Kano state Deputy Governor, Professor Hafiz Abubakar has canvased the need for a paradigm shift in Nigeria’s agricultural policy and investment in order to achieve a desired result in the economic diversification efforts.
He made the call while declaring open the 13th national conference of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) holding in Kano.
Professor Abubakar said that for a long time Nigeria’s agricultural policy has been concentrating on promotion of production aspect, while ignoring other value chain of the sector.
“For Nigeria to fully harness its potential in agriculture, there should be holistic approach to promote agricultural value chains of production, processing and marketing,” he said.
Going by the UN prediction that in the next 35 years Nigeria will be the third most populous nation in the world, Hafiz challenged politicians to down play political mobilization and promote economic mobilization in view of the huge challenges facing the country.
He noted that the crisis of Fulani herdsmen and farmers in most parts of Nigeria is “without any doubt a product of population explosion which forced the migration of herdsmen to areas where the grazing routes are yet to be taken over by residential buildings”.
Meanwhile Rector of Kano State Polytechnic, Professor Mukhtar Kurawa said mobilisation for mass economic activities in the country is a necessity for all stakeholders.
He added that the future of Nigerians depends heavily on how well they commit their energy to addressing the economic challenges of the country.
“The theme of this year’s conference is on the diversification of the Nigerian economy amidst global economic crisis, the idea of which is to provide sustainable measures that will help restore the nation’s current recession, therefore at the end of the conference, we will provide a communique of our recommendations on economic bail out in the country”.
During this five day conference, leadership of ASUP will be engaging and receiving opinions from farmers, members of Kano business community and all other stakeholders on economic mobilization of the country.
