Amb. Sean Hoy, Ireland’s Ambassador to Nigeria, says his country is ready to collaborate with Oyo State Government in agriculture, energy, science and technology to facilitate the state’s development.
The ambassador said this on Monday when he visited Gov. Abiola Ajimobi in Ibadan.
Hoy said that Nigeria would experience appreciable economic growth if it diversified its economy and made it less dependent on proceeds from crude oil sales.
He said that the country’s mono-product economy had made several potential entrepreneurs to lose interest in myriad opportunities provided by its non-oil sector.
“Nigeria is a country blessed with enormous natural resources which have yet to be tapped. It is good for the country to explore every opportunity and harness its potential resources,’’ he said.
The Irish ambassador said that his visit to Oyo State was to see how his country could partner with the state government in efforts to develop the state.
Hoy said that Ireland was willing to partner with the state government by using its expertise in the areas of agriculture, energy, science and technology to boost the state’s development.
Responding, Ajimobi said that the state was prepared to embrace the opportunities which Ireland could provide, adding that if the sectors, which the envoy mentioned, were fully developed; they would aid the state’s transformation.
The governor said that his administration had initiated an agricultural programme tagged “Agric Oyo’’, which was aimed at empowering one million youths.
“We have earlier visited Ireland to see how we can partner with the country in our efforts to explore these sectors, particularly agriculture where we have a comparative advantage.
“There is no better time to develop our agriculture than now but further development of the energy, science and technology sectors would also be a defining moment for our people,’’ he added.
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