How We Plan To Mechanize Agric Sector – VP Osinbajo

HOW WE PLAN TO MECHANIZE AGRIC SECTOR – VP OSINBAJO

SPEECH
BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE NIGERIA- BRAZIL
COOPERATION PROJECT ON AGRICULTURE – “THE GREEN IMPERATIVE”, ON THE 17TH
OF JANUARY, 2019

After the most eloquent speech by the
Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Mr Audu Ogbeh, I really would have
preferred not to say anything more, because I think he has captured
practically everything.

It is a special privilege for me to host
you all to the launch of the “Green Imperative”, our agriculture
mechanization project in collaboration with the Brazilian government.
The project is crucial to our signature focus on agriculture as the
centerpiece of our economic diversification efforts. Practically
everything you have heard about the Buhari administration has centered
round agriculture, and I’m sure that we are going to hear a lot more
about this focus on agriculture.

Frankly, we believe we cannot
bring our nation out of poverty, especially the large numbers of the
poor without significant investments in agriculture and, of course,
mechanized agriculture. But also because we know the sheer number of
young people who are coming into our population in the next 10 – 15
years, will certainly not only need to be fed, but will also need to
have jobs, and the sort of jobs that these young people will want will
not be jobs requiring hoes and cutlasses. They are going to want jobs
that are more dignified and of course, jobs that would mean a decent
wage and living.

This explains our focus on agriculture and
especially the agro-allied value chain. It is this value chain we
believe that this particular project will service, and this is where we
think the game changer for this agricultural development lies.

With
mechanized agriculture, everything suddenly becomes different, because
even now, we have been able to do a lot more in terms of rice production
and several other grains without mechanization at the level it ought to
be.

Today, we are producing paddy rice as much as we need but
milling and the other processes are where we fall short. So we are not
able to produce and mill all of the rice that we require, but that is
only a matter of months.

The key thing today is that with
mechanization, whatever it is that we are able to do; we will be able to
do in multiples. I think that portion of it is extremely important for
us.

I think the only way we can make the quantum leap that is
required, in order to advance our economy and provide the number of jobs
we require, is simply what we are doing today.

As we have
heard, there will be a combination of service centers where technical
capacity and training will occur, to the local assembly of tractors and
other agricultural machines, and we will also have processing centers
where agro processing will be done.

The major dividends of all
of this are the hundreds of thousands of quality jobs, that young men
and women will be able to access.

We also know one of the
reasons why young men and women do not warm up to agriculture in the way
that they ought to and why we have such an aged farmer population is
because it just isn’t attractive. But I know that from now on, all of
that is certainly going to change and our young men and women would be
far more interested in agriculture than they have ever been.

Today,
we have made a significant difference in our journey, not just in
self-sufficiency in food production, but also in creating the kinds of
jobs that we could have from agriculture.

Also crucial is the
private sector, an important component of this enterprise. When you hear
about government projects, people tend to think that with the way
government works sometimes, you don’t want to entrust all of these kinds
of activities to government. But we have ensured that this will be
private sector driven and we have here today, both Nigerian and
Brazilian investors committed to investing and working on this project.

So
we expect that this will be collaboration not just between the
governments of Nigeria and Brazil, but also between Nigerian businessmen
and Brazilian businessmen.

Let me therefore thank the Brazilian
government through Ambassador Ricardo de Araujo, the Honourable
Minister of Agriculture, who has encouraged many of us to go into
farming.
Mr President clearly set forth our agricultural agenda from
day one. To quote him: “we must produce what we eat.” We have to be
self-sufficient in food production.

Today, the President’s dream
has moved closer to realization and in the next few years by God’s
grace, with this project, we will with our own brains and innovation and
the collaboration of our friends, especially our Brazilian friends,
will realize the dreams of our people not only to produce our own food,
but also to employ every able Nigerian, not just in agriculture, but in
all of the agro-allied value chain and manufacturing also.

On this note, it is therefore my very special pleasure and privilege to launch the Green Imperative.

Thank you very much.

Released by:
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity
Office of the Vice President
January 18, 2019