Ajaokuta plant to produce tractor components
From Seun Adeoye (Osogbo)
PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the Federal Government is vigorously pursuing the completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex to enable the company produce full components of tractors for his administration's agricultural programme.
Obasanjo spoke through the Minister for Agriculture, Alhaji Adamu Bello yesterday in Osogbo, Osun State capital during the commissioning of 300 new tractors worth N1.3 billion procured by the state government.
The President, represented by Bello at the occasion, said that within the next 10 years the steel complex is expected to have developed the capacity of manufacturing tractor components, saying, "our farm power must be given great priority and urgency."
According to him, the nation's agricultural growth rate hit seven per cent in the 2003-farming season.
He said: "Although this is a very encouraging development that calls for some amount of backslapping by all stakeholders in the agricultural sector, the lesson for the national development imperatives facing our beloved country, Nigeria, is that it is not yet uhuru. We must not and cannot afford to rest on our oars.
"Until Nigeria produces enough and adequate food to feed her population and becomes a major player in the international market for processed and finished agricultural products, our job is not yet done and our dreams remains unfulfilled."
President Obasanjo said the state has situated itself as a front-runner in his administration's efforts to achieve food security for the growing population, provide adequate raw materials for industries and fully exploit and export potentials with less drudgery and higher efficiency.
His words: "With my clarion call to duty to all of us in the agricultural sector, particularly in the last two years, with the launching of the various presidential initiatives on rice, cassava, vegetable oil, true crops, livestock and the last one, just about a month ago, on fisheries and aquaculture, performance in the sector has become non-negotiable and a collective responsibility."
Oyinlola, in his address, said the determination of his administration is to turn the state into the food basket of the country.
"Let me explain that one of the major policy thrusts of this administration is the utilisation of agriculture to develop the rural areas. It is our conviction that our neglected families harbour the wealth of this nation," he said.
According to him, the question of food security can be positively addressed if "we all desist from paying lip service to the development of this all-important sector."
The state government, he said, has commenced the establishment of additional farm settlements to be spread all over the state.
The settlements, Oyinlola stated, would provide technical support, professional services, training and job opportunities to unemployed people in the society.`
