By Tony Okafor,Awka
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party( LP), Mr Peter Obi, has identified high level of insecurity and apparent neglect of the agricultural sector as among the factors responsible for the prevalent hyper food inflation in the country.
Obi, who disclosed this on Saturday in a message to mark the 2022 World Food Day, said food inflation in the country stemmed mainly from high level of insecurity, which he said had made it impossible for farmers to return to their farms and engage in agricultural activities and food production.
He pointed out that fighting insecurity would be his number one priority if elected president of the country because according to him securing the nation would form the basis of any development, including massive food production.
He said “If you secure the country, the farmers will return to the farms, produce more food and agricultural products, and food inflation will go down.”
He explained that lack of investment in agriculture, caused by over dependence on oil proceeds, by the government, was another reason food inflation was hitting the roof, reiterating that the greatest assets Nigeria had were the large expanse of land in the Northern part of the country.
He said, “Borno State is 70,900km² in landmass, yet, they have uncultivated lands that are not yielding any productivity to the country. Sambisa forest, a vast farmland in Bornu State, is twice the size of Israel, which is just about 22,000km².
“Israel produces enough food for its population and for exports, while Nigeria can hardly feed the people.
“Borno State is twice the size of Netherlands, which is about 33,000km2 in landmass excluding water. Last year alone, Netherlands exported agricultural products worth of $120 billion, while Nigeria with a land mass of 923,770 km² cannot yet feed itself because we are depending on the now dwindling oil proceeds.”
He expressed confidence that Nigeria, under his watch, woukd move from consumption to production and that there would be adequate food production in the country, through right investment in agriculture.
Our correspondent reports that the World Food Day is celebrated on October 16 every year.
