Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun has called on Nigerians to control their appetite for foreign foods and fabrics. Mr. Aregbesola said this in Osogbo on Thursday while playing host to some youth who returned from Germany after two months of training in modern agricultural techniques.
He also suggested that it was more pertinent to practise birth control as panacea to poverty reduction during economic recession.
According to him, the reality today is that Nigeria is in economic crisis especially as the nation’s economic mainstay, oil, was cheap on the international market. He added that the production capacity had reduced significantly due to the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers.
“Besides, we also face food crisis and if we are unable to feed ourselves, then there is problem. We believe, as a government, that we must produce what we consume.
“The first panacea out of the food crisis is for us as a people to drastically curb our excessive taste for foreign foods.
“We should patronise our local foods rather than spend huge but scarce foreign exchange on importation of rice.”
“Apart from this, now is also the time for our people to practise birth control and control our population.
This, he said, would go in no small measure in reducing poverty in the land.
Mr. Aregbesola said the state government decided to send the youth for the agriculture programme to boost food production in the state.
He said the youth would impact positively on the mode of agricultural practice to boost food production.
The governor, who promised that government would assist the youth financially, advised them not to fold their hands until such assistance comes
