‘FG must redirect focus on agriculture to keep economy afloat’

Balogun, who spoke with Daily Trust on the need to diversify the economy, said agriculture was the bedrock of the economy, adding that focusing on the gas sector and the exploration of the solid minerals through Public Private Partnership (PPP) were also important.He said: “For the government to keep the economy afloat, there is need […]

Balogun, who spoke with Daily Trust on the need to diversify the economy, said agriculture was the bedrock of the economy, adding that focusing on the gas sector and the exploration of the solid minerals through Public Private Partnership (PPP) were also important.
He said: “For the government to keep the economy afloat, there is need to redirect focus on agriculture and solid minerals. Encourage extensive agriculture, mechanise the entire farming system, open up land, get the farmers the necessary input to produce and give them all the necessary support.  The government should also go into exploration of solid minerals through public and private partnership (PPP) and must come in to invest in the mining sector to develop the mining sector. If these steps are taken by government, you will find the private sector coming in to partake, particularly in agriculture.
“Another crucial area which I will suggest focusing on is the gas sector. We are more of a gas nation than oil but unfortunately we have not done much in terms of investment in gas. So it is now time for government to focus on the gas utilization processes and make a lot of money from there.”
He said that Nigeria needed to find other ways of getting revenues, especially now with the fall in oil price in the international market which he noted was beginning to affect the nation’s economy.
“We need to move away from the mono economic trend of only oil. We need to develop other sectors. We have the agriculture and it is high time we diversify and do the right thing or else we will find ourselves in trouble.”