Commissioning Of Several Projects In Taraba State

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AGRICULTURE IS WAY TO ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND GROWTH PLAN, VP OSINBAJO

*Nigeria on the path to greatness

Agriculture is the way out, not just out of the recession, but it is also the pivot for the nation’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

Prof. Osinbajo, SAN, said this on Thursday while commissioning several projects in Taraba State, including the first ever Greenhouse project in the North East zone of the country.

“We believe that agriculture is what will provide the majority of jobs and, of course, agro-processing, which will also provide excellent opportunities for so many,” he stated.

While assuring “that the Federal Government is really committed to partnering with State Governments that are serious and hardworking in the way that we have seen here,” the VP said Nigeria is already on the path to greatness which will manifest within a few years.

“I believe absolutely that Taraba can produce all that the nation needs in terms of food and all other needs, and also very high-quality jobs for our very talented young people,” he assured.

Other projects commissioned by the Vice President were The Greater Jalingo Water Scheme and the Jalingo-Kona Road. He also met with other stakeholders in the state.

Below is the transcript of the Vice President’s remarks.

REMARKS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT, HIS EXCELLENCY, YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, AT THE COMMISSIONING OF SEVERAL PROJECTS IN TARABA STATE, ON AUGUST 24, 2017.

PROTOCOL

The governor gave me three ‘gbosas’, so I think we should first give him six ‘gbosas’. Thank you very much!

Let me say how excited I am to be here in Taraba State, nature’s gift to the nation, and I do agree that this, surely, is a state that is a gift to our great nation.

I also bring you warm greetings from Mr President, Muhammadu Buhari, and I want to say that he is extremely pleased that we are able to come here today to visit and commission all of these projects. So I bring you his very warm felicitations.

I am also pleased to see for myself the giant strides and achievements that are being made in this state. Here in this greenhouse complex, we see a victory for technology, for a technology-driven agricultural project and a tribute to the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the governor of the state.

I have looked around the greenhouse and it is evident that this is one of the smartest ways of producing high-quality vegetables all year round.

The marketing is also done efficiently from here and I’m told that Abuja, Kaduna and Lagos are already getting constant supplies of vegetables from Taraba State.

So whenever we see the Taraba vegetable van anywhere we know that it is a product of the hard work, resourcefulness and ingenuity of the people of this state and I want to congratulate you and also His Excellency, the governor, for this achievement.

As you’ve just heard, we can produce all the vegetables that we need here in Nigeria, and for our entire sub-region. In other words, we can export from here after we have satisfied our own needs; we can then export to all parts of our sub-regions, indeed to all parts of Africa and the world.

There is no reason whatsoever why we cannot achieve this. Your Excellency has also just told us of the agricultural potential of Taraba State, from tea, and even coffee, to vegetable and rice.

I believe absolutely that Taraba can produce all that the nation needs in terms of food and all other needs. But even more importantly, through agriculture and agro-processing, we can also produce here very high-quality jobs for our very talented young people.

A few minutes ago, I walked into the greenhouses producing tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, I met with and took photographs with some of these young people who are doing impressive work and who are working diligently in the greenhouses.

I was impressed by the fact that these young agriculturists have found something very useful and lucrative to do; I believe very strongly that agriculture is one sure way of providing high-quality jobs for our young people.

I was also privileged to meet the young irrigation engineer, Sakari Baba Isa, who provides the technology-driven irrigation facility in this greenhouse project. I was impressed by his excellent grasp of the technicalities of the facility. I think that one of the things that emerge is that Nigeria has all of the talents, all of the kind of resourcefulness, the hardworking and determined people that can make our country one of the greatest in Africa, and certainly one of the best in the world.

I think that what we have seen here in Taraba, what we have seen with the young people working here, what we have seen with the project and the potential, can only tell us one thing – that we have not even started yet. When the world sees us in the next few years, no one will believe that it is same Nigeria. This country is surely on the path to greatness and I am completely convinced that we will tread that path.

We have been working with several of the state governments, especially in the area of agriculture, because we believe very strongly that agriculture is the way out, not just out of the recession, but it is also the pivot for our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

We believe that agriculture is what will provide the majority of jobs and, of course, agro-processing, which will also provide excellent opportunities for so many.

This is why I am particularly impressed with what His Excellency, the governor, is doing here, looking at the various opportunities in agriculture and trying to provide the facilities, even building the roads to link one agricultural hotbed to another, moving from one to the other. I think that is so important.

I can assure you, your Excellency, that the Federal Government will support you in every way. I think some people have suggested a few other ‘gbosas’. I will give the governor some extra ‘gbosas’ before I leave!

I want to say that the Federal Government is really committed to partnering with state governments that are serious and hardworking in the way that we have seen here.  And I want to say that I am particularly pleased with what we have seen.

I think that a lot of what we have seen here today is the kind of drive and dynamism that we expect to see and we believe that this will provide the opportunity for our country to really be great.

I don’t think that there is any doubt at all that when you look into the next few years, we will not only be producing all of the food we need, and this is what one of the very important aspects of our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, we will also be adding value here to all of what we produce.

Our friends from Israel and other places, who are partnering with us, I want to congratulate you and thank you very much for the work you are doing. I am also pleased that you are passing on the technology to our young and talented people here, because it is the intention of our government to ensure that in the next few years, we are self-sufficient in food, agro-processing and so many agro-processing products, and also self-sufficient in petrochemicals, including our own PMS, our own petrol. We would also be self-sufficient in that.

This is the promise that the Buhari Administration has made to this nation and we intend to fulfil every detail of those promises.

So I would like to thank you, again, very much for the very warm welcome. I will come back to Taraba State if I receive the invitation. Thank you very much indeed, God bless you.