We need agric to survive, says commissioner

The Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya has advised that the only way for Nigeria to survive is through agriculture. She made this known during the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Agricultural and Allied Group, 2022 Agro Fair and Symposium, Themed; “Agribusiness: The Sustainable Panacea for Nigeria’s Economic Growth”, held in Lagos. According to the commissioner, until we see reasons why we need to take agriculture as the only way of surviving the economy, the country will still be the same, as “Agriculture is the only sector that can hold the nation together. Nigeria will remain as it is if we did not take part in producing part of what we consume”.

She said Nigerians need to participate more in production activities, stressing that agriculture cuts across from ‘farm to plate’ and not limited to producing alone. “Opportunities exist when we have gaps and those gaps are filled for there are a lot of space people can tap in to add their own value to the economy from production to the final consumer”. What are we doing to connect to the opportunities and add our own quota to the nation’s economy? We need to start being a part of what we consume rather than being a spectator for we all have a role to play. The commissioner maintained that agriculture is not for poor or for some selected people. Rather, it is everybody’s business and there is the need for parents to encourage their children to go into agriculture rather than advising them to study other courses as there seem to be more opportunities in agriculture than other sectors.

Agriculture is the only sector that can help reduce unemployment in Nigeria and we need to do more to get it on track and make the nation work. Ms. Olusanya noted with dismay, the alleged rate at which Nigeria appear to be going down in African ranking due to some factors such as insurgency and not producing enough as foreigners are said to be the one controlling the economy, a development that is having negative effects on the Naira. She observed that the number of farmers is reducing due to insecurity in the country, stressing that the increased invasion and security breaches had assumed frightening proportions as there is hardly any part of the country that can be said to be safe while appealing that the precarious security situation in the country be accorded necessary attention.