…says it’s people-oriented

By Ike Uchechukwu & Emma Una

CALABAR—President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday,  commissioned the Cross River State seedlings and seed multiplication factory in Calabar which he described as a people-oriented project.

The President said the project was in line with his administration’s zero oil economic roadmap with Cross River State governor,  Senator Ben Ayade becoming a reference point in that vision.

He said: “When we assumed leadership of our dear country, our administration launched a zero-oil economic roadmap as a way of making our country less dependent on oil, while encouraging investments in other sectors of the economy, particularly agriculture.

“I am happy that Governor Ayade keyed into that policy and has today become the reference point in our agricultural revolution effort.”

Emphasising the significance of the event, President Buhari said: “That we are gathered here today is no doubt a determination woven through to precision and a glowing testament to the fact that the policy is working.”

President Buhari

The President who lauded Ayade for the giant stride and for keying into his agricultural policy, noted that the factory spoke loudly about his administration’s strides in agriculture, adding that its capacity to produce high yield and disease resistant seeds, will aid in job creation and earn revenue for the state.

“The factory, said to be the first in Africa, is an automated plant with a capacity to produce high yielding vitaminized and disease resistant rice seedlings,” Buhari said.

On the impact of the seedlings factory on the economy, the President said: “Seedlings from this factory will improve rice yield from the current national average of three  to four tons per hectare to about nine to 10 tons per hectare, thus helping to ensure rice sufficiency in the country and doing away with import and saving foreign exchange for Nigeria.

“Besides creating employment opportunities for the unemployed, I have no doubt that this rice factory will also be a veritable platform for income generation for Cross River.”

Continuing, he said: “I am further told that the factory has the capacity to meet both foreign and domestic demands. This will go a long way in placing Nigeria on the global rice production map.”

He directed relevant federal parastatals to partner the state even as he hoped that the factory, alongside other agro-based industries being built by the state will inspire other leaders to key into his vision of ensuring food security for the country. “I therefore, enjoin relevant Federal Government Agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Bank of Nigeria, through its anchor borrower’s programme, to partner Cross River State in the area of supply of seedlings to our farmers.”

In his address, Governor Ayade said the state was aware of the President’s focus which inspired the decision to invest in agro-allied industries which include the cocoa processing industry, banana Plantation, soya bean, calapharm, Instant noodles, rice mill, among others.

“These are all products of your discussion with me each time I met with you and therefore, everything Cross River gives me and the entire people of Cross River credit,” Ayade said.

Ayade subsequently called for a   standing ovation for the President. “I say so because we have five million hectares of paddy soil in Nigeria, unfortunately, less than 1.7 million hectares of that used to be cultivated; but since you came in with your aggressive program on rice, the amount of cultivable land has grown to three million hectares and it is rising.”

He disclosed that the country used to spend about N460 billion importing rice and an additional N60 billion in December, which according to him, “has come down dramatically and saved the pressure on the naira,  courtesy of your innovative thinking.”

The governor posited that with the population statistics, Nigeria faces a “humongous challenge that can lead to absolute social disorder if you don’t take a deliberate step to ensure that we improve on the rice demand and rice supply chain.

“It was against this background that we realise that we needed to do something very specific on rice cultivation.”

“Besides creating employment opportunities for the unemployed, I have no doubt that this rice factory will also be a veritable platform for income generation for Cross River.”

Continuing, he said: “I am further told that the factory has the capacity to meet both foreign and domestic demands. This will go a long way in placing Nigeria on the global rice production map.”

He directed relevant federal parastatals to partner the state even as he hoped that the factory, alongside other agro-based industries being built by the state will inspire other leaders to key into his vision of ensuring food security for the country. “I therefore, enjoin relevant Federal Government Agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture and the Central Bank of Nigeria, through its anchor borrower’s programme, to partner with Cross River in the area of supply of seedlings to our farmers.

In his address, Governor Ayade said the state was aware of the President’s focus which inspired the decision to invest in agro-allied industries which include the cocoa processing industry, banana Plantation, soya bean, calapharm, Instant noodles, rice mill, among others.

“These are all products of your discussion with me each time I have to meet with you and therefore, everything Cross River gives me and the entire people of Cross River credit,” Ayade said.

Ayade subsequently called for a   standing ovation for the President,   a directive which he explained: “I say so because we have five million hectares of paddy soil in Nigeria, unfortunately, less than 1.7 million hectares of that used to be cultivated; but since you came in with your aggressive program on rice, the amount of cultivable land has grown to three million hectares and it is rising.

He disclosed that the country used to spend about N460 billion importing rice and an additional NGN60 billion in December, which according to him, “has come down dramatically and saved the pressure on the naira,   courtesy of your innovative thinking.”

The governor posited that with the population statistics, Nigeria faces a “humongous challenge that can lead to absolute social disorder if you don’t take a deliberate step to ensure that we improve on the rice demand and rice supply chain.

“It was against this background that we realise that we needed to do something very specific on rice cultivation.”