The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Prof. Kolawole Salako has called on government at all levels in the country to refocus attention on agriculture in the face of dwindling oil prices, coupled with the harsh realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prof. Salako made the call while addressing journalists after handing over some made-in-FUNAAB agricultural products to the Ogun State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Abeokuta.
According to Prof. Salako, an agriculture -based economy will assist in solving the problems of high unemployment, rising inflation, wide income inequality, high poverty level and high level of insecurity.
He cautioned that if care was not taken, Nigeria could be in a dire situation due to over dependence on oil, especially in the face of the recent Corona virus pandemic which is shutting down economies across the globe.
He said the current government needs to aggressively focus on food production and adopt the farming settlements system of the 1950s in order to meet the challenges of the post COVID-19 effects.
Prof. Salako stated that FUNAAB is proactive and has started coordinating food production en-mass in readiness for the post COVID-19 ripples.
Prof. Salako said the food items distributed were FUNAAB’s widow’s mite to the journalists in the state and as part of the efforts of the institution to cushion the effect of the global pandemic on members of the pen profession whom he described as vulnerable due to the nature of their work.
