Agriculture offers huge opportunities for solving problems -Audu Ogbeh

In his address, the Honourable Minister presented a report on Agriculture in Nigeria in the present dispensation, highlighting the prospects, challenges and the way forward.

He particularly harped on job creation for the youths to address the increasing challenge of rural-urban migration and mass movement of young people to Europe across the desert; increasing population growth and the implication on food security.

“Fortunately for Africa, and for Nigeria in particular, Agriculture offers us huge opportunities for solving this problem, and our current agricultural agenda targets action to create wealth through crop, livestock, tree crop and fisheries production and, most importantly, value addition.

“We want to take steps to make sure that our children do not continue to live a life of hopelessness. Nor continue to dream that arriving in Europe means instant wealth and comfort. We want to teach our children to work, to earn a living and not continue to be a burden to our European friends and partners.

“We envisage that by embarking on this programme, we would begin to immediately reverse migration first from the cities to the villages, and even from the cities in Europe, back to Africa. Because it is not for lack of what to do, but lack of will to do what is right.

“The strength and unity of our country depends on these rural areas’ development and growth as a country with strong roots with an economic backbone steeped in agro-industrialisation.”