NIGERIA (CWBN)_ PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari said Tuesday that the government would work together to ensure that the nation has adequate food to sustain its people.
To that end, the President announced that the administration would keep a sharp eye on food inflation in the New Year and echoed its initial advisory to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to offer any funds to import food. President Buhari confirmed this at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, at the fifth daily meeting with the Presidential Economic Advisory Council. He stressed that the CBNN “must not give money to import food. Already about seven states are producing all the rice we need. We must eat what we produce.”
President Buhari questioned where the nation would have positioned themselves by now in light of the crippling economic recession brought on by COVID-19 if the country had not adopted agriculture, taking note of the advancements made in agricultural output following the programme of diversification from over-dependence on oil initiated by his government.
In a statement published by his Senior Media and Publicity Special Assistant, Mallam Garba Shehu, President Buhari said, “Going back to the land is the way out. We depend on petrol at the expense of agriculture. Now the oil industry is in turmoil. We are being squeezed to produce at 1.5 million barrels a day as against a capacity to produce 2.3 million.”
“At the same time, the technical cost of our production per barrel is high, compared to the Middle East production.”
He stressed the role of agriculture to revive the economy but accepted that steps to curb inflation in the country must be put in place.
He said, “We will continue to encourage our people to go back to the land. Our elite is indoctrinated in the idea that we are rich in oil, leaving the land for the city for oil riches. We are back to the land now. We must not lose the opportunity to make life easier for our people. Imagine what would have happened if we didn’t encourage agriculture and closed the borders. We would have been in trouble.”
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and the Ministers of Finance and Humanitarian Affairs, attended the meeting to study and focus on the global and domestic economies during the outgoing year and decided on a variety of initiatives.
Additionally, the report stated that: “In specific terms, it noted the sharp deterioration in international economic environment and its impact on Nigeria’s continuing but fragile economic recovery; that Nigeria’s economic growth continues to be constrained by obvious challenges including infrastructural deficiencies and limited resources for government financing.”
“It emphasized the need to make the private sector of the economy the primary source of investment, rather than government.”
“The meeting reviewed progress towards structural reforms in response to the economic crises, including the institution of the Economic Sustainability Plan, the changes in electricity tariff and fuel pricing regime, the partial re-opening of the Land Borders, the movement towards unification of exchange rates and budgetary reforms through Finance Bill 2020 and 2021.”
“It agreed that, to prepare the country for the challenges ahead, it is imperative to ensure Macro-economic stability, create certainty and re-build investor confidence in the economy.”
“It emphasized the need to make the private sector of the economy the primary source of investment, rather than government.”
“The meeting reviewed progress towards structural reforms in response to the economic crises, including the institution of the Economic Sustainability Plan, the changes in electricity tariff and fuel pricing regime, the partial re-opening of the Land Borders, the movement towards unification of exchange rates and budgetary reforms through Finance Bill 2020 and 2021.”
“It agreed that, to prepare the country for the challenges ahead, it is imperative to ensure Macro-economic stability, create certainty and re-build investor confidence in the economy.”
” It emphasized the need to deepen structural reforms initiated by the administration as a basis for stimulating investments from domestic and international sources with a view to raising productivity in key sectors of the economy.”
