Nigeria saved $21bn from food import - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday lauded Nigerians for curbing excessive taste for foreign products, which has positioned the country for food self-sufficiency, and resulted into savings of over $21bn.

The President in a statement by his spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said the humongous savings will be deployed to other critical areas like infrastructure, education, health care, and many others.

President Buhari was reacting to recent disclosures by the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who spoke at the 2018 Annual Bankers’ Dinner, where he said:

“Noticeable declines were steadily recorded in our monthly food import bill from US$665.4 million in January 2015 to US$160.4 million as at October 2018, a cumulative fall of 75.9% and an implied savings of over US$21 billion on food imports alone over that period. Most evident were the 97.3% cumulative reduction in monthly rice import bills, 99.6% in fish, 81.3% in milk, 63.7% in sugar, and 60.5% in wheat. We are glad with the accomplishments recorded so far.”

Buhari said with the commitment of Nigerian farmers, and the support given by the government, “in no distant future, food importation will be completely alien to us, and we will even export actively, thus reversing our position as a mono- product economy.”

The CBN governor equally spoke on the number of jobs created in the agriculture sector:

“In the agriculture sector, the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) has ensured that Nigeria emerged from being a net importer of rice to becoming a major producer, supplying key markets in neighbouring countries. As at October 2018, a total number of 862,069 farmers cultivating about 835,239 hectares, across 16 different commodities, have so far benefited from Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, which has generated 2,502,675 jobs across the country.”

Describing the development as “heart-warming,” the President said it was just a matter of time before a significantly positive impact would be made in the statistics of the unemployed in the country, particularly from the agriculture sector.

“We are on a productive voyage, which would see the ship of state berthing at the harbour of food selfsufficiency, gainful jobs, peace and prosperity for Nigerians,” he said.