President
Muhammadu Buhari has said that time has come for Nigeria to take its rightful
place again in Cocoa production; to reduce over reliance on already shrinking
oil revenues, adding that the continued decline of the commodity will no more
be acceptable.
Buhari noted
that before now, cocoa was the second largest foreign exchange earner for
Nigeria after crude oil where over two million direct and indirect jobs were
created along the value chain.
He said: “It
is unfortunate that the sector has suffered neglect as a result of over
reliance on crude oil, this has also unfortunately led to decline in the country’s
annual production from 420,000 metric tonnes in the 60s to 192,000 metric
tonnes in 2015, a situation that is no more acceptable to government.”
The Nigerian
President said this on Monday in his keynote address to the opening ceremony of
the First International Cocoa Summit holding in Abuja.
Buhari, who
was represented by the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbe, said government is
very worried that the decline of Cocoa has moved the nation from her 4th
position to 7th position in global Cocoa production.
He said that
the country is long overdue to make the shift from being primarily an exporter
of commodities and raw materials to becoming an industrial economy.
“Our
Industrialisation ambition is hinged on the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan
(NIRP) launched by the previous government of President Good luck Jonathan in
2014; it is now time to move that comprehensive document from the Economic
Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) in view of current realities.”
He appealed
to Nigerians to patronise made in Nigeria goods and services as a way of
encouraging the industries to grow the economy.He called on the organisers of
the summit to use it as a vehicle to instil confidence in local and foreign
investors to invest in the Nigerian economy, and create a more robust and
better competitive market for Cocoa subsector.
Earlier in
her address, the Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha
Abubakar, said the theme of the summit, “Cocoa a Strategic commodity for
National Economic Development,” underpins the nucleus of the present
administration’s change Agenda. This intends to continue with policies aimed at
diversifying the nation’s economy away from a mono-economy dependent almost
entirely on revenue from oil exports to Agriculture, solid minerals and
services.
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