Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Minister of Interior, has sought cooperation with the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) to get funds for the engagement of inmates in farming activities to cultivate their own food.
With the increased cost of feeding inmates, the minister suggested that NIRSAL collaborate with the interior ministry to ensure that detainees produce their own food.
Tunji-Ojo spoke when the management of NIRSAL, led by its Managing Director, Abbas Masanawa, paid him a visit in Abuja on Thursday, according to a statement from the ministry’s Director of Press, Ajibola Afonja.
The statement quoted Tunji-Ojo as saying, “NIRSAL can do a lot of good to the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). With the rising budgetary cost of feeding inmates, NIRSAL can partner with the interior ministry to secure funds for the engagement of inmates in farming activities to produce their food.”
NIRSAL MD noted in his remarks that the organization “is a non-bank financial institution wholly owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria to redefine dimension, measure, reprice, and share agribusiness-related credit risk in Nigeria.”
