Agriculture remains only antidote to Nigeria's economy crisis: governor

Development of agriculture remains the only solution for the economic downturn that Nigeria is going through, a state governor said Friday.

The culture of free money has gone forever in Nigeria, Rauf Aregbesola, the governor of southwest state of Osun said at a meeting with Farmers' Association in the state.

He said for Nigeria to come out of its current economic doldrums, there must be a total shift from oil money, which in effect has contributed to total neglect of agriculture.

"Today, we have seen the effect of rent economy that the country has been running for the past half a century," he added.

"With the frittering away of the nation's resources by the immediate past government and the drastic reduction of crude oil price at the international market, the country's economy just went into recession," he said.

"Agriculture used to be our economic mainstay during and shortly after independence," Aregbesola told his audience.

He promised that government would do everything within its power and resources to assist in boosting farmers' production and harvesting capacity.

The governor added that government would continue to provide soft loans as well as make chemicals and fertilizer available to the farmers at subsidized rate.

According to him, farming is the backbone of any strong and developed nation.

"We must stop our heavy reliance on imported foods. We should be able to feed ourselves as a nation," Aregbesola said.

"More than ever before, our government is ready to help farmers in the state in all areas they want to practice, be it food or cash crop, poultry and the rest," the governor told his audience. Endit