Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has charged the newly elected leadership of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) to focus on reuniting members of the association for the good of Nigerian farmers.
Senator Kyari who gave this charge while receiving the new executive members of AFAN led by the new president, Hon Mohammed Magaji Gettado in his office, said by the election of the new leadership of AFAN, he believes that all the warring parties in the association would lay down their arms and work for the unity of the organisation.
The Minister called on the AFAN faction to sheathe the sword and join forces with the new AFAN Leadership to build the Association.
Kyari said: “I have been following the crisis that bedevilled AFAN for some time, and I often wondered why the Board of Trustees (BOT) did not intervene, but with this election and the endorsement of the BOT chair as shown in the pictures, actually put the case to rest.”
He said the challenges the agric sector is facing need all stakeholders to come together and rescue the situation. “This is more so in the north where Agric is the mainstay of the economy. It’s unfortunate that it’s the same people from the region that are causing this unnecessary, baseless crisis instead of putting our heads together in finding solutions that will alleviate our people’s economic downturn. Please let’s move forward as normal, sensible and responsive professionals,” he charged.
AFAN has been locked in a leadership tussle for years leading to court cases as a faction sought to snatch leadership from Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, even when the process of electing a new executive was still in progress claiming that his tenure has lapsed.