SAN FRANCISCO, July 04, (THEWILL) – The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun on Tuesday described the recession which Nigeria is presently grappling with, as a blessing in disguise.
Stating that the economic downturn as the handiwork of God, he noted that the situation has forced government at all levels to invest into agricultural asserting that the nation will be one of the biggest exporters of farm produce in the next two years.
Oyegun stated this at the University of Benin, Benin City at the 61st Annual Conference of Agriculture/General Meeting of Association of Deans of Agriculture in Nigerian Universities, ADAN, and Awards.
He stated that the APC-led Federal Government was committed to developing agriculture to make the people to think beyond crude oil, and explained that there is no country in the world that does not subsidise agriculture, adding it must be developed to become the backbone of the nation’s economy.
The APC chairman said, “the United States of America which is the greatest economic power, guarantees and pays farmers to produce. Even things that they don’t need. So we have come to that because the price of a barrel of oil has today dropped from 50 dollars per barrel. Projections for the future is not very encouraging, most developing nations now concentrate on renewable energy, we have not gone beyond exporting crude.
“Today agriculture has become the Cinderella and we are committed to making it an alternative source of income. I am happy that twice that I have been in this chambers, it has to do with agriculture. The chairman of the LOC made it quite clear that may be God in his kindness has forced us into a situation where we now have to think, where we now have to reason, look back.
“It is no longer a matter of choice that we must divert to agriculture infact it is unforgivable that we behaved stupidly without vision for so long. Agriculture is about 70 per cent of our growth and if we can generate even a 3 per cent growth , which marches the rate of our population growth then you would have stabilized the whole vision.
“But if you can make it 4 per cent, 5 five per cent, you would have changed the living standard of the majority of Nigerians. Agriculture is a big business that we can profit from and we thank God for bringing us to this state” he stated.
While the host governor, Godwin Obaseki promised to collaborate with the university to develop agriculture in the state, the Managing Director, Presco Oil plc, Mr. Felix Nwabuko, urged the Federal Government to change its land management laws and governance to attain self-sufficiency in food production.
