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LequteMan
Guest
Prince Wale Adekoya, a mechanized farmer who is conversant about agriculture in Nigeria, is the Chairman, Agric Group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and also Managing Director, Bama Farms Ltd.
In an interview with the #Vanguard, he decried the state of farming in Nigeria, saying the minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adesina, can be likened to a poster boy.
Excerpts:
"Virtually all the foods in this country are imported such as rice, poultry products, vegetable, fruits, vegetable oil, fish, etc. All these affect the local production by our farmers. Most of the big supermarkets import 90percent of the foods they sell to Nigerians. This madness need to stop in order to promote local contents. Bama Farms is a typical example. We benefited from the intervention loan but government policies at the federal and state levels killed our business and passion for agriculture.
"Lagos State government took our integrated farmland of over 100 acres of land for Lekki International Airport, we were rendered idle and jobless and had to lay off over 100 people as we could not rear our poultry for processing at our factory in Bariga and we are still begging the state government to relocate us on time. The Federal Government, through Customs, allow banned and all sorts of garbage and contaminated foods to enter into the country unchecked.
When quizzed about the Minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adesina repeatedlly saying a lot has been achieved, Adekoya said: "to me, the man is like a poster boy because I always challenge him that if you say this thing is working, how many farmers have you really empowered? We have so many women who are rural farmers and 80 percent of our farmers are in the rural areas but the infrastructure is not there.
"You cannot go to the bank and get farm loan . If you are lucky enough, the bank would give it to you at the rate of 28 percent, So, how are you going to break even?; that is why food prices are hitting the roof top. It is about time government stopped deceiving us. This is something that we all need to stand up and say this is where we can get most of our youths employed . Let us go mechanized as it is the only way youths can embrace agriculture .
According to him, "the only way out is for government to start listening to the stakeholders in the sector who are the real farmers because I am a witness and I have so many people under me folding up . Most farmers are folding up across he country because government refused to carry them along in their policy making. You have to go through the real farmers such as the Poultry Association of Nigeria, Rice Plantation Association of Nigeria and so on."
Read full interview here
#Nigeria #Lagos
In an interview with the #Vanguard, he decried the state of farming in Nigeria, saying the minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adesina, can be likened to a poster boy.
Excerpts:
"Virtually all the foods in this country are imported such as rice, poultry products, vegetable, fruits, vegetable oil, fish, etc. All these affect the local production by our farmers. Most of the big supermarkets import 90percent of the foods they sell to Nigerians. This madness need to stop in order to promote local contents. Bama Farms is a typical example. We benefited from the intervention loan but government policies at the federal and state levels killed our business and passion for agriculture.
"Lagos State government took our integrated farmland of over 100 acres of land for Lekki International Airport, we were rendered idle and jobless and had to lay off over 100 people as we could not rear our poultry for processing at our factory in Bariga and we are still begging the state government to relocate us on time. The Federal Government, through Customs, allow banned and all sorts of garbage and contaminated foods to enter into the country unchecked.
When quizzed about the Minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adesina repeatedlly saying a lot has been achieved, Adekoya said: "to me, the man is like a poster boy because I always challenge him that if you say this thing is working, how many farmers have you really empowered? We have so many women who are rural farmers and 80 percent of our farmers are in the rural areas but the infrastructure is not there.
"You cannot go to the bank and get farm loan . If you are lucky enough, the bank would give it to you at the rate of 28 percent, So, how are you going to break even?; that is why food prices are hitting the roof top. It is about time government stopped deceiving us. This is something that we all need to stand up and say this is where we can get most of our youths employed . Let us go mechanized as it is the only way youths can embrace agriculture .
According to him, "the only way out is for government to start listening to the stakeholders in the sector who are the real farmers because I am a witness and I have so many people under me folding up . Most farmers are folding up across he country because government refused to carry them along in their policy making. You have to go through the real farmers such as the Poultry Association of Nigeria, Rice Plantation Association of Nigeria and so on."
Read full interview here
#Nigeria #Lagos
