ekt_bear:

Agric is not going to have any impact on slowing down urbanization. Well, let me clarify, commercial farming won't. Doesn't require that much labor.

Anyway I don't think that urbanization is bad. More importantly, bad or good, it is inevitable.

ekt_bear:


Regarding "jobs that are not there", if Amosun were a sensible man he'd be looking to create jobs through industrialization. That Nestle factory in Ota area, he should be travelling the world looking for investors who want to build 100s or 1000s more such factories.

ekt_bear:


That would be more effective for wealth creation and poverty alleviation than a focus on farming.

ekt_bear:

Agric is not going to have any impact on slowing down urbanization. Well, let me clarify, commercial farming won't. Doesn't require that much labor.

Anyway I don't think that urbanization is bad. More importantly, bad or good, it is inevitable.

Regarding "jobs that are not there", if Amosun were a sensible man he'd be looking to create jobs through industrialization. That Nestle factory in Ota area, he should be travelling the world looking for investors who want to build 100s or 1000s more such factories.

That would be more effective for wealth creation and poverty alleviation than a focus on farming.

Akanbi_edu:

Right on point. Ogun, like Lagos should not be talking about agriculture at this time. states like Osun, Oyo and Ekiti are in better position for that.

ekt_bear:

Agric is not going to have any impact on slowing down urbanization. Well, let me clarify, commercial farming won't. Doesn't require that much labor.

Anyway I don't think that urbanization is bad. More importantly, bad or good, it is inevitable.

Regarding "jobs that are not there", if Amosun were a sensible man he'd be looking to[b] create jobs through industrialization. [/b]That Nestle factory in Ota area, he should be travelling the world looking for investors who want to build 100s or 1000s more such factories.

That would be more effective for wealth creation and poverty alleviation than a focus on farming.

Lagos_Boi:

Free me joo, do the stuffs and show us pictures here and stop the story, since i was born i have been listening to stories from naija leaders and i am fed up.

ekt_bear:

I strongly disagree with you all above. Like I already explained, agriculture is not going to create mass employment. And it certainly isn't something like oil which will generate you 10s of billions of dollars a year.

Ogun State can and should focus on manufacturing. Lagos is too small and densely packed. Ogun should be the foremost destination in the west africa sub-region for any sort of manufacturing. . . that is, if the governor had more vision. How can you have the 5th largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa as your neighbor (Lagos) and not be interested in providing some of the high-value manufactured goods that said economy needs and has to import?

Regarding "ship has sailed" on manufacturing, err, I'd suggest you think a bit more about it.

Ogun to become Nigeria’s agricultural hub –Amosun
From Moshood Adebayo, Abeokuta
Wednesday, November 16 , 2011



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Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State yesterday reiterated his administration’s determination to make the state a hub of agricultural produce.
According to the governor: “We have decided to go back to the basics and make agriculture our mainstay. Presently, we are clearing 1,000 hectares of land in each of the three senatorial districts in the state in partnership with private investors to take agriculture to the next level. We are poised to redefine agriculture in the state.”

Speaking while receiving the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Ayo Adesina in his Oke-Mosan office in Abeokuta, Governor Amosun restated his government’s resolve to use agriculture to engender industrial revolution in Ogun State, as was the case in the old Western Region.

“This is where we have the advantage. Agriculture means a lot to us in the state. We have the potentials and we are willing to cooperate with appropriate authorities and enter into genuine partnership with private investors to create wealth and develop our state as a whole,” the governor added.

Earlier, the minister commended the governor for making agriculture a priority and putting in place good initiatives to facilitate development in the sector, saying “agriculture is very critical to the transformation agenda of Ogun State.”
Dr. Adesina described Ogun State as the number one producer of cassava in Nigeria, stressing that “we have to do everything to make cassava work in this state.”

According to him, “when we came on board, 33 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the subsector were dead, so we directed flour mills to be buying cassava flour from these SMEs. We hope to go beyond this directive and put in place a legislation to encourage our farmers. Since my directive, we have been seeing opportunities in Ogun State and we are auditing and upgrading our 33 SMEs to meet the needs of flour mills.”

The minister mentioned his ministry’s plan to appoint six new directors for the six geo-political zones in Nigeria to work closely with the state governments based on principles of strategic partnership and accountability. He tasked Governor Amosun to set up an Agricultural Transformation Implementation Committee to interface with the Federal Government.