Agriculture’s Development Demands Strong Political Will – Hon. Oroh

Hon. Abdul Oroh

 

The Honorable Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hon. Abdul Oroh has emphasized the place of a strong political will in developing agriculture in Nigeria.

Hon. Oroh who disclosed this recently in a chat with AgroNigeria at his office in Benin City, Edo State said agriculture can be developed by taking very bold decisions, backed with a strong political will to implement those decisions.

He noted that in developing agriculture there is first the need to tackle the issue of smuggling in the country by going into an agreement with neighboring country, urging them not to allow smuggling through their country into Nigeria, prosecuting those that violate the law forbidding smuggling and refocusing the law enforcement community to really concentrate on their duties.

Also, he noted that agriculture can be developed by encouraging local growers and making available incentives for them due to the vacuum created by these smugglers, noting that if as a country we are able to produce sufficiently what we need, there will be definitely no need for anyone to smuggle anything into the Country.

The Hon. Commissioner disclosed that in Edo State “we are looking at a market for rice here; we are not thinking of exporting it, if we cannot sell it here because of cheap importation of rice into the country, how can we grow the rice here? We have a policy that we have designed; all the incentives are in place, we have a population that supports us, we have the goodwill of our people and we have a governor that is focus and have the support of the people”.

He further stated that “if the Federal Government is going to establish rice mills and it doesn’t, it should make it possible for either the State, Local Government or genuine business people to establish this rice mills. The Federal Government can assist with policies that will create good road infrastructure, assist with fair trade, access to market, power, irrigation, and stop smuggling, because the FG cannot be granting weavers when other people are struggling”

He therefore advised the Federal Government, the State Government and Private sectors to clearly identify their roles in developing agriculture in the Country, putting national interest at the back of their minds.