We aim to redirect agric, empower Nigerians – Minister

By Eileen Ihemadu

In line with the present administration’s policy on government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the Agricultural Promotion Policy, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has mapped out strategies for effective monitoring of development/ donor partner funded projects.
The Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri while declaring open a one day meeting of the Joint Administrative Implementation Completion Review of closed projects in Abuja, said the strategies which include the formation of the Project Coordinating unit (PCU) by the Ministry was in line with the Federal government’s directive that all development/ donor partner funded projects must be coordinated and supervised for maximum documentation, accountability, transparency and probity.
Senator Lokpobiri said that the focus of the Ministry now is to redirect attention to Agriculture in its entirety and empower Nigerian people in a productive and sustainable manner.
He stated that “Our aim is to redirect attention to Agriculture in its entirety and empower our people in a productive and sustainable manner. This entails treating agriculture as a business to create wealth and provide employment and take us from being an import dependent country to a self-sufficient nation with surplus for export to earn foreign exchange”.
The Minister who was represented by his Senior Technical Adviser on Agribusiness, Eniye Ambakederemo, informed the meeting that indications from the recent past developments partner funded projects showed duplication of efforts, inefficiencies in the utilization of resources and poor coordination resulting in non- optimal impact of the interventions on the country’s Agricultural sector.
He added that Nigeria as a country cannot afford to borrow from development /donor partners and fail to utilize the resources effectively, saying that, there is the need for the Ministry to prioritize its borrowing plans and engage in activities that will result in import substitution of the country’s Agricultural products.