Ajimobi, Ogbeh want Nigerians to support govt’s agric policies

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State and Chief Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, have appealed to Nigerians to support government’s agricultural development efforts aimed at enhancing food sufficiency.
 
Oyo State governor
They made the appeal during a courtesy call on Ajimobi by Ogbeh who was at the Government House in Ibadan on a two-day working visit and a week-long visit to the South-West region of the country.

Ogbeh said the nation had and still has all it takes to be food-sufficient and also be an agricultural-produce exporting country rather than be a nation that thrives on importation.

“Expending $22 billion on importing food into the country on an annual basis is highly ridiculous, particularly in Nigeria, where we can produce enough for consumption and to export,’’ he said.

He said Oyo State has very rich agricultural potential and powerful possibilities in agriculture to enhance food sufficiency and boost the nation’s exporting sector.

“Our visit is to awaken the people of the state to their important role in bringing Nigeria back to its old glory through the use of agriculture to power sustainable development. For many reasons, Oyo State is significant in taking Nigeria to the Promised Land in her focus to be an agricultural exporting country, rather than an importing nation.

“The state has the highest number of poultry farms and other natural potential. It is both a tropical and guinea savannah area with arable land which will support extensive farming system,’’ he said.

Gov. Ajimobi, in his remarks, noted that 80 percent of the land in the state is arable land, putting the state at a vantage position to benefit from the planned agricultural revolution.

Ajimobi expressed happiness at the Federal Government’s plan to explore the nation’s agricultural potential for growth. “No nation in the world can claim to be a nation if it cannot feed its citizens, ’’he said.

The governor advised the Federal Government to step up advocacy toward making people to realise the wealth that is accruable from agriculture.


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