"When an economy is built on a commodity whose fortunes are as unpredictable as crude oil, the country can always be tossed to and fro by every wind of economic doctrine. The era our economy was real was when agriculture was the mainstay. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of thinking and effort to develop agriculture as a base for industry and development, compared to the easy flow of petrodollars that came with the oil boom. President Goodluck Jonathan has spoken a lot about the need to focus our energies on agriculture. Ministers are reciting this like nursery rhyme. Governors have been quoting it like a proverb. At the level of talking, we have done extremely well. But turning talk to action is where the pitfalls lie. In our attempt to develop agriculture, encourage local investment, reduce dependence on food imports and ultimately become a net exporter, we must proceed with caution. There is a tendency to go overboard with some policies which, on the surface, look very attractive, but a closer look only reveals that we might end up shooting ourselves in the foot." Simon Kolawole Thisday Newspapers Sunday July 28, 2013
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 10:35:37 +0000
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