Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Nkiruka Uzoka-Ante, said that President Bola Tinubu has taken decisive steps to redirect agriculture in the country with special interest in crops.

In his keynote address at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Ilorin, Kwara State capital over the weekend, the minister disclosed that the president specifically gave cocoa a priority in his recent directive to the ministry.

She hinted that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a 10-year plan for the improvement of the crop towards exportation assurance.

Represented by a director in the ministry, Hajara Usman, the minister demanded cooperation and dedication from cocoa farmers across the country, adding that the president is determined to steer the nation away from absolute dependence on the oil sector.

“We (the ministry) don’t see Cocoa as just an ordinary crop, we hold it in high regard and consideration. We believe that with collective efforts, we will further elevate the Cocoa sector. Over the years, Cocoa farmers have achieved great success,” she said

She noted that strengthening of local currency and job creation top the lists of federal government’s economic and financial targets

Speaking at the event, CAN president, Mufutau Abolarinwa, said that agriculture remains an antidote to the underdevelopment and unemployment characterised by social menace plaguing the country.

According to Abolarinwa, the perceived attitudes of various levels of government towards agriculture development have brought untold hardship and economic stagnation to the country.

“Since the days of the oil boom, Nigeria has known no peace. The place of agriculture in the life of Nigeria is similar to the functions of heart to the body.

“You will agree with me that the oil has brought more doom, notwithstanding the seemingly grandiose structures that dot the entire Nigerian landscape.

“What is obvious is that agriculture would remain our answer to the challenges of underdevelopment, unemployment and the numerical social vices in the country,” he said

He however urged the government at all levels to provide more agricultural inputs and cocoa seedlings to farmers to revamp cocoa production in the country.

He noted that government’s support became imperative given the economic value of cocoa to the industrial development of the nation.

According to him, the provision of agricultural inputs and cocoa seedlings would also revamp the economic and industrial potentials for employment opportunities and incomes for the teeming populace.