President Tinubu should create an Office of Food Security that will ringfence and store 10 items in which we are the world top producer and then produce a Nigerian hamper

Ayo Akinfe

10 items which Nigeria is the world’s number one producer. Warehouses need to be built in each of our 774 local government areas to store them under a National Foodstocks Programme:

[1] Yam - 47.9m tonnes

[2] Cassava - 59m tonnes

[3] Kolanuts - 140,000 tonnes

[4] Shea nuts - 303,000 tonnes

[5] Melon seeds - 606,000 tonnes

[6] Bitter Leaf - No production figures available although Nigeria is believed to account for about 50% of global output

[7] Cocoyam - 5.38m tonnes

[8] Air potato vine (monkey yam) - No production figures available although Nigeria is believed to be the world's largest producer

[9] Bitter kola - 150,000 tonnes

[10] Cow peas (brown beans) - 3.7m tonnes

Our national food hamper, which should be available to every family in periods of crisis like this should contain the following items:

[1] One pack of 5kg of rice

[2] One pack of 5kg of gari

[3] One pack of 5kg of beans

[4] Two 5kg tubers of yam

[5] Two 600-gram loaves of bread

[6] One five litre bottle of cooking oil

[7] One crate of 30 eggs

[8] One 400-gram tin of powdered milk

[9] Six bottles of 1.5 litres of water

[10] Four 400-gram tins of tomatoes