Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has urged Nigerians to prioritise investment and development of the agricultural sector to turn around the country’s economic fortunes.
Obaseki gave the advice at the commissioning of the Edo Agriculture Hub recently in Benin City as part of his administration’s activities to hand over to the incoming All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by Monday Okpebholo.
He said the project was part of his government’s efforts to revitalize agriculture to boost the State’s economy, tackle food security, and drive sustainable development.
He added that his government has de-risked agriculture and is supporting farmers to boost agricultural development in the State.
“Over the last eight years, we focused on laying the foundation for a progressive and prosperous State that ranks among the leading sub-nationals on the African continent.
“We commissioned the Edo State College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Iguoriakhi, and through that project laid a solid foundation for a great Edo State and a State that is currently ranked amongst the leading countries in Africa.
“We are here to continue with the consolidation process of our economy. When you talk about the economy of Edo State and Nigeria, it’s based on agriculture as it is ranked as one of the largest contributors to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
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“If we are going to turn around the fortunes of Nigeria and Edo State, the priority must be agriculture. It’s more important today than it was in our history as we took food security for granted.
“We never thought that there would be a day when many people would not be able to eat one meal a day. This is what is confronting us in the country today.
“In Edo State, we will show the way and not follow anybody. Part of what we are doing here today is part of the process to revitalize agriculture in the real sense of the world. Our biggest asset in Edo State is land.
“If we must feed the population of Edo State, we have to begin to rethink how we utilize our land in Edo State to provide food for our people. In the past, we imported food but this time around, we don’t have such money.
“Our challenge as a State is how to produce our own food. We must produce all we eat and produce in abundance so that we can sell some for those that don’t have our kind of soil; the thinking will start from the government” he said.
He opined that for a country to be secured, governments must emphasise food production and security in order to avoid depending on outside to feed the citizens.
He added that all facilities related to food production and cultivation are in the agriculture hub.
“We have 15 agencies and programmes located at the Edo State Agricultural Hub. We have enough space to expand and accommodate more programmes in the next 10 years,” he added.
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