We must produce what we eat, Buhari insists

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his administration would vigorously implement policies that would revive Nigeria’s agricultural sector and reposition it as the mainstay of the national economy.

Speaking at an audience with the new Bulgarian Ambassador to Nigeria, Vesselin Blagoer Delcher, President Buhari said his administration would evolve and implement policies that will help Nigeria become self-sufficient in food production because continued importation of food could expose the country to more external shocks.

Buhari, who also received Paul Lehmann, the new High Commissioner of Australia, Hajiya Afsatu Olayinka Ebiso-Kabba, the new High Commissioner of Sierra-Leone and Thordur Aegir Oskarsson, the new Ambassador of Iceland, told them that Nigeria would welcome the further strengthening of relations with their countries, especially in the areas of agriculture, solid minerals and trade.

A statement by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, quoted the President as noting that the unbridled importation of food also contributes to the depletion of the country’s foreign reserves and deprives citizens of job opportunities.
‘“Therefore, we must produce what we eat. We don’t have unlimited resources to continue the importation of food items that can be produced locally.