November 27, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday has expressed concern over Nigeria’s continued reliance on imported food and raw materials.
According to the president, there is no reason for this state of affairs to remain given the abundant resources and knowledge available in the country.
He said the agricultural sector, apart from helping the nation attain food security, “remains the major driver in industrial envelopment, diversification from heavy dependence on non-renewable mineral oil”.
Buhari made the remarks on Saturday during his address at the 10th convocation ceremony of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), Abia state.
The president in his address, which was read by his representative, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Mohammed Mahmood Abubakar, said his government expects universities of agriculture “to drive the rapid development of the knowledge and skills (needed) to increase local production of food and raw materials.
“We can and should be able to feed ourselves on the rich soils and diverse ecologies that God has endowed Nigeria with. We should be determined to wisely exploit the natural resources and inheritance of our nation to feed our people and possibly export to other nations.
“Government expects that Universities of Agriculture should bravely confront the heavy dependence of our nation on imported food and raw materials with the view to reducing it to the barest minimum at the shortest possible time,” he said.
Buhari, who is the Visitor to MOUAU, said his administration’s agricultural policy was focused on achieving sustainable green economy. However, he emphasised that universities of agriculture “must play their crucial specialised roles in catalysing the development of the agricuitural sector” to achieve the government’s food goals.
He assured the school that efforts are on-going “to put in place policies and programmes to strengthen agencies and parastatals to provide enabling environment for increased production.
“To this end, NALDA has been re-constituted and re-establishsd to promote mechanised agriculture”, he said, adding that: “Government expects that specialised Universities of Agriculture will collaborate with NALDA to ensure increased local production of food.”
He acknowledged that universities have problems, “mainly of funding”, but insisted that it should not be an excuse as “our endowments are far greater than our constraints.
“We shall not relent, rather we shall double our efforts at creating enabling environment for our specialised Universities of Agriculture to fulfill our collective dream of self-reliance in food production,” he said.
The host and Abia state governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, in his remarks, commended MOUAU for its immense records of achievements in manpower training, research and innovation since inception.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Ude Oko Chukwu, observed that the abrogation of a number of courses that were hitherto part of the academic programmes of MOUAU has adversely affected the chances of Abia youths hungry for university education.
He appealed to the federal government to reintroduce the scrapped courses, noting that it would create more opportunities for young persons desirous of making careers in those programmes.
Earlier in his address, the MOUAU vice chancellor, Professor Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe, announced that 5,817 students were awarded first degree certificates of the institution with 92 graduating with a first class.
He said MOUAU has enthroned a functional, sustainable, excellence-driven and productive research culture, especially in agriculture science, engineering and management.
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