Nigerians export yam with labels of other countries – Audu Ogbeh

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has said that yam was being illegally exported from Nigeria through the land borders with the labels of other countries.

The minister stated this during a courtesy visit to the Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, saying the decision of the Federal Government to begin yam exportation was a laudable one.

“We have enough yams to feeds us. Some are of the opinion that exportation of yam would cause scarcity or price increase, it is a lie,” he said.

He recognized Oyo as the state hosting the largest number of poultry farms, adding that Oyo could unequivocally be adjudged as the protein capital of the country.

Ogbeh said, “For many reasons, Oyo State is significant to the FG’s renewed efforts to take Nigeria to the Promised Land in our focus to be an agricultural exporting country. Look at the fact that Oyo State has the highest number of poultry farms and other natural potentials.”

In his response, the Oyo State governor said that 80 percent of the land in the state was arable, which he said had placed the state at a vantage position to benefit from Federal Government’s planned agricultural revolution.

He said, “Our approach to agriculture is not monolithic in Oyo State, because we have adopted an integrated organic farming system, which has engaged over 1,000 graduates. We have decided to dedicate 250,000 hectares of land, out of the available 350,000, to afforestation to achieve our dream of feeding Nigerians.