Obi maintained that with vast arable lands in the country covering over 923,000 square kilometers, agriculture remains huge asset.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has advised that investment in agriculture has the capacity to boost export and pull Nigerians out of poverty.
Mr Obi stated this during his fact-finding and interactive visit to the Executive Council of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), in Lagos, on Tuesday.
According to Obi, pulling Nigerians out of poverty will also address insecurity.
Obi maintained that with vast arable lands in the country covering over 923,000 square kilometers, agriculture remains huge asset and the easiest way for Nigeria to feed its citizens and have surplus for export.
He stated that time has come for the country to move from consumption to production, arguing that this cannot be actualised without export.
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The former Anambra State governor, noted that with the volume of Nigeria’s export trade estimated at about paltry $30bn in 2021(using rate of =N=650/$1) much needs to be done to address the situation for the country to be in strong competition with others.
He stressed that exports need to be increased for Nigeria to boost her foreign reserves and halt the high exchange rate of the naira.
He lamented the high cost of doing business in the country, pledging that if elected into office, his administration would create a conducive atmosphere for businesses to thrive. In this direction, he identified the private sector especially MSME, as Nigeria’s engine of growth, adding that for meaningful progress to be recorded, the economy must be driven by the private sector, and huge support to MSME.
On the 2023 general election, Obi pleaded with Nigerians to look beyond the issues of religion, ethnicity or depth of the pocket but go for candidates who have the character, capacity competence and commitment,
He said, “I am not contesting, because I am Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Christian or Muslim but because I have the competence to turn around Nigeria for the better.”
