Flood disaster: Kebbi rice farmers urge CBN to suspend loan repayment till 2022
- Rice farmers in Kebbi state has appealed to the CBN to suspend their loan repayment till 2022
- The farmers said the chances of repaying the loan at the moment have become non-existent due to the flood that destroyed their farmlands
- Abubakar-Zaki who is the chairman of the farmers association also appealed to state governments to assist them with agricultural inputs
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed!
Rice farmers in Kebbi state say they may not be able to repay the loan given to them by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and state governments as a result of the massive flood that destroyed their farms.
According to The Nation, the rice farmers association in the northern state are now appealing to the CBN and state government to assist them by suspending the anchor borrower’s loan repayment from 2021 to 2022.
Legit.ng gathered that the appeal was made by the chairman of the association, Shehu Abubakar-Zaki, in Birnin Kebbi on Thursday, September 10,
Source: UGC
Abubakar-Zaki said rice farmers had lost all their planted crops to the flood, and could not, in any way, sustain the repayment of the loans.
According to him, the farmers had been committed to the repayment and almost all of them had reduced the bulk of their loan after the dry season harvest.
"Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all our members redeemed part of their loans and utilised the remnant for the rainy season farming.
“We intended to complete the repayment after this year’s harvest, but as fate would have it, the flood ensued and the resultant effect was destructive upon our crops.
“We don’t even have farmlands to plant now and all our farmlands have been submerged. Where can we get money to repay the loan,” he said.
Abubakar-Zaki also appealed to state governments to assist the farmers with agricultural inputs to ensure massive dry season farming when the water recedes.
PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday, September 2, reacted to the death of several Nigerians as a result of the heavy floods in Kebbi state.
The Nigerian leader in a statement by the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, regretted that the timing of the disaster came when efforts were ongoing to boost local rice production.
President Buhari went on to express concern over the flood that destroyed farm produce, submerged thousands of farmlands and houses, and personal belongings in the affected communities.
Border closure: Nigerians now prefer eba to rice – traders lament | Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
