…Says Nigeria abandoned agri-dollar for petro-dollar
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, has said that any country which cannot feed itself is not yet a sovereign nation.
This is as he regretted that Nigeria upon the discovery of crude oil, abandoned what he called “agri-dollar for petro-dollar.”
The Governor who made the assertion while delivering a pre-convocation lecture at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, MOUAU, regretted that Nigeria had abandoned agriculture for imported foods.
Uzodimma who was represented by his Commissioner for Education, Professor Victor Nwachukwu, warned that if no urgent actions were taken to revive agriculture in Nigeria, Nigeria would one day begin to depend on foreign countries for the importation of its local delicacies.
The Governor advocated massive investment in agriculture to revive Nigeria’s wobbling economy.
He regretted that despite Nigeria’s large population size and arable soil, the country is still struggling to feed her citizens and employ her youths.
“Any country which cannot feed itself is not indeed sovereign,” he said, adding “I’m of the view that agriculture remains the basis for national development and national security.”
Uzodimma further regretted that upon the discovery of crude oil, Nigeria abandoned agriculture which was its mainstay during the pre-independence era.
He said: “We adopted petro-dollar and orphaned agri-dollar. A volatile commodity like crude oil quickly toppled agriculture as our biggest source of foreign exchange.”
The Governor said that over dependence on imported goods posed serious danger to local foods.
“I’m sure every Igbo man would like to see the return of ehi Igbo (local cow). I would personally want to see the improved and fast growing species of ‘okuko Igbo (local fowls), and ‘ewu Igbo’ which are now going extinct. What about our priced asset ‘ngwo’ (raffia palm trees) – that unique tree that produces the best palm wine?
“If we do not do the needful, we will one day be importing palm wine and ‘ugba’ (local delicacy) from China.”
