Nigeria’s oil fortunes gone forever –Ogbeh

MINISTER of Agricul­ture and Rural Develop­ment, Chief Audu Ogbeh yesterday, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, declared that the days when Nigeria’s wealth was derived solely from oil and gas are gone.
He said agriculture re­mained the only panacea to the nation’s economic problems.

The minister said these in his keynote address en­titled, “Economic diversi­fication through agricul­ture” at the ongoing Ogun State Investors’ Forum.
According to Ogbeh, oil and gas have outlived their purposes and no lon­ger serve the best interest of the country with the continuing fall in prices in the world market.
The minister also noted that Nigeria could no lon­ger afford the N22 billion spent yearly on food im­portation due to decline in oil revenue.
He regretted that Ni­geria failed to learn from other countries like Ma­laysia, which is reaping greatly from its heavy in­vestment in agriculture.
“We have to return to reality. Oil and gas have served their purposes, but that era is gone and I hope it doesn’t return to the good old times, because if it does, we have a knack for forgetting very quickly what yesterday was like, and what the future can be,” he said.
“The unfortunate thing about agriculture in this country is that, it has been the most aban­doned, ignored, and per­haps, ridiculed.
“We confine it to the peasants in the village, that poor, nameless in­dividual whose children swear by all the books never to do what their fa­ther did that made life so difficult for them.”
Ogbeh, however, iden­tified high interest rates as one of the major fac­tors discouraging invest­ment in agriculture in the country.
He said with interest rates rising between 18 per cent and 25 per cent, the banking industry has continued to discourage investors who might be interested in agriculture.
“Why are Nigerians not investing in agriculture? The banking industry does not encourage inves­tors; with interest rates ranging between 18 per cent to 25 per cent, such interest rates destroy in­vestment in agriculture.
“Who will fund agricul­ture, if no one is ready. The banking industry be­lieves investment in agri­culture is risky,” he said.
The minister, however, argued that agriculture remained the veritable alternative to reducing youth unemployment and ensure food security in the country.
Ogbeh also expressed delight that change had begun in states like Ogun and Katsina with the in­vestors’ forum.