President Muhammadu Buhari has declared the administration’s Anchors Borrowers’ Programme a huge success.
The president said 12.2 million farmers have joined the rice and wheat revolution while the country is moving close to self- sufficiency in major grains.
Buhari was represented by his Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at the 25th Edition of the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA) Ceremony in Lagos, on Wednesday night.
He said the success of the agriculture revolution has turned thousands of rice farmers into millionaires and drastically reduced rice import.
‘’Apart from the successes we have achieved in tackling insecurity and fighting corruption, perhaps, our most remarkable progress has been in the area of agriculture. Quietly but steadily, our agriculture revolution is bearing fruits.
“According to the Rice Exporters of Thailand, rice imports from Thailand fell from 644,131 tons in September 2015 to 20,000 tons in September 2017, representing a 95 precent drop,’’ the president said, and noted that self-sufficiency in rice is so important because it is the most widely consumed staple in Nigeria, and also, because Nigeria’s daily expenditure on rice for over three decades stood at $5 million a day!”
He said Nigeria is also doing well in Millet, Sorghum and Maize cultivation, adding: ‘’We are now the second largest producer of sorghum after the United States of America, the third in millet after India and our breweries are now enjoying local sourcing of those commodities. For maize, we are producing 10 million tonnes while we need about 13 million tonnes; for both human and animal nutrition.’’ The president also disclosed how Nigeria leads the world in yam and cassava production and that efforts are being made to restore and improve on the country’s ranking in cocoa production, where it has fallen from second to the seventh position.
‘’We are also investing in a new line of tree crops targeting local and foreign end users and certain to earn foreign exchange. These are shea butter, palm trees, coconut, mangoes, bananas and plantains, kenaf and sisal hemp, castor and pineapple, among others. Overall, our ambition is that agriculture should rise from 25 percent to 40 percent of GDP so that we can banish poverty and overcome our economic anxiety,” he said.
President Buhari hailed the NMMA, which he called the preeminent media excellence award, and said the Nigeria media has done well over the years hence it deserves to be celebrated.
He, however, urged the media not to allow those who brought Nigeria to a sorry pass to muddle the waters by creating their own narrative which is far from reality.
‘’This is important because there seems to be a feeling of numbness among the citizens about the conduct of those whose actions brought us here. Suddenly, these same people are engaging in revisionist history and blaming those who are working themselves to the bone to correct the misdeeds of the past. They are blaming everyone but themselves for the mess they threw the country into,’’ the President said.
He said those who mismanaged the country have shown no contrition, no apologies, no shame, but instead have engaged in sheer bravado, unbridled arrogance and revisionism, adding: ‘’The media owes it a duty not to allow Nigerians to forget, to say ‘Never Again’ to those who view Nigeria as nothing but a cash cow to be milked to death.’’
… Returns to Abuja from Paris
President Muhammadu Buhari has returned to Abuja after participating at the “One Planet” summit in Paris, France.
The president’s aircraft landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, at about 4:35pm, where he was received by senior government officials including his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Musa Bello.
In Paris, Buhari appealed to the international community to support Nigeria’s commitment to reduce the negative effects of climate change.
Buhari told participants that Nigeria cannot implement its Nationally Determined Contributions without adequate financial, technical and capacity-building support from developed nations
He said Nigeria has already ratified the Paris Agreement, in May 2017, but its Nationally Determined Contributions to reduce emission by 20 per cent by 2020 and 40 per cent by 2030 cannot be attained alone.
According to him, the country is not under the illusion of the challenges it is facing, having just come out of recession.
The summit, with the theme “Climate Change Financing,” was attended by over 60 Heads of State and governments, as well as representatives of non-governmental and private organisations.