Delivering a lecture at the University of Ibadan on
Saturday, the former president said the time has come for the country to
concentrate on agriculture due to the decline in oil prices.
The programme was organised by the school of
business (UISB) in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan,
“Agriculture financing should be kept at single
digit rate of interest, agri-business must be glamourised to make it attractive
to youths,” he said.
“It is now time for the country to move into
agriculture, as there is decline in oil prices, inadequate food supply, need to
create employment, raw material for industrialisation, among others.
“There should be creation of agri-service centres
within reasonable distance for the farmers, we should add value to our foods to
maximise returns from our investment.
“Attention should not be given to professional
courses alone in universities, adequate support must be given to agricultural
research; we should adopt best practices from within and outside Nigeria.”
Obasanjo also suggested that there should be
agri-business service centres with close proximity to farmers.
On his part, Abiola Ajimobi, governor of Oyo state,
who was represented by Oyewole Oyewumi, the state commissioner for agriculture,
said Oyo had created an agricultural initiative programme which would tackle
unemployment, provide adequate food and encourage youths to embrace
agriculture.
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