The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has proposed a collaboration with the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) to secure funding for involving inmates in agricultural activities.
He highlighted the increasing budgetary expenses associated with feeding inmates and suggested that NIRSAL could partner with the ministry to enable inmates to produce their own food.
This proposal was made during a visit by NIRSAL’s management, led by its Managing Director, Abbas Masanawa, to Dr. Tunji-Ojo in Abuja on Thursday.
It partly read, “The Minister, citing the relevance of the organization, said NIRSAL can do a lot of good to Nigeria Correctional Service and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.”
He added that with the rising budgetary cost of the feeding of inmates, he said NIRSAL can partner with the Interior Ministry to secure funds for the engagement of inmates in farming activities to produce their food.”
During the meeting, Masanawa expressed the purpose of their visit, which was to explore potential collaboration with the Ministry in its services.
He further elaborated on NIRSAL’s role as a non-bank financial institution fully owned by the Central Bank of Nigeria. NIRSAL’s mission is to redefine, measure, reprice, and share credit risks associated with agribusiness in Nigeria.