Dr Philips Nto | File Image
By Emeka Njoku
Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the country’s 36 governors have been advised to pay more attention to agriculture for accelerated economic development.
A teacher at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), Dr Philips Nto, made the appeal, as the government continues to render its midterm report.
Nto believes that to end the current hunger in the land, all tiers of government must take agriculture more seriously.
Nto, who is the Director of Agribusiness Incubation Centre (ABIC) in MOUAU, noted that a study of the midterm report of the president and the governors showed that they were not actually prioritising agriculture in their developmental initiatives.
His words: “The most important need of the average Nigerian now is food.
“Unfortunately, the prices are currently high. Well paved roads and bridges can not take the place of food. This is one area that should take the chunk of our national and state budgets.”
The ABIC boss, who admitted that the governments had done averagely in infrastructure, especially roads, harped on the need to focus more on agriculture to make those infrastructure meaningful.
Said he, “the simplest economic theory is scale of preference which gives rise to opportunity cost, therefore we need to find a way to support farmers for massive production of food to curb food insecurity”
Also read: Agriculture not a seasonal activity, says Nto
Nto, who is a former Commissioner for Finance in Abia State, said that it was understandable that most state governments were embarking on projects that yield revenue for them while neglecting agriculture.
“But I can tell you that it is a misplacement of priority. When you fund agriculture and its value chain, you will also get revenue two folds while at the same time taming inflation and food insecurity,” he said.
He said that the importation of some food items to force down prices was only a temporary solution to the problem.
According to him, apart from hurting local farmers, importation of food is a short-term measure that would never solve the problem.
He rather suggested that agricultural machinery be imported to aid local farmers in food production while value chain addition is pursued as an all-around solution to both food insecurity and the wobbling economy.
Nto, however, urged the citizens to assist the governments in boosting food production by engaging in farming activities. He said ABIC as a body is aggressively embarking upon enlightenment on modern farming techniques and in assisting local farmers to plant high yielding seedlings as its contribution towards the attainment of food security in Nigeria.
