Nigeria cannot make progress in agric unless ......

Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has said Nigeria cannot make progress in agriculture unless it (agriculture) is driven at the highest political level.

Chief Obasanjo made the statement at the signing of a tripartite implementation agreement in the establishment of an integrated rice farm in Taraba State.

Commenting on the establishment of rice farm in Taraba State, Chief Obasanjo said “unless we do things like this, the situation we find ourselves will go from bad to worst.”

He regretted that in 2004, 54 per cent of Nigerians were regarded as living below poverty level, while in 2007, it was reduced to 38/39 per cent, but last year, it increased to 71 per cent.

He, therefore, called on the Federal Government to speed up actions, in order to reduce this regrettable situation.

In his speech, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, expressed delight over the agreement signed between Dominion Farm and Taraba State government on rice production.

He said with the agreement, rice would be produced on 30,000 hectares of land.

Dr Adesina regretted that Nigeria currently imported 2.1 million metric tonnes of rice annually, adding that by 2050, Nigeria’s consumption of rice would have risen from five million metric tonnes per year to 35 million metric tonnes, unless we grew our rice.

The minister also added that the event was in line with the Federal Government’s agricultural transformation agenda, to make Nigeria self-sufficient in rice production in four years.

In his remark, the Taraba State governor, Alhaji Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, expressed happiness over the agreement and pledged the support of the state to ensure that the project was a success.

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How I would have handled Boko Haram, by Obasanjo

Nigeria's former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday said if the Boko Haram insurgence had erupted during his term in office, he would have ended the serial killings by adopting what he described as "carrot and stick" approach as he did with the Niger Delta militants. 

Obasanjo, spoke on Tuesday in a special Hausa programme of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which was monitored in Maiduguri, Borno State, the home base of the radical Islamic sect. 

He said: "What I will do to bring an end to the serial killings and bombings in the northern states, was the adaptation of the carrot and stick approach on the Niger Delta militants, where I invited 35 different leaders of the militants from the region and listened to all their grievances against the Federal Government and their traditional leaders, whom they alleged had been conniving with the latter."

According to Obasanjo, the carrot would include addressing "poverty and unemployment" in the North, while the stick could be in the form of dialogue and "massive intelligence gathering" by the security agents to root out perpetrators of the alleged serial killings and bombings. 

Meanwhile, the family of Mohammed Baba Fugu has noted that Obasanjo's statement on the Boko Haram sect and his visit to the late Babakura Fugu on September 15, 2011 have caused more havoc and devastation to their members. 

Yakolo Baba Fugu, the younger sister to the late Babakura told the BBC that Obasanjo's alleged statement that he had no regret on the death of her brother was very unfair, inconsiderate and painful to the entire members of the Fugu family. According to her, the former president's visit created nothing, other than sadness and pains. 

"Obasanjo's visit to Maiduguri has no impact on our lives. We thought after his visit to Maiduguri, we would have roof on our heads. But the whole thing has turned out to be a terrible encounter with the former president. Our family members are now in a worsening situation. Babakura died and left behind 10 children from two wives and all of them are squatting with members of the larger family."

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