Nigeria must increase budget allocation to agric sector

Chairman, HouseCommittee on Agriculture, Honourable Mohammed Nongono, has assured that the committee and House of Representatives will do everything to see that Nigeria increases its agricultural budget allocation from three per cent to 10 per cent.Honourable Nongono, who led other members of the committee on a visit to some research and agricultural institutes in Ibadan, on Wednesday, said the committee would ensure that 'the dividend of democracy is delivered to people's doorsteps, while focusing on transforming the agricultural sector through proper funding.'The committee chairman said 'when smaller countries like Kenya, Chad, Ethiopia and Malawi are allocating up to 12 per cent of their national budgets to agriculture, it is embarrassing that Nigeria spends just three per cent of its national budget on agriculture.'It is unfortunate that Nigeria relies so much on importation of agricultural produce when we can produce most of these things here and even better.'It is time Nigeria diversified from its monolistic economy, because agriculture is the best option. It employs over 70 per cent of our population. As a committee, we will deploy all politcal will to ensure that we achieve this and we promise that Nigeria will achieve it. Until this is done, we will not be where we are supposed to be economically and even in terms of employment," Honourable Nongono said.Earlier in his presentation, Director, Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Moor Plantation, Ibadan, Professor Benjamin Ogunmodede, said the insititution had been struggling with meagre resources to take agriculture to the desired level.
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