National agric show holds in October

The senator who is also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals spoke when he led members of the National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria (NAFN) on a courtesy call on the Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr Mike Omeri in his office where he urged those in leadership positions to […]

The senator who is also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Solid Minerals spoke when he led members of the National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria (NAFN) on a courtesy call on the Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mr Mike Omeri in his office where he urged those in leadership positions to continue to identify with noble professions like farming.
He called on NOA to utilize its vibrant advocacy platforms to promote farming especially amongst the youth in Nigeria and bemoaned the huge amount the country spends yearly on foods import, noting that a staggering $4 billion is spent on food importation at the expense of domestic producers.
“Agriculture has the potential if properly harnessed to employ great number of unemployed youths; we need to change the disposition of our youth to agriculture; the amount we spend on food import is unacceptable. Injecting $4 billion into our agric sector will transform and make the sector a net employer of labour,” he said.
Welcoming the delegation earlier, the NOA Director-General, Mr. Mike Omeri, said the agency will partner non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to organize the forthcoming agric show as a way of boosting agricultural production in the country, adding that as part of its mandate to promote and propagate the dignity of labour, honesty and commitment of qualitative production, promotion of home produced commodities and services, NOA will take the platform of the show to attract  interest for local products and implements.
  He commended the efforts of NAFN as a private organization with a vision in tandem with President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration to promote local producers of foods in Nigeria to address food security and unemployment.
 Omeri also advocated for “seed barns” to guarantee food security, noting that farmers always go to market to buy grains in lieu of seeds for planting.