‘Nigeria import foodstuffs worth N11b annually’

Speaking in an interview, he said that most of the foodstuffs imported, can be produced by Nigerian farmers, adding: “It’s sad that Nigeria imports foodstuffs worth 11billion Naira, annually. Imagine, daily, we import such agriculture produce worth 2billion Naira, even though Nigerian farmers can produce the foodstuffs, if they have the required machinery and support […]

Speaking in an interview, he said that most of the foodstuffs imported, can be produced by Nigerian farmers, adding: “It’s sad that Nigeria imports foodstuffs worth 11billion Naira, annually. Imagine, daily, we import such agriculture produce worth 2billion Naira, even though Nigerian farmers can produce the foodstuffs, if they have the required machinery and support from government.”
He said that the involvement of youth in agricultural activities was panacea to unemployment and insecurity which posed a major threat to the development of the country.
“It’s said that our youths engaged in all sort of crimes across the country due to lack of employment. This is why I believe that if such youths would be engaged by government in agriculture, the issue of unemployment and insecurity will end.
“We all know that unemployment contributes immensely to insecurity but with agriculture all this can be minimised. There are various fields of agriculture where these youths can be trained to be self employed in future.”
He said that the college, affiliated to Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U), Zaria, has trained many youths in animal farming, poultry, bees farming and grass farming, adding that lack of fund was the major challenge facing the institute.
“Lack of fund has always been our biggest challenge since we have been removed from the Tertiary Educational Trust Fund. We are not recognised as a tertiary institute to benefit from such fund, which is not fair.
“Previously, we were among the beneficiaries, but we were stopped as they claimed that the fund only recognises universities, polytechnics and colleges of education as tertiary institutes. This decision will have a long term effect on the development of agriculture in Nigeria.”