Titus Okunrounmu, a former director of the Budgetary Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has advised the federal government to encourage each of the six geopolitical zones to specialise in producing one specific food item to curb inflation.

The NBS said the nation’s inflation rate rose to 33.88 per cent in October from 32.7 per cent in September to 33.88 per cent.

Mr Okunrounmu disclosed this in an interview on Friday in Ota.

He said that such an initiative would help stem the country’s inflationary trend.

He spoke against the backdrop of the October inflation figure released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday in Abuja.

“It is the responsibility of the federal government to take the lead by encouraging farming, while other Nigerians will follow if we want inflation to disappear.

“If the governments in the six geopolitical zones specialise in the production of one food item, automatically, the inflation rate would be reduced to the minimum level.

“In addition, Nigerians need to embark on farming to stem the prices of goods and services, which is reflected in the inflation figure,” he said.

The ex-CBN director urged the apex bank to finance such a programme and tackle bottlenecks militating against access to agriculture funds in the country.

Mr Okunrounmu also appealed to the federal government to address security challenges, farm input costs, and credit access.

(NAN)