Former president Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday harped again on the place of agriculture as a vehicle for nations’ economic and industrial developments.
Obasanjo who revealed that he took to farming as way of trying his hand on something different, said countries of the world that had made it to greatness did so through the force of agriculture.
The elder statesman said save for farming, everything else he had ventured into and achieved in life was by accident, stressing that he was always proud to be addressed as a farmer.
He stated this during a live radio interview with Segun Odegbami on Eagles7 Sports 103.7 FM, Abeokuta where the veteran footballer asked him to speak about what he(Obasanjo) deemed as his “romance with farming’.”
Responding, Obasanjo said, “I don’t like the word you used, ‘romance with farming.’ I am a farmer. What do you mean by romance? Everything I have done in my life is by accident. The only thing that is not accidental is farming. Every other thing that I’ve been into is by accident. And you called that romance? No! What do you mean by romance?
“You know my beginning. I was born and bred in a village. I went to school by accident. ‘Won’t you do something different?’ So I went into farming.
“When you look at countries that have made it, they developed on agriculture. First, for the purpose of food security; second, for the purpose of processing what they get from their farms which is the beginning of industrialization; third, to give it out as export, which is for the purpose of foreign exchange; and fourth, as a means of generating employment for the youth.”
While the interview lasted, he also reiterated his advice to Nigerian youths that they should grab leadership position today or risk not having anything to hold on to when tomorrow comes.
“My advice for Nigerian youths is that, never let anybody tell you that you are the leaders of tomorrow. If you wait for tomorrow before you take over leadership, that tomorrow may not come. They will destroy it.
“This is the time, youths get up and make it happen.”