Launch Of Olam Agri’s “Seeds for the Future Foundation/Education Grant”

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REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE FOUNDATION/EDUCATION GRANT, AN INITIATIVE OF OLAM AGRI, AT TRANSCORP HOTEL, ABUJA ON THE 21^ST OF OCTOBER, 2022

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I think the Board of Olam deserve our heartfelt commendation and gratitude for giving us several reasons to be hopeful and to celebrate. Through the “Seeds of the Future Programme”, Olam has invested in two important types of seeds. First, the seeds you are planting by investing in the education of our young people through the Education Grant initiative for undergraduates.  The second is of course the very highly successful and award-winning Wheat Seeds Trial project, which I am told, achieved its first-year milestone of producing 10kg of pre-multiplication wheat seed varieties and was showcased at the UN Climate Summit and was nominated for an international grant.

But I think it is the seeds you plant by investing in the whole agriculture value chain from research to people, especially disadvantaged women, that has attracted even greater attention leading to the National Productivity Order of Merit Award which was presented to you by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari.

The planting of these seeds shows your strong belief in the future of our country and its innovative and hardworking people. And how it is that the story of our country will ultimately yield fruits of prosperity, peace and decent livelihoods for all. Considering that Olam started off in Nigeria a few years ago, and has now grown to 60 different countries, I think it is evident that Nigerian soil is very fertile indeed and that the seeds that are planted here are very prolific.

I do not think that there is any business that so poignantly demonstrates the importance of faith, patience, resilience and hope as agriculture does; planting seeds, tending them till they create food, wealth and sound health for all.

It is an absolute pleasure to see how these important attributes now form the values of the Seeds for The Future Foundation and this Seeds for The Future Foundation espouses these same values through its various interventions. Well done indeed.

Before I end, let me commend Olam Agri for your hard work and commitment to agriculture and food processing in Nigeria. Especially in the areas of Wheat Milling, Rice Farming and Milling, Tomato Farming, Hatchery, and Soya Beans Processing, and your leadership in agriculture export – cocoa beans, cashew nuts and sesame seeds.

I think that one of the very important things that we have learned from the hard work that you have put into agriculture and food processing is that this is really where the potential and the wealth of our country lie, not just in the extractive industry but more in the agriculture value chain, especially export of manufactured and processed food. So, I think that here we have a very strong advantage and Olam has shown that aside from oil and gas, Olam comes a close second in terms of export, I think this is very commendable indeed.

And I must not fail to commiserate with you over the monumental loss occasioned by the flooding of the Olam rice farm in Nasarawa State. This obviously is a huge loss not just to Olam, but also a big blow to food security in our country, as the farm is one of the single largest rice farms in the country.

We as a government are obliged to work with you to restore that important agricultural resource. And I’m sure that as we engage, we will be able to find the opportunities and ways by which we can assist in bringing that resource back to full service.

Only yesterday the National Economic Council, which I have the privilege of chairing agreed to constitute a special committee on flooding especially as it relates to food security, so we are going to be looking at all of the ways by which we can work with farms and agricultural companies and how they are affected by flooding.

I think that Olam’s situation is one that will come before us and we will consider how exactly not just to support now, but how to prevent these sorts of occurrences in the future and, of course, how to advise the President on what steps to take.

Congratulations to you all on this landmark event of the launching of the Seeds of the Future Foundation, building a brighter future together.

Thank you very much.