Governor calls for massive investment in agriculture to fight hunger

Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun has called for massive investment of the nation’s resources in agriculture to fight hunger and save lives of millions of Nigerians, particularly children.

Aregbesola spoke in a statement issued by his media aide, Mr Semiu Okanlawon, in Osogbo on Friday.

He said that the only panacea to the current economic crisis in the country was for every government to rise to the occasion and look for alternative means by exploring the abundant potential in agriculture.

According to him, only agriculture can rescue the nation from the economic recession currently being experienced as result of oil glut and the activities of the Niger Delta militants.

“Nigeria’s enduring economic recovery will materialise only when the country revitalises its investments in agriculture and make it a venture that attracts the bulk of the most productive segment of the population.

“Oil can no longer be the economic mainstay of the nation if it plans to exit the recession facing it presently.

“We must forthwith stop importation of food items and start cultivating our own food crops.

“We have everything we need to be a great agricultural nation. Let us undertake a survey to know where each state has comparative advantage over others.

“The situation at present requires that we do everything humanly possible to awaken the huge potentiality of our agricultural sector,” Aregbesola said.

The governor, however, said that the state would continue to invest massively in agriculture in making the state the food basket of the nation.

He also charged the state agriculture officers to redouble their efforts toward transforming the state from peasant, rural and subsistent agricultural to a modern, industrial and commercial agricultural state.

NAN reports that Aregbesola had led a delegation to Germany in search of new insights on modern agriculture to further realise the dream of making Osun the food basket of the South-West.