Vice President Yemi Osinbajo virtually commissions a 200,000 capacity yam storage facility at Zaki Biam in Benue State on Tuesday.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has inaugurated the multi-million naira international yam market in Zaki-Biam, Ukum Council, Benue State, promising that the Federal government will provide roads and street lights in the market.

Prof. Osinbajo, who performed the virtual commissioning from Abuja, said that Zaki Biam market accounted for over 70 per cent of cultivated yams in the country.

Noting that over 200,000 tubers of yam go out of the market daily, Osinbajo, however, observed that the market had little storage facility hence the construction of one.

According to him, the facility will also serve as a meeting point for all regulatory bodies, including the Banking of Industry (BoI), adding that shared facilities were meant to expand production by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).


In his address, Governor Samuel Ortom acknowledged that the deliberate policy by the Federal Government to intervene in the informal sector was strategic to revamp our economy.

Ortom maintained that the facility had direct impact on millions of poor households and would go a long way in supporting livelihoods, preventing post-harvest losses and ensuring food security in Benue and beyond.

“The location of the project in Zaki-Biam (the traditional yam-producing area of Benue) is therefore strategic, as the facility will serve as hub for Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states,” the governor noted.

He called on the Federal Government to stop the continued free entry of armed herdsmen from other countries into Nigeria.

His words: “We believe the time has come for the Federal Government to revisit the protocol on free movement of people among Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member countries.

“May we use this opportunity to also call on the Federal Government to arrest and prosecute the leadership of Miyetti Allah for their inciting statements and accepting the responsibility for the killing of Benue people and other innocent Nigerians.

“Benue is ready to provide food security to the entire country, but the activities of the Fulani herdsmen have continued to thwart this effort.”

Guardian