Nigerian Government Launches Committee to Slash Food Cost by 50%

The team was also charged on energy security and curtailing the nation’s dependence on import.

The Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, inaugurated the panel at the State House Abuja with a charge to them to work towards cutting down Nigeria’s import bills by 50 per cent.

He said the group is part of ongoing efforts by the administration of President Bola Tinubu to pool intellectual and financial capital to “create the cockpit from which Nigeria’s innovation economy will be piloted.”

“We are here to breathe life not into this Committee, but into a bold mission: to build Nigeria into an innovation-driven, trillion-dollar economy within a decade. The future we desire is not something we inherit. It is something we build,” he declared.

On its terms of reference, Mr Shettima said it is to coordinate action in five strategic sectors with the power to transform society.

He listed the committee to include  “Agriculture and Climate Resilience, where research innovation must feed our people and protect our planet; Manufacturing Excellence, where we break our dependency on imports and build proudly Nigerian supply chains; Healthcare Innovation, where we shift from importing medicines to exporting medical breakthroughs; Natural Resource Optimisation, where we stop selling raw materials and start exporting ingenuity; and Energy Security, where we power our economy and secure our future.”

The Vice President explained that a major target for setting up the panel was to reduce Nigeria’s food import bill by 50 per cent, maintaining that “in each of these areas, we will pursue missions, not just metrics.

“We will not be content with data for dashboards—we want deliverables that change lives. What will it take to reduce our food import bill by 50 per cent? How do we triple local pharmaceutical production? Let us align policy, research, and investment to answer these questions and achieve measurable, meaningful outcomes,” he added.

Mr Shettima disclosed that the team is a prelude to a Presidential Plenary on Innovation approved by President Tinubu, saying the high-level plenary, which will be held annually, will be presided over by the President himself.

“This committee is only the beginning. President Tinubu has approved a Presidential Plenary on Innovation—an annual high-level forum that will bring together academia, research institutes, industry, civil society, and the Nigerian people to align our national innovation priorities.

“This plenary will be addressed by Mr President himself, because innovation is a presidential area of priority. It is central to his vision for a new Nigeria,” the VP explained in a statement.

Present at the inauguration were the ministers of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Mr Uche Nnaji, Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Abubakar Kyari; Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani; Mr Balarabe Lawal; Mr Idi Mukhtar and representatives of the Ministers of Education, Budget and Economic Planning, and Foreign Affairs, among other members of the committee.