Over 12m Nigerians are hungry – VC

Prof. Ambali stated this in an address he delivered at the opening ceremony of the 58th annual general meeting of the Association of Deans of Agriculture of Nigerian Universities (ADAN) hosted by the University of Ilorin.  In his address titled, “Lost Heritage: Let’s Reclaim it,” the vice chancellor pointed out that agriculture faces a lot […]

Prof. Ambali stated this in an address he delivered at the opening ceremony of the 58th annual general meeting of the Association of Deans of Agriculture of Nigerian Universities (ADAN) hosted by the University of Ilorin.  
In his address titled, “Lost Heritage: Let’s Reclaim it,” the vice chancellor pointed out that agriculture faces a lot of challenges globally, noting that “these challenges, among which climate change is critical, are compounded by our over-dependence in Nigeria on petroleum, as if we can drink it.”
He noted that agriculture has become a lost heritage to many Nigerians, pointing out, “we are proud of it as our traditional occupation but we largely pay lip-service to it.”
He stressed that Nigerians must find and reclaim this heritage “because our development efforts would be ultimately counter-productive when millions of our people are not able to meet their basic needs (i.e. food, clothing and shelter), which all border on agriculture.”
The V-C declared that the time has come for the country to stem the tide of food insecurity currently facing it, adding that the University of Ilorin gives serious attention to agriculture because the future of the nation and the survival of its people depend on it.
He explained that since the university was established, the Faculty of Agriculture, as the epicentre of the institutional drive, has trained and produced thousands of graduates at the first degree level.
He said the Faculty of Agriculture, with seven departments at the beginning of this session, has recently been expanded with the introduction of a new degree programme in Aquaculture and Fisheries.
Ambali said: “In recent years, the university has invested massively in the growth of economic trees with over 600 hectares of plantations, including those of teak, mango, jatropha and moringa.
“We recently hosted the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who flagged off our 1,000-hectare oil palm plantation into which N1.2 billion is committed,” he said.