President Muhammadu Buhari assured Nigerians that his administration would check the rising cost of food in the country in 2021.

Buhari made the promise on Tuesday, December 29, during his meeting with the presidential economic advisory council at the state House, Abuja, The Guardian reported.

According to a statement by a presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, the president reiterated his earlier directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to grant foreign exchange for food importation.

He said it made no sense to import food since seven states produce enough rice that the country needs, The Nation reported.

The president noted that there is a need to promote agriculture now that COVID-19 is ravaging the global economy.

His said:

“We will continue to encourage our people to go back to the land. Our elite is indoctrinated in the idea that we are rich in oil, leaving the land for the city for oil riches. We are back to the land now.“We must not lose the opportunity to make life easier for our people. Imagine what would have happened if we didn’t encourage agriculture and closed the borders. We would have been in trouble."In another news, Osasere Erhahon, a young Nigerian from Edo state, is one of the happiest currently as he has made a massive yam harvest from the back of his house.

Erhahon had taken the decision to plant the yams in his compound out of boredom during the lockdown caused by COVID-19; he had no serious concentration on farming.

In a post on Facebook, the excited man explained that the yams grew naturally without fertiliser or any other additive.