Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, announced that his government is in the process of developing a principal Farmers’ Market in several locations within the state.
Governor Abiodun further stated that his government wants to replicate France’s biggest farmers’ market in the state.
The Governor made the disclosure while conducting an on-the-spot inspection of work done at the Asero Farmers’ Market in Abeokuta.
Prince Abiodun clarified that his administration intends to establish farmers’ markets in several places around the state, hoping to encourage farmers to travel directly to the locations.
“What we are doing here is one of the several we are going to build. This one here in Asero is going to be one of the smallest in the state.
“The plan is to build the type of farmers’ market in several locations across the state and link our farmers straight to the market locations across the state.
“Our intention is to actually build a massive one. I was in France a few weeks ago, and I saw the largest farmers’ market in Europe, one of the largest in the world, and our intention is to replicate that in the state.
“These ones are just spokes to that; that major farmers’ market that we will be building will be somewhere around the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, in a yet-to-be-determined location,” he said.
The Governor said Ogun State is the first state in the country to have an Ogun State Farmers’ Management Information System, which allows the state to have information about farmers in the state.
He said that his administration is ready to continue to support farmers in the state with land preparation, provision of pesticides, and fertilizers.
“We have all the details of our farmers in Ogun State. We are the first state in Nigeria that has an Ogun State Farmers’ Management Information System.
“We know how many farmers we have, we know their demography, we know what they are planting, we know the volume we produce, and we also have their contact numbers,” he said.
Governor Abiodun frowned at the activities of middlemen and the sharp practices that come with their involvement, adding that the rise in prices of goods is not a result of the removal of subsidy on fuel but rather due to the unwholesome activities of middlemen.
Mrs. Soleye Sherifat, Mr. Oladunni Solomon, and Mrs. Akinbobola Oluwatobi, who have been farmers at the market for over a decade, commended Governor Abiodun for the intervention, saying the intervention would help in improving their economic base.
