By Stanley Onyekwere
As part of its measures to boost food security and employment opportunities, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT), Nyesom Wike has sought for more investment into agriculture and education sectors in Abuja, the nation’s capital city.
Wike, who asserted this yesterday, in Abuja when received the Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Peter Ryan in his office, noted that he wants to improve food security through improved agriculture practices as well as expand employment opportunities with vocational education skills.
In particular, he disclosed that his administration was already working at promoting policies that will open up investment opportunities for agriculture and technological development in the nation’s capital.
According to him, Nigeria and Ireland has a longstanding strong relationship that should be nurtured and sustainable for mutual benefit.
He therefore, urged the visiting ambassador to take advantage of the very vast arable land in Nigeria’s capital territory to strengthen the partnership between both countries.
He said: “Nigeria has a strong ties with the Republic of Ireland and so we will like to leverage on that, especially in the area of Agriculture which Ireland is known for.
“One of the important focus of Mr President is to harness the potential in ICT, in the interest of the youths.
“We Will seize the opportunity to visit Dublin to see some of the ICT hubs so we can duplicate same in the FCT.”
Earlier in his speech, Ryan said some Irish vocational education experts were billed to be in Abuja in few weeks time.
The Ambassador stated that his country has made appreciable progress in the areas of education and agriculture, and would be glad to share its experiences with any willing country.
Ryan further promised to facilitate practical collaborations with key investment experts and other stakeholders in the Irish private sector.
He noted that the Republic of Ireland has a lot of partnership with several capitals in the world, adding that he sees the potential in Abuja and promise to connect the FCTA to the vibrant cultural ecosystem in his country.
He said: “Our mission is very much the same, Ireland is world class in a number of areas, one of them is agriculture and education.
“Education is very important to us and has helped us achieve the success we have in the area of technology. In Ireland, we intend to be very practical as we know that we can’t do everything, so in things we do, we try to do best we can.
“From the first week of December, we are bringing to Abuja, the head of the largest vocational education provider on the land of Ireland. He will be here, and has no agenda, so he is at your disposal.
“ In the area of agriculture, we had a visit earlier in September by our Minister of Agriculture to Nigeria.
“ And as a follow up to the visit, we can share the lessons and experience by connecting his excellency (the FCT Minister) directly to the experts that runs an organisation called Sustainable Food System.”
