The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has commended his predecessor, Dr Akinwumi Adesina for his revolutionary strides.
Ogbe who made the commendation during the flag-off of the second phase of Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprise in Ilorin, Kwara State recently said the event demonstrated the readiness of the present administration to deepen and widen the efforts required to support Nigerian farmers to be engaged in agriculture.
He said the event was also intended to make farmers earn a decent livelihood because no country can practice agriculture sustainably without agricultural mechanization.
Ogbeh maintained that agriculture remained the bedrock of the country’s economy.
In the release that was obtained by The Tide in Port Harcourt recently, the Agric Minister revealed that Nigeria is blessed with a total agricultural land which is 79 per cent of the total land mass of approximately 92 Sq. Kilometers.
He explained that Adesina who is now the president of The African Development Bank (AfDB) did a lot to reposition the sector to the level that has so far been attained after 30 years of neglect.
Ogbeh expressed regret that agriculture in general, and farming have been seen to be synonymous with poverty as it is dominantly practiced at the rural areas.
To bring the needed change, he said, government would focus attention and energy on developing and creating enabling environment for the rural areas to grow.
“We must make sure that the nature of the new growth in Nigeria is one that is inclusive and opens up the rural economy” he said.
He explained that it would be unthinkable and counter productive to think of developing agriculture in Nigeria by continuing to distribute hoes, machetes, axes and ordinary low yielding seeds to farmers.
“Capitalism puts wealth in the hands of the drivers but the time to democratise capitalism especially in Nigeria agric sector is now” he said.
Credit: The Tide News
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