Vice-President Namadi Sambo

12/04/2012 (THISDay) - Vice-President Namadi Sambo has said agriculture would be the core of the transformational agenda of the country, not just for food security but for the creation of wealth and provision of employment to the teeming youths of the country.

He said in Washington DC where he’s attending the meetings of the US Exim Bank, that the aim of the country in pursuing the new agenda is to improve the value chain by Nigeria and transit from raw material providers for export to value addition and agro processing into semi-finished and finished goods for the wellbeing of the economy.

Sambo, who spoke at an investment forum at the instance of the Nigerian Embassy, assured investors in the sector of high returns on their investments in the country saying that the opportunities that abound remain largely untapped, adding that with new incentives and policies of the administration, they were sure of making the best of the situations.

Areas where he said opportunities abound in agro business include rice, cassava, sorghum, livestock, fisheries, maize, soya beans, palm oil, cocoa and cotton and asked them to take advantage of the investor friendly policies and opportunities.

“Both Federal and State Governments have taken further steps to entrench the enabling environment for foreign direct investment as the Federal government has committed a lot of resources towards the provision of infrastructural facilities that will address the main factors militating against investment generation," he assured them.

The Vice-President told the gathering that the government was addressing issues of security challenges through increasing capacity of the security agencies and also increasing awareness of the ordinary Nigerian saying that a lot has been achieved in driving the threat out of the country especially with the help of regional and international communities.

Sambo had also on the sidelines met with stakeholders in the power sector especially officials of General Electric of United States of America who he assured of the resolve of the administration to build infrastructure like railways where over 400-kilometre railway line was on the verge of completion.

Earlier, Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Adewunmi Adesina, assured that the government was committed to mechanising agriculture and increasing production as it has provided N2.7 billion while international bodies and countries were supporting agricultural programmes in Nigeria.