…As Senate Committee warns of population explosion
Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon has praised the efforts made by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) at marching and surpassing her vision of developing a productive farm system.
Gowon who stated this in an address to mark the 50th anniversary of IITA at Ibadan said the institute had done well particularly in the area of research and development aimed at improvement and preservation of tropical food crops as well as achieving a reduction of waste in the agricultural sector.
He recalled that his government enjoyed excellent cooperation from IITA especially the sound advisory services that he said were significant input in all his development plan of 1970 to 1975 as well as that of 1975 to 1980 that was aimed at accelerating the economic transformation of Nigeria through agriculture.
“My only regret was that that pls was not followed up, it is however being revived by two recent governments of the day. A lot had been said earlier on but let me sincerely thank Ford and Rockefeller Foundations for their vision of IITA in Nigeria and Africa. I also wish to thank everyone past and present who had been a part of the institute’s success story in the country and Africa. I hope and pray for more and greater successes for IITA in the future and from what we have heard from the Chairman and the Director-General, the future of this great institute is going to be great.
“So, I want to end by saying yes! A lot is expected of you and we know you can be able to achieve it”, he said.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu noted that he was encouraged by what was happening at the institute and by the kind of plans the institute had to move agriculture forward in Nigeria in the near future.
Adamu observed that having been given the statistics of the growth of population that was being expected, efforts should be made to ensure that when this population eventually come to be, the country would be in a position to feed them, not just for feeding sake but feeding them with quality and nutritious food.
According to him,” It is going to be an explosion of population and unless and until some concrete plans are in place to face the challenges that will accrue, we will be in trouble. So, I say to us that a day like this, yes, we celebrate what we have done but then let us challenge the future which is also with us, for unless we do so, we have a lot of problems that may confront us.
“It is my prayer and from what I have heard the Distinguished Director-General say and the assurances that we got from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, there is hope for the future. Nigeria has all it takes, all that we need to grow are deposited here but we must get up and face the challenges and address appropriately the needs of growing agriculture”.
Send your news, press releases/articles to augustinenwadinamuo@yahoo.com. Also, follow us on Twitter @reportersinfo and on Facebook on facebook.com/primetimereporters or call the editor on 07030661526, 08053908817.
