Agriculture is our ‘crude oil’ in Kogi; we’ll utilise it – Bello

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state, has said that he was yet to arrive at the set goals in agriculture, stressing that his target was to make Kogi the food destination of Nigeria.
He said that Omi dam, which is being utilised to support the cultivation of Kogi rice, is just one of the several marked out dams, in the state, which his administration intended to use to promote agriculture.
“Agriculture is our strength in Kogi State. It is our own crude oil and we hope to make the best of it.
“Government recently took delivery of agricultural machines to ease the process of food production and make agriculture convenient and enticing to our youth population.
“The Ministry of Agriculture is working hard to consolidate our gains in the sector and to open new vistas of opportunities, as we hope to ensure food security, create employment and become a big food exporter.
“Today, we are the leading cashew producer in the country. We are one of the top cassava producers. Our rice has hit the market and has become the main choice across the nation. These are great achievements and we won’t rest on our oars, until we become the biggest food producing state.
“The Federal Ministry of Agriculture, recently, commended our efforts in agriculture. With the deserved Federal Government commendation, we now have the impetus for more achievements,” Bello said.
He also said that the cattle colonies proposed by the Federal Government would be accepted by other states, the moment the pilot scheme succeeds in Kogi State.
A public policy analyst, Okechukwu Andy, hailed Bello, for what he has done at Omi dam, and said that Bello was laying a solid foundation for the development of the state. He added that, “It is high time the civil service was decongested to enable people create real wealth through agriculture.
“Nobody has ever been wealthy working for others. I only urged the state to provide a platform for idle civil servants to go into agriculture and create jobs and wealth.
“With what I saw at Omi dam, the agricultural future of the nation is here. I was at the Omi dam to see what was happening there. The possibilities are endless. I also saw the rice mills. It shows that the Bello  administration is visionary and ready to take the state to a new height.
“I will urge the government to ease out many able-bodied men and women from the civil service and give them a lot of resources to invest in agriculture. With that, the people will be wealthy, more food will be produced and the wage bill will be drastically reduced to create room for infrastructural development.”