Obasanjo Attributes Challenges In Agric Sector To Policy Instability

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has blamed the setbacks recorded in the nation’s agriculture sector on policy somersaults in governments, stressing it has remained one of the major hindrances to achieving food security in the country.

Obasanjo stated this while speaking at the unveiling of the Okun Rice Mills put in place by one of the private investors in agric-business in Ogun State, Dr Biodun Onalaja, held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Thursday evening.

He called on the three tiers of government to evolve an agriculture policy that would provide the much needed enabling environment for private sector’s heavy investments in agric-business to guarantee a national self-sufficiency in food production.

With particular reference to the hues and cries over high cost of food items globally, the former president admonished heads of governments in Africa to do more towards ensuring sustainability of agricultural policies of their predecessors to achieve food security for the continent.

Obasanjo in a veiled reference to the Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) introduced by the military administration which he headed between 1976 and 1979, lamented that the hunger crisis in the country and the continent would not have been this worse should the culture of policy continuity in the nation’s developmental and food production efforts had been sustained.

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In a statement yesterday by his special assistant on media, Kehinde Akinyemi, the former president said “Part of our problem in Nigeria and Africa as a whole is lack of continuity and this is very bad for every development at the family, state, national and continental levels.

“What I found so ridiculous is that because there has been no continuity in so many things we are doing, you will hear people saying “for the first time ever” as if Nigeria is just beginning today whereas the problem is lack of continuity.

“When you go back, you will find out that some people have done which they are talking about and if we had continued, our situation wouldn’t have been as bad as it is particularly in the area of food production.

“I have always said that the government has no business in production; the primary duty of the government is to provide the enabling environment for agricultural production and other business enterprises to thrive so as to achieve food security.

“So, I am saying that for us to achieve increased food production and achieve food sufficiency at the state, national at continental levels, the government must be ready to provide an enabling environment and ensure continuity of assisted agric policies to enhance food production.”