Fatimah Otunsanya
Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has said that agriculture remains the most sustainable pathway to solving Nigeria’s economic challenges of unemployment, food insecurity and poverty.
Oyebanji said this accounted for his administration’s deliberate policy of using agriculture as a tool to banish poverty, create employment opportunities and ensure food security in Ekiti State.
The governor, according to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media, Yinka Oyebode, made available on Sunday, spoke recently while receiving the Consul General of the Netherlands, Michel Deelen, and his team in his office in Ado Ekiti.
The governor said, “I believe strongly that for a people or a country to develop, especially in Nigeria, giving God-given resources, lands and human capital, if we get agriculture right, we will solve at least 60 per cent of our problems.
We will solve the problem of food insecurity, unemployment and poverty. We will solve the problem of insecurity itself.”
He said agriculture remained a core priority of his government, not just as a means of ensuring food sufficiency, but also a tool for wealth creation and youth empowerment.
When we came into office, I was deliberate about our intervention in the agric sector, and we are one of the few states, I can beat my chest and tell you that within two years, we pulled off the streets 5,000 youths to agriculture, and you can verify this,” the governor said.
Oyebanji commended the Netherlands for its global leadership and expertise in agriculture and expressed the state’s readiness to collaborate with the European nation to enhance productivity.
He said such a partnership would further accelerate the state’s agricultural revolution and contribute meaningfully to overall economic growth.
The Consul General of the Netherlands, Michel Deelen, said he was impressed with how the state had transformed agriculture into a major driver of economic growth and youth empowerment, noting that the ongoing agricultural revolution had positioned Ekiti as one of the most promising states in Nigeria.
Deelen expressed the Netherlands government’s readiness to partner with the state in critical areas such as agricultural technology, irrigation, capacity building and value chain development.
He noted that the Netherlands, being a world leader in modern agriculture, would be glad to collaborate with the Ekiti State Government in knowledge exchange, investment promotion and the introduction of innovative farming systems that can further strengthen its agricultural base.