World Food Prize Will Motivate Everyone Involved In Agriculture — Obasanjo

Olusegun Obasanjo has said the World Food Prize (WFP) Laureate award of Akinwumi Adesina, was an encouragement to anyone and everyone involved in agriculture.

He said that the award was a used to motivate all that is involved in the aspect of agriculture either in research, production, marketing and financing.

“So what does this do, it encourages anybody in agriculture in the same way that Nobel prize in any of the areas that it has been created to serve will encourage people in that area.

“And every aspect of agriculture be it research, be it production, be it marketing, be it financing in all aspect of agriculture.

“It should be an encourager and that is why it should help us not only in Nigeria but in Africa generally.”

Obasanjo also said that agriculture should improve at the rural communities and states level, adding that duty of the Federal Government was to ensure it provides conductive environment.

“For the first two years we want to involve about half a dozen of states and now we have made it eight states because we want to be meeting in those states quarterly.

“We want to see what they are doing, how they are doing it and what can others learn from them, what can we advise them to do and we have had the first meeting in Benue state, we are having the second meeting in two weeks’ time in Ebony state.

“And the Benue state the first one we had it had been fairly successful, we saw what they are doing and we were able to advise them what they should do differently and they have taken it up.

“We were able to help them where they need help internally and even where we think they can get external assistance.

“After that we may make it six states per year so that within five years we will have covered the whole 36 states.”