No Forex for Food Importation – Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has given directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to give foreign exchange (forex) to anyone for importation food into the country.
Learn MoreThe President, while speaking at the fifth regular meeting with the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) in the State House, yesterday, said about seven states in the country are already meeting the rice needs of the country.
“CBN must not give money to import food. Already about seven states are producing all the rice we need. We must eat what we produce,”
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“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 said.
While emphasizing the place of agriculture in the efforts to restore the economy, the President agreed that measures must be put in place to curtail inflation in the country.
According to him, “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.”
The PEAC meeting, was meant to review and reflect on the global and domestic economy in the outgoing year and was attended by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, as well as Ministers of Finance and Humanitarian Affairs.
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The Federal government decision to encourage agricultural pursuits rather than depending on oil is a welcome development.
The following are suggested for way forward:
1.The initiative will achieve the desired goal if proper storage facilities for the harvested farm products are available.
2. Availability of soft loans to Farmers. Presently the cost of poultry feed is unbearable to poultry Farmers which is frustrating to poultry farmers.
4. Government to provide land for interested farmers at affordable price.
Your points are great.Thank you