President
Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigerians must stop paying mere lip service to
agriculture, as crude oil and gas exports will no longer be sufficient as the
country’s major revenue earner.
The
president gave the charge at an audience with Kanayo Nwanze, the president of
the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), at the presidential
villa, Abuja, on Friday.
“It’s
time to go back to the land. We must face the reality that the petroleum we had
depended on for so long will no longer suffice. We campaigned heavily on
agriculture, and we are ready to assist as many want to go into agricultural
ventures,’’ he said.
Mr.
Buhari pledged that his administration would also cut short the long
bureaucratic processes that Nigerian farmers had to go through to get any form
of assistance from government.
He
told the IFAD President that improvement of the productivity of farmers, dry
season farming and creative ways to combat the shrinking of the Lake Chad will
also receive the attention of his administration.
“There
is so much to be done. We will try and articulate a programme and consult
organisations like IFAD for advice,’’ he added.
According
to the president, foreign exchange will be conserved for machinery and other
items needed for production “instead of using it to import things like
toothpicks’’.
Mr.
Nwanze had earlier congratulated President Buhari on his victory at the general
elections and assured him that IFAD was ready to give all possible assistance
to the Federal Government and Nigerian farmers to boost agricultural production
in the country.
Mr.
Nwanze, who later spoke to State House correspondents, said IFAD had since 1985
been providing loans and grants in the nation’s agricultural sector to boost
agricultural production.
“Nigeria
has the largest portfolio of IFAD’s investment in Western and Central Africa
and the second largest in Africa.
“But
the case point here is that this country has all the endowments that it takes
not only for it to produce enough food for its population but also to be the
bread basket of region.
“And
this is where my institution on my behalf, I offered our services and our
support in the agenda of rural transformation as a key ingrate in this
country’s economic and social development,’’ he said.
IFAD
was established in 1978, and has been collaborating with Nigeria for over 30
years.
(NAN)
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