As Nigeria marks its 59th Independent Anniversary, the Concerned Youth Empowerment Association of Nigeria says the future of the country’s agriculture lied largely on adoption of modern agricultural practices.
The National President of the association, Mr Noble Adaelu made this known in his independence message on Tuesday in Abuja.
Adaelu, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of NOCON Plantain Foods Ltd., said one of the fun memories of the country’s history was agriculture being its major source of revenue generation.
According to hm, Nigeria’s journey through independence will not be complete without the impact of agriculture.
Adaelu said for Nigeria to boast of food sufficiency for its over 180 million population and to sustain such in the future, technology should not be undermined by all tiers of government.
“Let us end our frustrations and give hope to our aspirations and expectations through modern agricultural development methodologies.
“Agriculture remains the panacea to sustainable wealth, food sufficiency provision and Nigeria must embrace new strategies to achieving that.
“State and local governments have a lot of work to do. It is my humble appeal that they invest in agro processing by transforming waste into wealth.”
The national president also called on stakeholders to explore other strategies to properly position agriculture to help sustain the economy following fluctuation in the price of oil.
“As a nation, responsibility beckons on us to produce more of our food products, reduce importation of food items and build the monetary value of Naira. It is time to think home.
“Also, government at all tiers must work together to provide adequate and trusted security machinery to protect Nigerian farmers without let or hindrance.
“There should be construction of accessible roads and repair of dilapidated ones to enable us bring our farm produce to market.
“I equally call on state governments to regularly convene town hall meetings with farmers within the communities to understand their challenges and address them effectively.
“With the abundant resources Nigeria is blessed with, it is mockery for Nigerians to seek for greener pastures outside the shores of the country. Out there, they are been humiliated, killed, maimed and jailed. ”
Adaelu expressed hope that the future of the country would be better than its past.
