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Nigerian Govt. inaugurates committee on agricultural transformation
The Nigerian Government has inaugurated a 16-man Strategic Communication Committee that would disseminate information on the Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA).
Inaugurating the committee on Thursday in Abuja, the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mallam Bukar Tijani, challenged the committee to ensure that the grassroots were the main beneficiaries of the programme.
Objective
He said the committee was set up to sell the ATA to all that had concern for agriculture, and ensure effective communication strategy for all the stakeholders, mostly the grassroots, for better understanding of the programme.
The Minister said that the strategy had become necessary since the masses were in the past excluded from such programmes because a proper communication strategy was not used.
The Transformation Agenda
Tijani said that under the Transformation Agenda, government would consider how food crops produced in the country could replace the financial donations made to other countries.
He maintained that with adequate information to the farmers at the grassroots, Nigerians would move forward, farmers would be richer, and the nation would attain the desired national food security.
He promised that the country would reclaim its lost glory as a major exporter of internationally recognized commodities and other foods.
Tijani said “Agriculture will move to become the main honor of our GDP as it will move from a monolithic economy which is dependent on oil and gas to a more robust renewable agriculture-based economy.''
Solicited support
Similarly, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry and chairman of the committee, Dr Ezekiel Oyemomi, said that the ministry was an integral part of the ATA; therefore all must participate to make it a success.
He promised that the committee would come up with various strategies to disseminate the information in local languages for better understanding, especially at the grassroots.
He said “The committee will come up with laudable ideas that will ginger the aspirations of various marketing, farming, processing and producing communities and mostly the youths and women to key into the agenda for a better future.''
Oyemomi said the ministry had mapped out various strategies to change the mindset of Nigerians to see agriculture as a main business and not a pass time hobby.
He said that, when fully implemented, it would ensure the required growth in agriculture, stressing that the political will must come to bear in supporting the Nigerian farmers for them to reap the dividends of their labour.
The committee members were drawn from Federal Ministries of Information, Culture and National Orientation, the Print Media, and the Nigeria movie industry.
NAN/Adekusibe/Cokey
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