Let’s Go Back To Farm, Buhari Asks Nigerians

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Nigerians to go back to farm, warning that the oil the country had so depended on would no longer be able to sustain the economy.
He made it clear that the time has come for Nigerians to do more than pay mere lip service to agriculture, as crude oil and gas exports will no longer be sufficient as the country’s major revenue earner.
President Buhari who spoke when he received in audience the Nigerian born President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr. Kanayo Nwanze, at the Presidential Villa Abuja. remarked: “It’s time to go back to the land. We must face the reality that the petroleum we had depended on for so long will no longer suffice. We campaigned heavily on agriculture, and we are ready to assist as many as want to go into agricultural ventures.”
A statement by senior special assistant to the President on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, quoted Buhari as saying that his government would work towards cutting short the long bureaucratic processes that Nigerian farmers had to go through to get any form of assistance from government.
He said that improvement in the productivity of farmers, dry season farming, and creative ways to combat the shrinking of the Lake Chad would receive the attention of his administration.
“There is so much to be done. We will try and articulate a programme and consult organizations like IFAD for advise,” the President said, adding that foreign exchange will be conserved for machinery and other items needed for production, instead of using it to import things like toothpicks.
Dr. Nwanze had assured President Buhari that  IFAD is ready to give all possible assistance to the Federal Government and Nigerian farmers to boost agricultural production.
IFAD is an international organization dedicated to addressing issues of agriculture and poverty alleviation. It was established in 1978, and has been collaborating with Nigeria for over 30 years.