Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, has sounded the warning to Bola Tinubu government that allowing massive food imports could wreck Nigeria’s agriculture sector.
Speaking at an Anglican Church retreat in Abuja, Adesina urged the government to focus on boosting local food production and job creation through agriculture
Adesina, a former agriculture minister, said, “Nigeria’s recently announced policy to open its borders for massive food imports, just to tackle short-term food price hikes, is depressing.”
He warned that the policy could undermine all the hard work and private investments that had gone into Nigeria’s agriculture sector.
“Nigeria cannot rely on the importation of food to stabilize prices. Nigeria should be producing more food to stabilize food prices while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending, that will further help stabilize the naira.
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“Nigeria cannot import its way out of food insecurity. Nigeria must not be turned into a food import-dependent nation,” he stated. ,
Adesina who spoke on the theme, ‘Food security and financial sustainability in Africa: The role of the Church’, said Nigeria “must feed itself with pride,” warning, “a nation that depends on others to feed itself, is independent only in name.”
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