Time to revive agriculture

Any student of history would readily admit that time was before oil was discovered that agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. In fact, before the discovery of oil in 1958 at Oloibiri, Bayelsa State, the country earned more than 70 percent of its revenue from agricultural produce. It was common knowledge that Nigeria produced vast quantities of groundnut, palm oil and cocoa to be able to undertake massive infrastructure development all over the country. Even among African nations, Nigeria was as an agricultural giant that produce enough food to feed its teeming population and for export.
Sadly, all that is now distant memories, as oil has suddenly replaced agriculture as Nigeria’s foremost revenue earner and with it, the uncertainties that have continued to pervade the crude oil market.  Before the present oil price fall, very many Nigerians have called on successive administrations to revive agriculture not only to earn revenue but also to feed its growing population. Unfortunately, these calls have gone unheeded. There is no denying the fact that Nigeria is currently undergoing hard times due to diminishing demand for oil, thereby making it difficult for the government to meet its financial obligations. It is worth restating that the discovery of crude oil, a commodity, which for the past 70 years has become the index of wealth and power, has brought more pains than gains to Nigerians.
In fact, if anything oil has become more of a curse than a cure. However, the present harsh times can be overcome if the authorities look inwards and restore agriculture to its lost glory. It is even sadder to know that the country now imports some of those commodities that once made it famous. Only recently, the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele revealed that Nigeria loses at least N20 -13824 yearly to importation of palm oil. This also goes for rice, cocoa, rubber, cotton and other farm produce.
It is shameful that Nigeria is importing palm oil, rice and many other agricultural produce, especially when it on record that Malaysia, a country that imported its first palm seedlings from Nigeria, has grown to become the largest exporter of the product in the world.  Aside palm oil, the country also imports cashew nuts, rice, kola nuts and maize all of which were previously exported by Nigeria.
Indeed, there is every reason for Nigeria to revive agriculture as the mainstay of the economy. Firstly, the country boasts of vast arable land that can support every kind of agricultural produce.
Moreover, mechanised agriculture has the capacity to employ thousands of Nigerians through the value chain in contrast to oil that places emphasis on advanced technologies to the detriment of human labour. We make bold to posit that agriculture would revive the country’s moribund manufacturing industries that employed millions of workers in such sub sectors as textiles, food processing, fish farming and wood lumbering.  In addition, the revival of agriculture would help end rural-urban migration that is responsible for high levels of crimes and anti-social activities in our cities. Even though the Nigerian economy is a growing one, it can become better if the potentials in the agricultural sector are harnessed.