ( APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu so as to prevail on the Governor to discontinue with the policy which he said is capable of rendering the farmers and their families, and those engaged as local buyers, merchants and importers jobless.
He said the new policy is targeted at making it illegal for anybody to sell agricultural produce outside state but rather directly to government owned company, thereby negating the right of farmers to sell to buyers of their choice.
The FACAN President expressed that he would have expected the Government to rather concentrate on inscentifying farmers with agricultural inputs and extension trainings to enhance productivity than embarking on an obnoxious law that will short change pricing right of farmers to selling to self individuals under the guise of government law.
‘’We are using the occasion to call on the APC chairman to prevail of Governor Ayade to desist from the pursue of this law that is already at the state Assembly receiving attention. We the body of FACAN and Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) was against the proposed law.
“The new law will not in any way benefit farmers but will rather create unemployment to their children who have already engaged at the value chains of cocoa productivity and other agricultural produce as importers and other stakeholders at the value of all these crops will also be rendered jobless’’, he stated.
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