Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, has implored entrepreneurs to invest their resources in agriculture instead of real estates.
Dogara based his advice on the premise that investment in agriculture would serve as a foreign exchange earner which would boost the nation’s economy.
The Sepaker said this during his visit to Integrated Dairies Limited in Vom, Plateau State, according to a statement by his media aide, Turaki Hassan.
The speaker was quoted in the statement thus: “I want to call on other entrepreneurs in Nigeria, especially those who have capital in hand, to take to mechanised farming and for most of our businessmen who think that the only way you can make money is through rent seeking to now see this as an example where you can add value to peoples lives and our nation’s economy.
“If you look at milk produced in Nigeria, if we continue to depend on imports, that will deplete our forex in the sense that we have to contend with a situation whereby we always apply for forex to be able to bring in these products.”
He further indicated that agriculture can only contribute meaningfully to economic growth which gains ground in global space.
While appreciating the Speaker, Air Vice Marshall Ishaya Shekari (rtd), who runs the farm which produces Farm Fresh Yoghurt, said the challenge faced by agricultural investors is the issue of land ownership adding that the government should look into the matter.
He told the speaker: “This is a direct invitation for others who are involved in agriculture to come and see the little that we are doing here so that perhaps they will appreciate it and give us the necessary support.
“The things we put in the ground here, we certainly don’t want to put them and just, one day, be asked to move out. So that is why we want more ownership.
“We hope we will be given the opportunity to have more ownership of the land. We have written the Minister of Agriculture in this regard.”
