The minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has said that it is unfair and unjust to blame the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government for the current economic hardship in the country.
Speaking in an interview, Chief Ogbeh blamed the economic recession on the fall of the naira which, he said, was ‘’inevitable’’.
The minister also called on the younger generation to be cautious while heeding to advice from economists abroad to avert doom.
Ogbeh said that although Nigerians expected fantastic change to happen in the country, but, the fall of naira was inevitable and that it made people angry and resentful.
He noted that blaming the current administration alone is absolutely unfair and unjust.
On devaluation of the nation’s currency, the minister stated that the current administration did not agree to devalue the naira, even though there were pressures by economists globally who advised that the only way to stabilise the naira was to devalue it.
Ogbeh said that the current administration was also accused of falsely fighting or defending the naira, adding that not devaluing the nation currency was not tenable, ‘’You hear them on radio, let a free fall, let the currency determine its own level, the same people then turn around to say life was becoming too rough.’’
‘’Left to the President, if he had the power to fix it at N50 to one dollar, he would have done it, late Gen. Sani Abacha tried it, but the increasing demand and lack of production of raw materials to finished goods has remain a bane.
‘’Nigeria do not produce sugar, milk, honey, everything here is imported and then suddenly, your foreign reserve dropped. And you were not earning any more dollars and government said if we continue this way, one afternoon there would be nothing left in the treasury, because it is at a time the CBN told us the demand for dollars was high and our foreign reserve had dropped to about $19 billion. In less than two months we would have been totally bankrupt.
‘’Who would have been blamed then? The advisers or the federal government? So in one breath, they tell you to do this, you do it and the results become disastrous and then they go into hiding, so we had to do, what we had to do and believe me in future, the younger generation have got to be careful with advice received from abroad,’’ he said.
Ogbeh also expressed confidence that All Progressives Congress (APC) will win the general elections in 2019.
He said farmers, as well as rural dwellers for the first time in their lives, are now enjoying life to the fullest, while the elite are grumbling because they believe that the ‘’colony of slaves in the villages are toiling for them.’’
The minister admitted that there might be difficulties in the APC party structure but assured that things will get back to its rightful place.
According to him, ‘’There may be difficulties in the party structure, yes but we will correct those things we need to improve, but I am telling you about elections, I laugh when I hear the elite talking, do they go out on election day? We know them, they do not want to get involved, and no, there could be violence, so they do not want to get involved, they are in the house.’’
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What have you done to increase agricultural productivity in the country as minister of Agriculture. You could talk about Dollars and election. No single info on what you as a minister is doing to boost production in agriculture. Shame on you and your office.
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