The Federal Government has been urged to establish the Ministry of Food Processing, to create market competition that may force down the prices of food and services for the benefit of the people.
Speaking at the 31st Inaugural Lecture of Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, with the theme: “Setting The Hurdle For Glorification: The Cross Coded Structural Pathways To Spring-up Nutrients in Foods For Sustained Commonwealth,” the Lecturer, Professor Israel Sunmola Afolabi said the government should encourage the use of local research institutes under Defence ministry to avoid starving the sector of funds.
He said agriculture and technological development were the critical factors needed to drive a strong economy and were prerequisites for national development.
Professor Afolabi, a professor of Nutritional Biochemistry and Phytomedicine of the University, cited India as a country, which sustained its population with an aggressive agricultural derive.
He commended President Tinubu’s administration for the strategic reserve put in place, adding that, “the surplus from agriculture may also be used to derive exportation.”
His words: “This derives will automatically boost national income that will sustain a strong economy. There is need to drive technological development aggressively in Nigeria, such derive will engage the minds of several youths thereby reducing crime tremendously.”
He appealed to Tinubu’s administration to invest and reinvest in the nation’s technological revolution by empowering the Universities and research institutes to generate products and services for global competition.
