By Peter Duru, MAKURDI

Managing Director, Oceanic Bank International Plc has lamented the dwindling fortune of Nigeria’s agricultural sector, saying that there is an urgent need to engage financial institutions in the country in the quest towards the development of the agricultural sector.

Aboh, who made the disclosure in a lecture he delivered at the Private Sector Lectures Series of the Faculty of Management Sciences of the Benue State University in Makurdi, said that Nigeria’s dwindling fortune in the agricultural sector has confined her to a net importer of agricultural produce with over N638.4 billion ($4.2 billion) expended annually on the importation of agricultural produce for local consumption.

He regretted the fact that as an emerging nation, Nigerian had asserted its dominance in global agricultural market but inadvertently lost that position in the 1960s to less endowed nations.

He said, “Since the 1960s, Nigeria has lost its dominant position in exports of key crops such as palm oil, which Nigeria had 60 per cent of global exports in the 1960s, groundnuts, where we had 30 per cent of global exports in the 60s, and cocoa were we had 15 per cent.”

“By the 2000s, Nigeria’s global share of exports of these crops was five per cent or less; today, Nigeria is a net importer of agricultural produce with imports (including wheat, fish, rice, sugar and others) totaling US$4.2billion,” he said.

He, however, noted that Nigeria can still reclaim that enviable position through well laid Aboh noted that emerging economies like China adopted the strategy and it worked advising that Nigerian banks should not be an exception, “if we hope to achieve our Millennium Development Goals,” he said.

He emphasized that with the reforms in the banking sector, Nigerian banks have been geared up to bolster the nation’s recovery efforts and also to ensure availability of financing and access to funds in order to better serve the agricultural sector.

He said, “Maintaining a safe and sound banking sector is central to economic development, given the significant role that the financial system could play in facilitating growth and financing developmental projects, particularly essential infrastructure and agriculture”.

Aboh further said, “The banking reforms are aimed at strengthening the financial system to prepare it to play its proper role in the growth of the real sector of the economy. This will ultimately result in substantial benefits to entrepreneurs in the private sector who are prepared to observe the financial discipline inherent in accessing credit from banks.”