Nigeria: President Buhari Warns on Food Importation

By Isiaka Wakili

 

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday warned against the continued importation of food to Nigeria, which he said could expose the country to more "external shocks".

He noted that the unbridled importation of food contributed to the depletion of Nigeria's foreign reserves and deprived citizens of job opportunities.

Buhari was speaking at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja while receiving the new Bulgarian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Vesselin Blagoer Delcher.

He said his administration would vigorously implement policies that would revive the nation's agricultural sector and reposition it as the mainstay of the economy.

He assured that the government would evolve and implement policies that would help the country become self-sufficient in food production.

"We must produce what we eat. We don't have unlimited resources to continue the importation of food items that can be produced locally," he said.

Buhari also received Mr Paul Lehmann, the new High Commissioner of Australia, Hajiya Afsatu Olayinka Ebiso-Kabba, the new High Commissioner of Sierra-Leone and Thordur Aegir Oskarsson, the new Ambassador of Iceland.

He told them that Nigeria would welcome further strengthening of relations with their countries, especially in the areas of agriculture, solid minerals and trade.