Osinbajo: Nigeria Will Exit Recession Through Agriculture

Wole Ayodele in Jalingo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has declared that agriculture is a sure path through which Nigeria would exit the current economic recession its currently in.

Speaking in Jalingo, the state capital, thursday while inaugurating the multi-billion naira Agro Green House Farm constructed by the Governor Darius Ishaku administration, the vice president stated that agriculture has the potential to permanently take the country out of economic recession.

Besides the Green House, Osinbajo equally inaugurated the water project executed by the African Development Bank (AFDB) in partnership with Taraba State Government as well as the six kilometers Jalingo- Kona federal road constructed by the state government.

Osinbajo described the Agro Green House project as a victory for science and technology in the development of agriculture in Nigeria, saying he is delighted that the country is moving towards meeting its vegetable needs.

“The Green House project I have seen today is a victory for science and technology in the development of agriculture in the country. It is one of the smartest ways of producing vegetables, and with it, Nigeria would meet its vegetable needs and export to other African countries,” he added.

The VP equally noted that agriculture is one of the major ways of providing quality jobs for the youths, adding that he was delighted that young people working on the farm are learning the skills for the future.

He stressed that Nigeria has the talents and resourceful people to make her the greatest in Africa and one of the best in the world, as he maintained that agriculture is a critical aspect of the federal government’s economic recovery programme.

Commending the state Governor, Ishaku, for initiating the project and seeing it through, Osibanjo expressed the federal government readiness and commitment to partnering serious state governments, saying what Ishaku did with the Green House project is the kind of drive and dynamism that the federal government is looking for.

Speaking earlier, Ishaku said agriculture is the backbone of the state, adding that the state has the capacity to produce the rice needs of the entire nation.

He noted that out of the entire 54, 473 km land mass of the state, no less than 30, 000 km is suitable for rice and sugar plantation, stating that the state government would require about N30 billion to achieve its objective in rice production.

The governor however revealed that the Green House project is already supplying high quality vegetables to the country’s major cities like Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna among others, just as he stated that the project had already engaged 500 agriculture graduates in the state.