Nigeria now exports more than it imports – Minister

                                

Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbe, says the country has transformed from import-based to highly export-driven nation due to the strides made in agriculture.

Ogbe stated this while briefing state House correspondents on the outcome of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

He said that his Ministry briefed NEC on the progress made in the agriculture sector where virtually every state had keyed into the federal government agricultural revolution agenda in which it realized 35 million dollars in 2017 from export of hibiscus flower produced in Jigawa state alone.

“The job creation exercise; the reduction in imports and the fact that in the last one year and half agricultural exports have grown by 150 per cent.

“We are finally a nation that imports less than we import. That has not been the case for nearly three decades.

“So we now export more than we import which is why the foreign reserve is getting healthier by the week,’’ the Minister explained.

He disclosed that the meeting also looked at the advancement made in grains, legumes and tubers production and those areas where new crops have come into existence such as the Hibiscus from Jigawa.

He said the government was looking at possibilities of exports of soya beans after meeting national demands and taking advantage of the little disputes between some big nations regarding trade on the crop.

The minister also listed sorghum and other value additions as crops Nigeria could export.

“We heard the efforts of many states like Akwa Ibom that is going heavily into Cocoanut oil production and planting 11,000 hectares.

“We heard what is going in Ogun, Anambra, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kaduna and virtually every state of the federation keying into this programme of agricultural development.

“We are very happy and excited that finally agriculture has come to take its place and we hope that in the nearest future, agriculture will be the mainstay of this country’s economy,’’ he added.