Lawrence Olaoye 
President Bola Tinubu yesterday attended the 142nd meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. His attendance at the meeting was unusual because the Vice President, Kashim Shettima is the statutory chairman of the council.
The Council, which was expected to deliberate on the issues of the new national minimum wage since the President had earlier opted for more consultation with the governors and the organised private sector to arrive at an agreeable wage for workers, was, however, mum on the issue.
The president had said he would only submit a new national minimum wage to the National Assembly for passage into law after such consultations. However, at the end of the meeting, the council was silent on whether or not it considered the minimum wage issue.
Announcing the resolutions reached, Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari, who joined the governors of Imo, Kano and Kogi to brief correspondents, disclosed that the Federal Government has approved a $1 billion agriculture mechanisation programme that would set up 1000 agro-sector service providers across the country with tractors.
He explained: “We’ll have a minimum of 2000 tractors a year for the next five years and all other aggregation of agricultural commodities is going to be utilised by at least nothing less than 600,000 youths to man these 1000 service centres.”
Stressing that the elaborate plan would be rolled out as soon as feasible, he said the project was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last Monday. He spoke of an arrangement with John Deere and Tata to provide 2000 tractors before the end of the year.
According to him, the Greener Imperative Project, which he said was still in the works, was a 950 million euro project that would soon be unveiled. Kyari noted that a deal was being anticipated with Belarus Tractors to supply 2000 tractors per year for the next five years, with 9000 implements and spare parts, among others.
The minister also said that Saudi Arabia has expressed interest in 200,000 metric tons of red meat every year and one million tonnes of soya from Nigeria. “We have already had a meeting with our entrepreneurs last week and we have come out with a roadmap where we can supply and satisfy that demand.
“We are looking at partnership with foreign governments, not necessarily trying to ask them to come and invest, but asking them what we can produce so that we can sell to you so that we can earn foreign exchange,” he added.
In his remarks, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State said that the NEC directed the sub-committee of crude oil theft to provide comprehensive recommendations to end the menace during the next meeting.
He said though the subcommittee was expected to submit its report at yesterday’s meeting, “it was inconclusive”. On his part, Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano announced the constitution of the board of the Niger Delta Power Holding, which he said had operated for a long time without a supervising board.
He revealed that the board was composed of governors of Borno, Katsina, Imo, Ekiti, Kwara, and Akwa Ibom states representing the different geopolitical zones.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun spoke of the activation of the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
