From Okwe Obi, Abuja
In a bid to curb youth restiveness and to boost food production, a former Executive Secretary of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), Prof. John Okpara, has charged the Federal Government to invest in agriculture.
He also advised the government to fix moribund infrastructure and to purchase modern tools to attract investors.
Okpara, who is Chairman of CSS Group of Companies, spoke at the training of over 150 youths on agro business like fishery, pigry and horticulture and in Keffi, argued that the country had no business with hunger given Nigeria’s population and rich vegetation.
He complained that Nigeria consumes about 4.5 million metric tons of fish every year, while the country but produces less than 1.3 million metric tons. He said the government must be deliberate in fixing basic infrastructure and tackle insecurity which he said has been the bane affecting the country’s food system.
He said: “It has been the challenge of insecurity, people being unable to farm and people farming and then whatever the plant is being vandalised or destroyed by animals. The government must really come in fully in terms of providing jobs through agriculture to the people, so everybody can protect what he has.
“I think that lack of jobs has really created the vacuum. The day we end unemployment is the day insecurity will end. I believe that if we are serious and committed, every man will secure his own farmland. Let the government be involved in engaging them to farm. Also, look at fishery for instance. Nigeria as a nation consumes about 4.5 million metric tons of fish every year, but we are producing less than 1.3 million metric tons.
“So, if people can even go into fishery, they will produce enough fish for protein. And then we plant things like cassava, process it, government will set up processing factories that will process this food and give back to the nation. Until we get it right in terms of food sustainability and ending food scarcity, we will not be a happy nation.”
On his part, Founder of Emma Njoku Foundation, Dr Emmanuel Njoku, said the training had no political undertone, but a genuine initiative to boost food production.
Njoku said: “This is a natural course of action that Nigerians, should take at this time in our history. We have a lot of unemployment. We have food insecurity in our country.
And we have a whole lot of youth, you know, able-bodied men and women who are languishing in every part of this country, doing nothing. So, the right thing to do is to empower people. It is, for me, a natural course.
“And that is why I have brought all these people here to train in this great facility, to train the next generation of Nigerians that will continue to help Nigeria overcome these challenges of food insecurity in the country. And also the challenges of unemployment. These young people, when they are trained in this wonderful and state-of-the-art facility, they are going to become employers of labour.
“They are going to help increase food production in Nigeria. They are going to even export net food products from this country. They are going to generate a foreign exchange.
“They are going to contribute immensely to the growth of Nigerian GDP. So, I have taken this initiative and this is just the first step. From here, I am still going to do a whole lot of things, like train more people across the nook and cranny of Nigeria, bringing them to this place to continue to sort out these things that are facing us in Nigeria.”
He added: “Now, we have 150. And after two weeks, another 150 will come to train.”
Speaking on the cost implication, he said: “I think it is nothing compared to what the benefit is going to be.
“I do not really count the cost when I do things. I rely on the net value and net results.”