By Perpetua Onuegbu
The 2023 Presidential Candidate of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, has said that Nigeria must be intentional with its agricultural investments if it must conquer food insecurity.
Obi stated this in a statement issued by his Spokesperson, Mr Ibrahim Umar, on Friday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the former presidential candidate was speaking against the backdrop of a Food Security Update Report released by the World Bank.
Speaking on the report, Obi likened Nigeria’s worsening food security crisis to war-torn countries like Yemen, stating that there was a significant rise in the number of people facing acute food shortages and hunger epidemic.
“I believe these reports, sad as they are, only paint a lenient picture of the severity of the food crisis and hunger in reality.
“Over the years, I have maintained that moving the country from consumption to production remains the surest way of combating food insecurity and pulling the nation out of the present food crisis.
“I have equally stated, unequivocally, that the greatest asset our nation has is the vast uncultivated lands in the North coupled with our huge demographics.
“Therefore, we must be intentional with our agricultural investments,” he said.
The Labour Party leader expressed the regret that a state like Niger, which is twice bigger in landmass than The Netherlands, could neither feed itself nor the nation.
While noting that The Netherlands exports over $100 billion worth of agro products annually, he stressed the need for Nigeria to also prioritise investment in agriculture.
This, he said, could be achieved by combating insecurity which had kept farmers away from the farms, and adopting modern ways of mechanised farming.
“If we can do this, we will then be able to combat hunger and achieve food security for the nation,” he said.
According to Obi, a country booming with productivity, free from hunger, with an abundant food supply is possible. (NAN)
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