Buhari to depart Lagos Tuesday for agriculture conference in Senegal

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Tuesday depart Lagos to attend the second edition of the Dakar International Conference on Agriculture in Senegal.

Femi Adesina, presidential spokesperson, announced the development in a statement on Monday.

Buhari is expected to be in Lagos from January 23-24 on a working visit to inaugurate projects in the state.

The president will subsequently fly out to Dakar from Lagos.

“The high-level Dakar 2 Summit hosted by President Macky Sall of Senegal and the Chairperson of the African Union is holding under the theme “Feeding Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience,” the statement reads.

“The conference, which seeks to create favourable conditions toward achieving food security in Africa, is convened jointly by the government of Senegal and the African Development Bank.

“There will also be side meetings to discuss agreements on the delivery of food and agricultural products in some countries, including Nigeria.

“With Africa accounting for 249 million or a third of the 828 million hungry people in the world, the Summit, to be attended by African Heads of State and Government, Ministers of finance and agriculture, as well as several global development partners, is expected to make commitments on eradicating hunger in Africa by 2030.”

Adesina said Buhari would be accompanied on the trip by top government officials including Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs; Mohammad Abubakar, minister of agriculture and rural development; Babagana Monguno, national security adviser, and Ahmed Abubakar, director-general, National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

Buhari is expected back in the country on January 25.