Buhari President says Nigeria cannot continue to spend huge sums to import foods our farmers can produce
Buhari observed that the importance of agriculture in the economy of
the country could not be overemphasised as it provided the foundation
on which the country’s economy was built prior to the discovery of oil.
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(Ngrguardiannews)
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria cannot continue to spend huge sums on the importation of foods that farmers in the country can produce.
The
President stated this on Tuesday in Birnin Kebbi while inaugurating the
2015/16 Anchor Borrowers' Dry Season Rice Planting Programme sponsored
by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Buhari
observed that the importance of agriculture in the economy of the
country could not be overemphasised as it provided the foundation on
which the country’s economy was built prior to the discovery of oil.
"The
importance of agriculture in the economy cannot be over emphasised.
Prior to the advent of oil, our country survived on agricultural
production with huge economic potentials from our palm oil, groundnuts,
cotton, and rubber plantations.
"During
this period, the economies of our sub-region were built on agricultural
activities and our gross domestic product grew steadily.
"The
discovery of oil was expected to compliment our agricultural
productivity, but we allowed oil to almost completely replace it.
"The
current trend in the international oil market has brought to the fore
the urgent need to diversify both the productive and revenue bases of
our economy and conserve our foreign reserve by limiting our appetite
for importation of goods that we can easily produce locally.’’
He
stressed the need for the urgent diversification of the nation’s
economy in view of the dwindling revenue from oil occasioned by the fall
in oil prices in the international market.
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