NIGERIA: Borno Govt Slashes Petrol Prices To N600 per litre for Farmers

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria 

The governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, has announced that the state government will subsidize petrol to N600 per litre for farmers in communities affected by Boko Haram insurgency.

Governor Zulum made this known during the distribution of farm inputs to over 5,000 displaced farmers in Bama Town of the state on Friday evening.

According to a statement by Zulum’s Senior Special Assistant on New Media, Abdulrahman Bundi, the move is aimed at easing the financial burden on farmers in areas devastated by years of conflict.

While the petrol prices in Maiduguri range from N1,000 to N1,200 per litre, the subsidized rate of N600 will be provided to the farmers for irrigation.

“One of the major challenges that are facing the farming communities here as regards irrigation farming is the increasing cost of fuel. As a result, I want to announce to the general public that the government will procure petroleum products and sell them to the farmers at a subsidised rate. A litre of petrol is being sold in Maiduguri at the cost of about N1,200, but inshallah, henceforth, for irrigation farmers this season, a litre of petrol will be sold at the rate of N600.” He said.

Zulum, in the statement, also assured that the government in collaboration with the Commissioner of Agriculture, would procure and sell petrol to farmers at subsidized rate and ensure prompt delivery of the product to the farmers of Bama.

Among other things the governor distributed include; 2,000 bags of blended NPK fertilizer, 1,000 water pumps, 620 gasoline pumps, 380 solar water pumps, and various other farming materials.