Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, has said Nigeria spends about half a billion dollars annually on the importation of dairy products.
Obaseki made this known when he received a delegation of Heifer International, who were on a courtesy visit at the Government House, in Benin City, over the weekend.
The governor, therefore, stressed the need for the country to refocus on agriculture and production to drive economic growth and development.
He noted that his government is prioritizing agricultural production, sustaining investment in the sector to boost the state’s economy, tackle food insecurity and create wealth for citizens.
He said, “We have a small state of about five million people, 70 percent of the people are under the age of 35 years, and need to make them know and understand that we don’t have the dollars to import food anymore as Nigeria spends about half a billion US dollars importing dairy products.
“Food and food security are very huge, particularly protein sufficiency for the mass of our people, especially children. We are a rich country with a rich and huge population and at some point in our history, we turned from agricultural production as we found crude oil and felt we have enough petrol, naira, and dollars to keep ourselves going forgetting that sometimes in our life we need to produce what we will eat.
“We became poor by exporting all we needed including food and food items. We spend billions of naira and dollars annually on the foods we can produce on our own.”
