Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has stated that the only way to conviniently develop and sustain Nigeria as a nation was to invest in the agricultural industry.
The former President stated this while speaking to newsmen during a visit and inspection of his farm, Obasanjo Farms Nigeria Limited, located at Howe, Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue state.
Obasanjo insisted that for Nigeria to achieve the desired development, the country must embrace agriculture given its vast arable land and attendant economic potentials.
He stated that land, which is renewable with the application of fertilizer, could be utilised for agricultural purposes to feed the country just as he called on Nigerians to go into farming as the surest way to meet their needs.
“In every state of Nigeria, whether an oil producing state or oil consuming state, we will all eat. Oil is a wasting asset. The oil you take from the ground today is gone and gone forever. But land where you produce food is a renewable resource.
“The land you use today, if you fertilize it, you can use it again and in fact, it will probably produce better. I must emphasize that in all states of the federation, there is no alternative to agriculture for our development and progress,” he added.
READ ALSO: Obasanjo Lays Foundation Of School For The Needy, Lauds Church, Govt’s Synergy
Speaking further, the former President said the Mango plantation which has so far covered 20,000 hectares of land out of the 140,000 hectares, would start yielding fruits in the next four years.
He said the farm currently employs over 40 people and has the capacity to employ 1,000 personnel, adding that the value addition it would have on the economy would be enormous with processing into various forms.
Obasanjo thanked Gov. Samuel Ortom for the encouragement to establish the farm and the host community for their support.
He explained that he visited the farm to encourage and boost the morale of workers and also see its smooth takeoff.
Gov. Samuel Ortom, who accompanied the former President to the farm, had earlier described him as the father of all farmers in Nigeria and acknowledged his contribution to the development of agriculture during his reign as Military Head of State as witnessed by Operation Feed the Nation.
The Governor called on investors to take advantage of the rich agricultural potentials of the state and invest in it, pointing out that his administration was ready to provide the enabling environment to investors to add value to its economic development.
