RESUSCITATION OF AGRICULTURE WILL REVIVE THE ECONOMIC MELT DOWN
Due to the
economic standard of the nation today, different suggestions have been made
about diverting to other sectors for economic sustenance. Mrs. Toyin Ademola, the country manager for
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in an interview called for exploration
of other sectors in order to create a platform for both employment purposes and
economic growth in the country. She added that there are a lot of raw materials
that the country is blessed with especially in the agricultural sector. “As we
all know, prices are dropping and Nigeria’s entire revenue and budget is on
oil, which is not proper. We have other sources of revenue that we must begin
to explore”, she says.
She suggested
that agriculture should be branded in order for the people in a way that they
would want to be part it. “The government can do some sort of intervention
where maybe they can go to universities, pick these students, give them plots
of land and pay them some amount of money for them to generate the interest of agriculture”,
she says.
Also in Ido-Ekiti, an Agriculturist, Mr. Jacob
Anuolu, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria said that the resuscitation
of cocoa-growing and other cash crops will revive the nation’s ailing economy. He
added that if the the former administration encouraged the growth of cocoa and
other cash crops, the country’s economy would not have been affected by falling
crude oil price
Anuolu said that cocoa and palm trees cultivation played a crucial role in Nigeria in the late 1960s and 1970s before crude oil took the centre stage as the major economic driver.
He commended the President Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government for its transformation struggle in the agriculture sector.
He said the move is gradually increasing agricultural production and paving the way for the expansion of the country’s export base. He urged the government to double its effort in the distribution of cocoa seedlings and palm trees which began two years ago.
“If government continues paying attention to the resuscitation of cocoa-growing, palm trees and other cash crops cultivation, the nation’s economy will bounce back in a few years,’’ he said.
Anuolu urged
Nigerians, especially youths to embrace farming and refrain from complaining
about not getting employment.Anuolu said that cocoa and palm trees cultivation played a crucial role in Nigeria in the late 1960s and 1970s before crude oil took the centre stage as the major economic driver.
He commended the President Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal Government for its transformation struggle in the agriculture sector.
He said the move is gradually increasing agricultural production and paving the way for the expansion of the country’s export base. He urged the government to double its effort in the distribution of cocoa seedlings and palm trees which began two years ago.
“If government continues paying attention to the resuscitation of cocoa-growing, palm trees and other cash crops cultivation, the nation’s economy will bounce back in a few years,’’ he said.
“When hectares of fertile farmlands across the country are not put to use, our youths are still complaining of unemployment, it shows that they are not ready to work.
“I appeal to government at all levels to make agriculture more attractive by empowering the youth to show more interest in the sector,’’ he said.
Now there is a question; are the youths ready to leave their unemployment status and pride to engage in improving the economy of the country through agriculture? This it like our only way out of economic instability you know..........
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