President Goodluck Jonathan has pledged to continue to consume cassava bread until he vacates office as president in 2015.
Jonathan made the pledge yesterday after taking a bite of cassava bread before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja. Agriculture Minister Akinwunmi Ayo Adesina presented a loaf of bread to each cabinet member at the council chamber as part of his initiative to promote agriculture. The bread, made from 40 percent cassava and 60 per cent wheat contents, was baked by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan
Jonathan said, "When the Agriculture Minister brought some samples to me about a week ago, that is the only bread I have been eating. I think it is proper for us in council to formally present this bread to Nigerians. I have been eating this bread for the past one week and I will continue to eat only this bread until I leave State House.
"We must encourage what we have. Other countries that became great did not wake up one day and become great. For us to move forward, we must also tame our exotic taste. Some of the things we bring from outside are not as good as what we have within our country."
Jonathan also recommended the promotion of cassava bread as a way of promoting agriculture and made-in-Nigeria goods.
The president also directed Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to liaise with other ministers to introduce policies that would be adopted to encourage cassava farming and bakers to use cassava flour for bread baking.
Jonathan recalled that the cassava flour project began during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to encourage the use of 10 per cent of cassava flour in bread baking.
In his remarks, Adesina said Nigeria produced 35 million tonnes of cassava but that the country accounted for zero per cent in terms of value added.
He said the project would save the country about N656 billion annually, would create jobs and markets for farmers and stabilises prices.
DailyTrust