It Is A Shame Nigeria Spent N7.8 Trillion On Food Importing – Otti
The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has made a case for the establishment of agricultural ventures across Nigeria as a panacea to food insecurity.
While underscoring the need for all to embrace agriculture for sufficiency, Otti highlighted that a whooping N7.8 trillion was spent by the Nigerian government on food imports over the past six years.
Otti made the call during a capacity-building training program for the first batch of 300 candidates selected for agricultural training at CSS Global Integrated Farm, Nassarawa State.
The governor emphasized the role of agriculture in not only addressing issues of food security but also in curbing unemployment and fostering socio-economic stability
He pointed out that the country is blessed with abundant arable land and as such should not be burdened with exorbitant import bills, stressing the need for a paradigm shift and the urgency of stakeholders to take the issue seriously.
He said, “It is a shame that a country of over 200 hundred million people with so much arable land, reputed as the largest producers and cultivators of food items spend so much money importing food.
“Statistics show that in the last six years, this country has spent about N7.8 trillion to import food.
