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Tag: Audu Ogbeh

  • Importers are greatest wreckers, says Ogbeh

    The Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh has declared importers are the greatest wreckers of Nigeria’s efforts to promote patronage of locally produced products.

    Ogbeh made this known in Abuja on Tuesday when he appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Agriculture to defend the ministry’s budget.

    He said that international merchants such as importers of such products as toothpick, sugar, vegetables, and pencils were frustrating government’s efforts at ensuring that Nigerians bought made in Nigeria goods.

    “We are a nation of importers. Toothpick every year costs us 18 million dollars, tomato paste costs us 400 million dollars.

    “Meanwhile, a basket of tomatoes is less than N2, 000. The farmers are losing money because the processors do not have enough funds to set up factories.

    “Two factories have started off. I am sure by the end of next year we can comfortably tell the importers of tomato paste to stop.

    “Unfortunately, when you do you make enemies; even the importation of rice that we are trying to reduce is creating for us enemies, heavy enemies, people, who can kill if they have the opportunity because you are spoiling their business.

    “Nobody should take this lightly. These guys have hijacked the economy of this country.

    “They have taken it hostage and they have no intention of giving up. This regime is unpopular in part because it is trying to cut down imports and transfer the wealth to another thing.

    “I know what I am saying because I have been in this business for 41 years. We import sugar, handkerchief, toothpaste, even pencils.

    “I read in the newspapers recently that the Champagne Ambassador in Nigeria said Nigerians love life. We are the biggest consumers of champagne on planet earth. More than the French, who made it.

    READ ALSO: Good news from Audu Ogbeh

    “It will take a strong government to cure Nigeria of this problem,” he said.

    He said it was unfortunate that some Nigerians, who had developed so much appetite for foreign goods, were finding it difficult to begin to patronise locally produced goods.

    “There is made in Nigeria rice in super markets across the country, but I have no sympathy for those who insist that it must be foreign rice.

    “I have no cure for their disease. If they prefer foreign rice I cannot stop them,” he said.

    He said it was unfortunate some reasons given for foreign produce was borne out of the need to show class and not because the products were better than locally produced goods.

    The minister said that the country could pride itself as one of the largest producers of rice and yam in Africa.

    He promised that the Federal Government would begin to consider the possibility of exploring cocoa and other cash crops.

  • FG to re-construct grazing reserves – Ogbeh

    The Federal Government says it will soon commence the reconstruction of grazing reserves across the country.

    Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said this in Abuja when participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course Twelve (EIMC12) and Institute for Security Studies, Usma Dam, Bwari, visited him.

    A statement by Mr Nakorji Mohammed, the Director of Information at the ministry on Friday, quoted Ogbeh as saying that the reconstruction of the grazing reserves had become necessary due to farmers-herders conflicts.

    The minister said the reconstruction was also crucial for the Federal Government to reduce the high unemployment rate in the country.

    “The grazing reserves will help in solving these problems.

    “We are not going to any state that is not interested and we are not going to collect anyone’s land,’’ the minister assured.

    Read Also: FG to ban importation of tomato paste, says Ogbeh

    He called on individuals who had the interest and ability to build grazing reserve to do so, adding that the government would support such individual.

    Ogbeh called on members of the institute to focus toward addressing the security challenges facing the West African region and Africa in general.

    The Director of the institute, Alhaji A.S. Adeleke represented by the Deputy Director Studies, Dr. A.M.Wali, said the purpose of the visit was to commend the country’s achievements in the agriculture sector.

    Adeleke also applauded the ministry for its efforts toward curtailing the agro-terrorism where people are hoarding farm inputs.

    He said the course participants were drawn from 21 agencies in Nigeria.

    Other participants according to Adeleke were also from Benin Republic, Liberia, Niger and Sierra-Leone consisting of senior officers from the military intelligence and other Federal Government agencies.

    Adeleke said that the theme of this year’s course is `Transhuman and International Migration: Challenges on Governance, Peace and Sustainable Development in sub-Sahara Africa’.

    NAN

     

  • Good news from Audu Ogbeh

    THE highly respected Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, on Wednesday made a stunning revelation that the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) are broke. He told a national daily that “the parties are hopelessly broke. This will be the quietest elections in our history, and it may help turn attention to issues, not cash, because we cannot go and buy people. There is no cash, both APC and PDP are broke, and the president is in no hurry to go and look for money for anything. So, it is ‘Change’. We hope it would last long so that in future people have something to talk about, not that they have a big war chest to bribe INEC and win by all means.”

    If there is any Nigerian who should know better, it is Ogbeh who was a minister in the Second Republic (1983) during the reign of the defunct National Party of Nigeria(NPN). He was also a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) before he was removed. Both NPN and PDP came from the same spendthrift family. Remember the N23.29bn allegedly blown on poll bribery during the 2015 general elections alone by PDP.

  • Nigerian ginger best worldwide – Ogbeh

    Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, says Nigeria is presently a major leader in yam and ginger exportation and has the best quality ginger in the world.

    Ogbeh made this assertion in Abuja on Thursday at the Africa International Investment Summit and Expo (Africinvest) 2018, which also featured the Commodities International Summit and Exhibition.

    According to him, government is promoting the export of ginger and Nigeria is the third largest exporter of ginger after China and India, with Nigerian ginger considered as the best in the world.

    “Government is committed to enhancing increase in the volume of our ginger exports and to ensure that our various exportable food and cash crops are developed to meet global export standards.’’

    Ogbeh was represented by Alhaji Azeez Olumuyiwa, the Director, Agric Business Processing and Marketing.

    The minister said that President Muhammadu Buhari launched a time bound aggressive plan to unlock Nigeria’s agricultural potential through the Agricultural Promotion Policy (APP) 2016 to 2020.

    Read Also: Flood : Ogbeh predicts rice shortage in 2019

    According to him, this is called the Green Alternative which is meant to provide a disciplined approach to building a resilient agribusiness ecosystem.

    “This will solve the core issues at the heart of limited food production and delivery of quality standards,’’ Ogbeh said.

    He maintained that the success of the new policy hinged on engagement of market place participants, farmers, states, investors, financial institutions and communities as well as research laboratories.

    The minister also disclosed that in first quarter of 2017, agricultural export increased by 82 per cent over quarter fourth of 2016 levels.

    He said that export earnings from agriculture goods stood at N30 billion made up of Sesame seeds export of N3.7 billion to Turkey, N1.6 billion to China and N1.6 billion to India.

    He also listed others to include soya beans export of N3.4 billion to Russia and N1.2 billion to Greece.

    He said that there was frozen shrimp export of N2.2 billion to the Netherlands, cashew nuts export of N1.8 billion to Vietnam and crude palm kernel oil export of N1.2 billion to the Netherlands.

    On the Africinvest 2018, the minister said that the gathering was in the quest by the present administration to boost agricultural production, self-sufficiency, food security and investment in the sector.

    Mr Anglo Elosia, the Chairman and Chief Coordinator of the Expo said: “We look at various ways by which under this platform, we can identify first of all our natural resources and all human resources.’’

    “We then harness them together from nation to nation,’’ he said.

    Elosia said that good leadership would ensure that the natural country’s resources were protected against predators who under value resources and profit from them in the black market.

  • ‘Lack of moral values, bane of security challenges’

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, says Nigeria’s security challenges are largely due to lack of moral values especially among youths.

    Mustapha spoke at the 2nd Northern Christian Youth Economic and Political Summit 2018, with the theme: “The role of Christian youths in the promotion of peace and political stability in Nigeria” on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The SGF, who expressed sadness over the security situation in the country, urged youths to be the lead vanguards in restoring peace, security and stability by providing government with intelligence.

    He advised the youths to identify and report any threat to the public, adding that for the country to develop, it is the duty of all to protect citizens.

    What is pervasive today, according to Mustapha, is the desperate desire to get rich by most Nigerians, a situation he described as a bad omen and urged youths to shun greed, malice, deceit, envy, slander and arrogance.

    He tasked the youths to take charge of their lives and discover their divine destinies because they had the spirit of God in them.

    The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, advised the youths to have a positive outlook in the face of the challenges confronting them and the country in order to contribute to national development.

    Read Also: Boss Mustapha visits Omisore in Ile-Ife

    Ogbeh said: “We should not base everything on hope without proper planning because God has given us the heart, mind and intelligence to seek the way forward.’’

    He called on them to trust God for everything and avoid using weapons of the oppressor because as youths they had the capacity to move Nigeria to a greater height and get global recognition.

    The minister advised them to be wary of the antics of politicians and not allow themselves to be used as thugs to realise their selfish ambitions.

    Ogbe further advised the youths to make more contributions to nation building and invest more on agriculture.

    In a goodwill message, Sen. Binta Garba (APC-Adamawa North) told the youths to take their place as the future and hope of Nigeria by overcoming the country’s many challenges, entrenching entrepreneurship and good leadership.

    “As youths, you can make Nigeria rise again; but this can only be achieved when we have true leaders who have what it takes to stir the ship and address the pains of the people,’’ Garba charged them.

  • ‘Agric mechanization will help feed our growing population’

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh has said farm mechanization is capable of feeding the nation’s growing population.

    Ogbeh disclosed this at the signing of Memorandum of Agreement between the Nigerian Agricultural Mechanization and Equipment Liaising Company (NAMEL) and Mechanization Service Provider (MSPS) during the weekend in Abuja.

    He explained that in the next 30 years, the country will emerge third most populous nation globally.

    According to him, the population will represent 5 per cent of the world after China and India, thus need to fully embrace mechanization.

    His words: “30 years from now, we will be the third most populated nation on earth, next to China and India. That is 5 per cent of the population of the world.

    “Only God knows what will happen in this country if we can’t feed ourselves by then but I can tell you that farm mechanization will help feed our growing population.”

    The Minister further blamed woes in the sector on bad policies instituted by past administration.

    He said: “People have been complaining why Nigeria is unable to produce or feed itself.

    “We don’t need a fortune teller to tell us where we went wrong, we destroyed our coins by government policies in the past, there is no where in the world that government will allow his currency to fall every week for 30 years”

    Ogbeh added that, “The same people who forced our currency down are complaining of unproductively, lack of growth, lack of progress in agriculture and Nigeria’s incapacity to feed ourselves and Nigerian intellectuals still repeat such things. Nigeria can’t feed herself and they refused to recognize where the trouble started.”

    He tasked the media to start asking questions on how opposition parties intend to deal with issues like interest rate and exchange rate stressing that, “nobody can produce anything at an interest rate of 25-30 per cent, so whoever is telling you they can do magic is lying to you.”

    He assured that the nation would not experience food shortage due to the recent flood.

    Read Also: Agriculture for empowerment

    “We will not sit here and watch Nigeria starve, we are aware that the cost of food is a bit high due to cost of transportation and other factors but most importantly we want to ensure that the rural areas are richer and happier, they suffer too much.”

    Commending TOOAN and TOFAN for the innovation, he said government are bad managers of mechanization service, saying farmers organization have the capacity government don’t have in managing ractors.

    Noting that land-clearing activities is more tedious in the South than the North due to soil texture, he urged the farmer’s organizations to ensure tractors are deployed based on specificity, advising NAMEL to work on importing tractors that consume less diesel

    The Minister further disclosed plans to put in place Guarantee Minimum Price (GMP) so as to put in place checks and balances on middle men activities ensuring that farmers get value for their investment.

    He alleged that middle men are inflating the price of paddy rice, thereby made millers to sell Nigerian rice at a higher price than that of the imported rice.

    The Minister further promised to put in place Guarantee Minimum Price to check activities of middlemen who shortchange farmers of their investments.

  • FG approves N60bn for rice subsidy programme – Minister

    The Federal Government has approved N60 billion in support of its rice subsidy programme aimed at bringing down the price of the commodity across the country.

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh stated this when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the National Food Security Council.

    The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.

    He disclosed that a committee would be constituted by the ministry of agriculture in collaboration with ministry of finance for smooth implementation of the rice subsidy programme.

    “There is a subsidy programme coming up. Government has approved some money, N60 billion to support the rice industry to bring down prices. But we are going to handle it differently.

    “We don’t want to get into petroleum subsidy problem, so a committee is looking at it with the ministry of finance.

    “We think that it is better for us to loan money to the millers, farmers and distributors at a very low interest rate, so that the capital doesn’t disappear, and if they have cheaper credit to do their business that should impact on the price of rice in the market.

    “Every country does it for food, we will use a different method to do it and it will be cheap credit to the farmers, millers and the marketers, not outright cash subsidy for their product,’’ he said.

    Ogbeh, who announced that the Bank of Agriculture would soon be restructured, expressed the hope that farmers would be able to buy shares in the bank after the restructuring exercise.

    The minister also expressed optimism that the restructuring process would bring down the bank’s interest rates to five per cent.

    He added that the objective was to make agriculture more attractive so that people could raise capital to invest in profitable business ventures.

    “The Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) is about to restructure the bank of agriculture after which farmers are going to be able to buy shares in the bank, so eventually it will become the farmers bank.

    “And we hope in the process that it will bring down interest rates reasonably maybe 5 percent or a little higher, so that agriculture will become attractive and people can raise capital to invest,’’ he said.

    The minister revealed that the Council called for ban of fertilizer NPK 15-15-15, saying recent research had indicated that the fertilizer had no value for any crop or soil.

    He said: “We call for the ban of fertilizer NPK 15-15-15 which has been used in the country for many years but recent research revealed its not useful for any crop or any soil.

    “Soil differs and so does crop, to believe there is one uniform fertilizer you can spread for every crop is a fallacy.

    “And it’s because we have done soil test and change the formulations of fertilizers, local blenders, that is why some of the yields we are getting now are rising from two tonnes per hectares to five and six.

    “So, the president is looking into that and to see how we can deal with it.’’

    The Deputy Chairman of the National Food Security Council and Kebbi state governor, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, who also spoke on the outcome of the meeting, said that the council may subsidize the price of rice with N5 billion.

    He said the subsidy would enable Nigerians to buy rice at a cheaper rate during the forthcoming yuletide as obtained in 2017.

    The governor dismissed the reports by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) World Market and Trade which suggested that Nigeria has been importing rice to the tune of about three million tonnes.

    “Certainly, that is an erroneous report,  in spite of the flooding the upland rice production has been quite strong this year.

    “Even though prices have increase in response to flooding, we still have adequate paddy rice in Nigeria,’’ he said.

  • FG okays N60 billion for rice subsidy 

    ….National Food Security Council faults USDA report on import

    The Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh on Friday disclosed that the Federal Government has approved N60 billion subsidy to support rice industry in the country.

    He briefed State House correspondents after a meeting of the National Food Security Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Read Also:Senate panel seeks subsidy removal, price deregulation

    Ogbe who was flanked by the Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu explained that the purpose of the subsidy was to help bring down price of the commodity in the country.

    He said “There is a subsidy programme coming up. Government has approved some money N60 billion to support the rice industry to bring down prices. But we are going to handle it differently.

    “We don’t want to get into petroleum subsidy problem. So, a committee is looking at it with the Ministry of Finance.

    “We think that it is better for us to loan money to the millers, farmers and distributors at a very low interest rate, so that the capital doesn’t disappear, so they have cheaper credit to do their business that should impact on the price of rice in the market.

    “When we are ready we will let you know,” he added.

    On the plan to ban fertilizer NPK 151515 which has been in use in the country for many years, he said that the ban became imperative because it adds no value to crops.

    He said “We call for the ban of fertilizer NPK 151515 which has been used in the country for many years but recent research revealed it’s not useful for any crop or any soil.

    “Soils differ and so do crop, to believe there is one uniform fertilizer you can spread for every crop is a fallacy.   And it’s because we have done soil test and change the formulations of fertilizers, local blenders that some of the yields we are getting now are rising from two tonnes per hectares to five and six.

    “So the president is looking into that and to how we can deal with it.” he said

    On his part, Governor Bagudu said the council’s attention was drawn to the report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) which suggested that Nigeria remains a heavy importer of rice despite government’s claim to the contrary.

    He said: “We drew the attention of the council to a report by the US department for agriculture which suggested that Nigeria has been importing rice or about to the tune of about three million tonnes.

    “We informed the council that contact has been made with the US agency to tell us the basis for the report because it’s not consistent with the report available to us.

    “The only official importation in Nigeria is about 4,000 metric tonnes of rice. Secondly, the biggest exporter of rice, Thailand exported 1.1 million metric tonnes of rice to West Africa between January to October this year and India exported 402 million metric tonnes of rice to West Africa between January to end of July this year. That is a total of 1.5 million metric tonnes.

    “Even if all was smuggled into Nigeria, that was the total amount of importation one could attribute to Nigeria.

    “So, the US authorities responding by saying that their assessment  was based on satellite imaging of flooded areas and consideration that we are about to enter electioneering period and that demand for rice by politicians or for political purposes will increase.

    “Thirdly, that most West African countries depend on Nigeria. So, because of the flooding, they concluded based on those assumptions that Nigeria will import more.

    “Certainly, that is an erroneous report. Even in spite of the flooding, the upland rice production has been quite strong this year. Even though prices have increase in response to flooding, we still have adequate paddy rice in Nigeria,” he said.

  • FEC approves disbursement of processing machines to farmers

    To boost agricultural production in the country, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the disbursement of produce processing machines to farmers in the rural areas .

    This was disclosed by the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, while briefing State House correspondents at the end of FEC  meeting.

    He explained that the project is another indirect measure meant to discourage rural-urban migration.

    According to him, the processing machines would boost the cultivation of crops like rice, cassava, millet, maize and other local produce.

    The production, he said depends on what each community has the capacity to produce.’

    He said the project was being executed in partnership with the Ministry of Finance.

    He said “We will identify commodities in various locations, identifying what is suitable in each area, according to their ecological situation, organize the people into cooperatives and allocate the machines to them as loans.’’

    Read Also: Shittu attends FEC meeting

    Each beneficiary, he said, must be registered with the village chiefs, security agencies and the Divisional Police Officers (DPO) for easy identification and prompt repayment of the loan.

    He however lamented that the country was fast losing its productive young people to political thuggery, migration to Europe, Motorcycle operators, while abandoning agriculture.

    He said: “Government will be irresponsible if we don’t do anything.

    “These people can hardly pay interest rates of between 18 to 25 per cent.

    “This is a way to assist them make meaningful earnings through agricultural revolution’’ he stated

     

  • FEC okays issuance of $2.9 billion Eurobond

    …Approves six transaction parties

     

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday approved the issuance of $2.9 billion Eurobond towards implementing 2018 budget.

    This was disclosed by the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    She was with the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Garba Shehu, Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh and the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige.

    Read Also:$2.5b Eurobond: Nigeria faces higher debt service cost – Fitch

    She said “We got approval for the issuance of $2.9 billion in Eurobonds and other securities from the international capital markets.

    “They are to enable us implement the external borrowing plan of 849.6 billion equivalent to $2.786 billion, which is provided for in the 2018 Appropriation Act.  And this is to fund capital projects in the 2018 budget.

    “We also got approval to raise $82.5million to bridge the shortfall of 500 million Eurobond that matured on the 12th of July 2018,” she said.

    According to her, FEC also approved six transaction parties including Citigroup Global Market Limited, Standard Chartered Bank as joint manager; FSDH Merchant Bank Limited as financial adviser; White and Case LLP, Banwo and Ighodalo as legal adviser and Africa Practice Limited as technical adviser on communication.

    She said that they are expected to adviser the Nigerian Government on the structure and timing and documentation for the issuance of the Eurobonds and other securities.

    The Minister also disclosed that the total cost of the six advisory groups is N374 million

    She went on “We also got approval for $60 million loan for livelihood improvement family enterprise project in the Niger Delta for six states, while three other states will join them in the phase two.

    “N187 million 600 bullet proof vest and helmets for Nigeria Customs Service in the fight against rice smuggling into the country,” she added.