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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has praised Governor Ben Ayade’s agricultural revolution programme, which he said has made Cross River State a force to be reckoned with.
Emefiele gave the recommendation during flag-off of the 2019 wet season rice farming programme in Calabar, capital of Cross River state.
Speaking at the Ayade Industrial Park, the CBN governor, who was represented by the Calabar Branch Controller, Chuks Sokari, said: “The resoluteness to agriculture, by governor Ayade, has created hallmarks which the entire world recognises.
“The seriousness demonstrated by the governor in the renewed zeal to project and promote agriculture has made Cross River a leading state in the comity of states in the nation.”
In his response, Ayade urged the people to go into aggressive farming, insisting that the only way to industrialise the state is to strike a balance between the green and white collar jobs which would lead to agro-industrial revolution.
“The only way we can industrialise is by agro-industrial revolution. I am pleading with everyone of you, if you don’t own a farm, you are doing a disservice to all the industries I have set up. Let us prove to Nigeria that we are really the best, take agriculture seriously and prove that we are a shinning example,” Ayade said.
Praising the agricultural initiative of President Muhammadu Buhari and Emefiele, for making available N10.8 billion for the state, Ayade assured that Cross River remains ready to partner the Federal Government to drive a digital rice planting system.
“Any man or woman with only one source of money as income has already prepared his or her roadmap to failure as you cannot blame your star or God,” and added that “if everyone of us here owns a farm, Cross River will not need to depend on federal allocation and that is what I want to do before I leave office; to see the state not depending on the Federal Government.”
The governor charged the people to, as a matter of duty, embrace farming.
“Where am I going to get the maize, soya beans and other raw materials for the factories we have set up if we are all wearing tie and going to office?
“We have the soil, the land, fertility, capacity and financial support, so let us do a balance between the green collar and white collar jobs as nothing stops me in the morning to be in the office and in midday in my farm.”
Earlier, President, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, Aminu Goranyo, applauded Ayade for his rice production initiative, and admitted that he stands out as the first state governor to train over 1,000 farmers.
