With political will, agric can solve IGR problems, says Osinbajo
(Nigeria) Amid tight fiscal revenue generation, especially in the states
of the Federation, agriculture can be a significant contributor to government
coffers, boosting resource mobilization. All it takes is the hardwork and
dedication of all stakeholders in the sector, says Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo, SAN.
He spoke while interacting with a delegation from the
Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, DAWN, Commission, who was on a courtesy
visit to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Tuesday.
Prof. Osinbajo who spoke after listening to a presentation
on the Commission’s framework for sustainable agricultural transformation in
the states said, “agriculture can be the solution to a lot of our IGR needs and
a lot of our resource needs; it has been proven so many times that it is
possible.”
Making reference to what was obtainable in the 1950s and 60s
in the agricultural sector in the then regional governments, the Vice President
noted that “the truth of the matter is that the difference between then and now
is the political will. There is no question at all that there is far more
information today than there was then but someone has to have the will to do
it.
"There is no question at all, that any part of Nigeria,
if there is sufficient dedication and hard work, can feed the entire country.
There are smaller countries not up to the size of one State in Nigeria that are
producing enough and exporting produce to other parts of the world.”
The Vice President also acknowledged the importance of
private sector collaboration in transforming agriculture but emphasized the
need for stakeholders to focus on research and development, noting that the
progress made by some countries of the world, especially in the area of
commercial farming have been hinged on research.
According to him, “obviously, what will take us out of the woods and make us relevant in terms of export and even in terms of satisfying local demands is commercial farming.”
Addressing the concern raised about challenges in developing
the agriculture value chain, the VP said “there must be a way of perfecting the
value chain and ensure that the value chain actually works.
“Of course, it involves logistics, transportation, credit
facility, etc. A lot more attention needs to be paid to how that value chain
works. No matter how much you are producing, if you don’t work on the value
chain, you will just be wasting a lot of the resources.”
With respect to government policy, Prof. Osinbajo said “we
have been doing a lot of work with agro-export in particular. One of the
problems that we are faced with is even with the whole process of exporting. We
are addressing the problem, we have had several meetings with agro exporters.
It is among the issues that we are trying to pay attention to.”
The Vice President then commended the DAWN Commission for
its efforts, noting that “the work that the commission is doing is seminal. It
is work not just for the present but perhaps for the future of the South-West
region and of course of the entire nation.”
During the presentation by the delegation, the role of young
people in agriculture was mentioned. The example of a young agric entrepreneur,
who was part of the delegation, CEO of Smart Farm Nigeria, Ms Modupe Oyetoso,
came up. Despite initial setbacks and
personal tragedy, Oyetoso persisted and is now thriving in the agriculture
sector.
Commenting, the Vice President praised her courage and
commended “the great fortitude that you have shown. I must commend you and to
say that we are all greatly encouraged by the work that you have done. I hope
that many hearing your story and the successes that have followed will be
encouraged to go into commercial farming.”
Earlier in his remarks, the Director-General of DAWN, Mr.
Seye Oyeleye, briefed the VP on the efforts made over the years, reporting that
the commission has developed blueprints for the development of the health and
education sectors in the 6 States of the South-West.
He also cited the
revitalization of cocoa production and the framework for sustainable
agricultural transformation in the region, among achievements recorded by the
commission in the 9 years of its establishment.
In the presentation of the agricultural transformation plan,
Mrs. Abiodun Oladipo, a member of the delegation said the commission among
other things, aims to facilitate the operationalization of existing Staple Crop
Processing Zone, SCPZ, master plans as part of the broad objective of
transforming farming in the region.
She said DAWN collaborating with private investors will also
facilitate value chain development in the production of cassava, cocoa, maize,
oil palm, and cotton.
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