Tag: Ogbeh

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has said the nation will be self-sufficient in rice production by November.

The minister said this will lead to a reduction in the price of the commodity.

He frowned on what he called the people’s unbridled penchant and taste for foreign foods, most of which he said are not as healthy and nutritious as those produced in the country.

Ogbeh spoke in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, at a town hall meeting on sustainable agriculture.

It was attended by farmers, youths, women and other stakeholders in the Agriculture sector.

The dialogue, which featured questions and answers session, was hosted by Governor Abiola Ajimobi and the Commissioner for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, Prince Oyewole Oyewumi.

The meeting, which aimed at clearing a new path for agriculture’s rebirth, climaxed a two-day working visit of the minister to agricultural facilities, including farms, dams, farm settlements and others across the state.

Ogbeh decried what he called the culture of wastages and abandonment in the country, saying this accounted for decaying facilities and monuments dotting the landscape.

He said: “By November, we will be self-sufficient in rice production. We will no longer need to import rice. And let me tell you: our rice is safer, tastier and healthier than the foreign brands.

“Patronise our farmers, eat healthy; eat Nigerian rice. Another cheery news is that we will soon bring down the price of rice. Nigerians should embrace local products and stop importation of useless things.

“We are a country that has penchant for importation without exporting anything. In fact, some people will even order for pizza from London for delivery by British Airways. They will tell you London pizza tastes better.

“We import champagnes, cookies, toilet papers and even toothpicks. We have this taste for foreign products. This is killing us; it is killing our economy.”

The minister, who said Oyo State topped the list of cashew producers in the country, pledged that a cashew processing plant would be established in the state in the next six months.

He urged Ajimobi to prevail on land owners to surrender same for agricultural purposes, adding that the Federal Government was prepared to join hands with the state in its agricultural revolution.

•Pledges support

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, has hailed the ‘innovative contribution’ of Sympli, Nigeria’s brand of food in the processing and packaging of local foods and vegetables for the international market.
He spoke in Lagos when he visited the production facilities of the PRIMLAKS Group during which he saw how Sympli utilises Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) technology to deliver farm-fresh products in ready-to-cook state.
This, to him is to encourage the consumption of Nigerian foods at home and in the diaspora.
The IQF process, which involves peeling, chopping and fresh-freezing local foods and vegetables to retain the flavour, texture and natural goodness of the foods; reduces food preparation time by at least 40 per cent.
The minister said the Sympli initiative was timely and that the government would explore avenues to support the product, which he added would excite consumers at home and abroad.
“This kind of value addition is exactly what we need at a time that the government is working at addressing the food issue. I’m sure Nigerians will be excited about Sympli. Keep working at it; we’ll give you our support and we’ll use the Diaspora Office to see how we can propagate this,” he said.
Ogbeh, who thereafter sampled a range of Sympli brands that included ‘Yam Fries’ and Plantain ‘Dodo’, praised the quality of the products, saying: “I like the taste of this, it’s fresh; the convenience is necessary as people get very busy. I am very happy to see this type of innovative thinking in Nigeria.”
He urged the producers of Sympli to extend their revolutionary food processing and packaging beyond the present product lines.
“Try and expand to soup making ingredients as you have done with some vegetable so that the person abroad can come home quickly and make a good pot of soup.
“We wish you well. We will continue to be in touch with you and sort out any problem we can sort out for you.”
The Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ravi Hemnani, who conducted the minister round the plant, said: “Our goal is to make it easier than ever to cook family favourites. We are getting positive responses from our customers, here in Nigeria and in the UK.”
He described Sympli as a 100 per cent Nigerian product made from local raw materials to reduce an estimated 40 per cent post-harvest waste of agricultural produce and lead a campaign to encourage more people to embrace Nigerian foods and, in the long run, offer Nigeria huge revenue saving and earning opportunity.

The Sympli line comprises a range of products, including yams, plantains and chillies.

•Minister: trailer drivers stole 50 trucks of grains for IDPs

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Chief Audu Ogbeh has exposed how an agro-dealer almost defrauded the ministry to the tune of N600 million for N15 million claim.
Ogbeh revealed that the supplier, about two weeks ago, made the fraudulent claim during his visit to the ministry to get a refund for the supply of fingerlings to rural farmers in selected states during the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES).
According to the minister, during a parley with reporters in Abuja, the corrupt agro-dealer eventually agreed he was owed N15 million, after thorough investigations by officials of the ministry.
He decried lack of transparency on the part of trailer drivers, referring to how over 50 trucks of grains meant for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were stolen.
His words: “In the GES scheme, there was a person who was carrying fertiliser from here and selling in Cameroun, generating invoices and coming back to claim money.
“Two weeks ago, somebody submitted invoices to us under the GES arrangement; and asked for N600 million on fish fingerlings and so on.
“When I saw it, I said ‘no, this is too much.’ So, we went into very thorough investigations and he settled for N15 million, from N600 million.”
Describing the situation as a serious challenge, he expressed worry about corrupt officials ‘in the system’, who were willing to defend the agro-dealer.
“So, things happen. In spite of what we are trying to say, people are still insistent that this is their chance to make a kill,” he lamented.
However, the minister expressed commitment to partner with the
National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) to ensure transparency in the distribution of farm inputs, food items and avoid any form of diversion.
He said the ministry planned to reduce the cost of fertiliser from the present price to about N6,000 per bag and below.
Ogbeh added that the gesture was to make the farm input more affordable and accessible.
“We are trying to get hold of NARTO to appeal to them; it’s very difficult to check trailer drivers. The last time we sent food to the
Northeast, some fifty-something trucks were stolen.
“Even in the face of this trouble, people still stole trucks; one of them has been with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The commission has seized all his property.
“There was a time they delivered bags of sharp sand to one state government and they are still in the warehouse there and they got paid. Let me say something to you; the degree of rottenness in our society is not limited to government only,” the minister added.

•Minister criticises banks’ lending rate 

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Chief Audu Ogbeh has condemned the lending rate being charged by banks in Nigeria, warning that with the development, it will be difficult for businesses to survive.

Ogbeh spoke in Abuja at the 2016 Annual Conference of the Business and Professional Women (BPW) of Nigeria with the theme: “Leaders growing leaders”.

He expressed concern that with high lending rate, doing business in the country would be discouraging.

Ogbeh said while there had been arguments that the lending rate cannot be lower than the inflation rate, the development was not good for the economy.

His words: “Nigeria is a tough environment to do business in. One of the issues that I have always complained about is the outrageous interest rate, which banks charge today.

“For the last 30 years, it has become nearly impossible for small and medium businesses to survive. The interest rate has been hovering around 18 per cent to 22 per cent and now to 30 per cent.

“That kind of interest rate may be good for producing cocaine but it’s definitely not for any legitimate business.

“But for some strange reason, it has been impossible to change it. The argument has always been that interest rate cannot be lower than inflation rate and yet we expect this economy to grow. We have imaginary dreams of growth because what has been growing is poverty.”

He said his ministry as part of efforts to make funding available for farmers has pegged interest rate on loans given by the Bank of Agriculture at seven per cent.

Ogbeh urged professional and business women to embrace agriculture, adding that the ministry would make rice mills available to them in any location of their choice.

He said the renewed commitment of the Federal Government to stop importation of food had started yielding result with the country seeing gradual reduction in food import bills.

The minister added: “We have always been importing all types of things and we have been making the world very happy.

“But since the dollar dried up, I have received delegation from as far as Iceland. Prime Ministers have arrived and come to my office to complain that Nigeria has stopped buying their goods.”

BPW National President Mrs. Angela Ajala said the conference would enable them brainstorm on some of the qualities needed to succeed in a dynamic environment like Nigeria.

She said: “The leadership model for women to excel in their assignments has changed from what we know. Some leadership styles and practices that served us well in times past are no longer suited in today’s world.

“There are emerging trends that will guarantee inclusion, engagement, excellence and success and we must be current with this practice, if we are truly to grow leaders as we go on.”

The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, yesterday in Dutse assured Nigerians that the Federal Government is poised to satisfy the citizens with fresh massive production of rice within one year as part of efforts designed to discourage the importation of the commodity.

Also, he stated that as part of its programme to encourage state governors to key into the massive production of rice, Jigawa state government will contribute over 1.2 million metric tons of the product.

Ogbeh, who alongside the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and the chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on Rice and Wheat Production who is also the Kebbi State Governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, and the host governor, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who were in the Auyo Local Government Area on a tour of the massive rice farm, declared that within the next one year, a grain of rice will no longer be imported from abroad.

According to him, “when we told Nigerians about two months ago that in another one year, there will be no need for a grain of rice to be imported from outside, some people did not believe us, but you can see now that in  Auyo here in Jigawa State, you can see massive rice fields that can produce between 1.2 million metric tons and 1.5 million metric tons of rice.

“This is just one out of the 27 local government areas in Jigawa State. As such, every Nigerian will see season fresh rice to eat, not rice stored in seven years in silos in foreign countries.

“There is no better way of developing our rural people. There is no need for us to continue to import expired rice from other countries because when we initiated the programme, it was greeted with criticism. As you can see today, our farmers will be heroes and that is the change mantra the Buhari-led administration is determined to achieve.”

He, however, stated that, “the rice farmers who were neglected by successive governments are now well positioned to become major contributors to national economy. President Buhari told us to produce food, we are producing the food.

“The governors are taking the lead of encouraging rice farmers in their respective states to embrace the cultivation and production of rice in commercial quantities. Nigeria will soon become a major rice exporter.

“We are working hard in this direction and we are sure that we will achieve this dream in no distant time. Very soon, many states across the country will commence the distribution of rice mills to farmers. My ministry is working on this because we want to ensure that milling of rice will not be a problem, harvesting the rice will not also be a problem; as such, Nigeria will become a rice power where from there, we will move to maize, soya beans and others.”

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Chief Audu Ogbeh, yesterday, in Abuja, said Nigerian businessmen demanded $2.5 billion (about N492 billion) weekly for importation of goods and services into the country.

Ogbeh spoke at a meeting with officials of VICAMPRO, an indigenous agro company investing in production of Irish potato.

He said the ministry would support local investors with capacity to produce goods and save the country foreign exchange.

The minister noted that the consumption of rice was rising, and that many were unaware the rice had some degree of arsenic.

He said consuming rice in large quantity on a regular basis was a health risk, adding that substituting it with potato is a welcome development.

“The volume of importation of virtually everything into this country is too much.

“The demand for dollars in this country as at today is $2.5 billion a week; this is the quantum of dollars Nigerians are asking for to import things.

“Since 1986, we began this habit of importing everything, and doing virtually nothing at home to sustain ourselves; now, we do not have the dollars and people are hungry.

“This day was coming anyway, no matter who was in power; we have the most ridiculous method of devaluing our currency; every week, we auction the dollar and naira goes up.

“We sat, and were hoping that by devaluation, we are going to arrive at El Dorado; if we continue like this, it will be a N1,000 to a dollar,’’ he said.

While praising the investor, Ogbeh said any private sector effort to develop local production of goods would be supported by the ministry.

“We should aggressively take the West African market; there is no reason why we should allow Irish potato from Ireland and France and Belgium into West Africa; it is the same story with onions.

“Under ECOWAS, at the level of government we are going to push for the greater part of the market for local investors,’’ he stated.

He urged VICAMPRO to process potato for use in hotels, saying hotels in Nigeria imported processed potato from South Africa.

Earlier, Chief Executive Officer of VICAMPRO Mr Michael Agbogo said potato could bring value worth over N1 trillion annually, if properly harnessed.

He said potato is the fourth world’s most important crop, and that a barrel of oil is equivalent of 14 kilos of potatoes.

According to Agbogo, while current price of crude oil will fetch the country about N16,000 per barrel, the equivalent in potato will fetch the country N39,000.

He said in terms of value, potato had three times the value of crude oil, adding that it’s a huge industry the country can get into.

Agbogo said Egypt and Algeria are leading potato producers in Africa, with Egypt producing four million tonnes annually from about 100,000 hectares of land.

He said Nigeria, with close to 500,000 hectares, was struggling to produce one million tonnes of potato per annum.

He described potato as a “unique crop’’ that can be cultivated three times yearly, including dry season.

Agbogo said the produce can be grown in Plateau, Kaduna, Adamawa, and a number of states across the country, adding that Nigeria should take advantage of the crop.

He said farmers in Germany and New Zealand make up to 80 tonnes per hectare, while their Nigerian counterpart make less than five tonnes per hectare.

He, however, said there are no seeds in the country, and that the seed deficiency is close to 700,000 tonnes per season and two million tonnes per annum.

According to Agboro, the West African coast cannot grow Irish potato easily, and the produce is being imported from South Africa, Belgium and The Netherlands.