President Goodluck Jonathan and governors in the country have been asked to review the current agricultural policy in Nigeria to prevent famine, ensure food security and solve the high rate of unemployment.
Lagos-based public affairs commentator and cleric, Oladipupo Funmilade-Joel, who stated this in Lagos, said Nigeria has great resources and potential in agriculture capable of lifting the economic status of the country and make her self-reliant in food.
Funmilade-Joel, who is the General Overseer of The Way of Reconciliation Evangelistic Ministries (TWOREM) Int’l, Lagos, also decried what he called the low profile of the nation’s agricultural development, which he said is in dire need of adequate attention.
He also noted that with adequate and proper funding, sincere policy formulation and implementation, Nigeria’s agric sector could blossom again and live up to its expectations of feeding the nation.
The cleric further added that the sector still employs the large percentage of Nigerian population despite the dependence on oil, arguing also that without agricultural revolution, democracy cannot be sustained.
He further noted that “agriculture remains one of the largest contributors to the Nigerian economy, as it accounts for over 35 per cent of the non-oil foreign exchange earnings, and produced employment for over 65 per cent of active labour force.”
The cleric reiterated that lack of a clear vision on what to do about the sector, erosion of work ethics and non-adherence to sound agricultural policy formulation and implementation, and cultural values are behind the country’s lingering food crisis.
In making case for better attention for agriculture, the cleric said: “The new government must accept the fact that it is only agriculture that can put food on the table of the people. Agriculture is a practical business; hence the government must exhibit transparent commitment to prompt equal access for every Nigerian to land, technology, loans and other necessary agricultural input that can salvage adequate food supply.”
Speaking on non-government funding for agricultural investments, he said: “Banks must not theoretically support farmers; they must practicalise it, to diversify the country’s economic base, and also strengthen its growth, as agriculture, which accounts for about 40 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is very important as the bedrock of the nation’s economy,” Funmilade-Joel said.