USAfrica magazine (Houston) and USAfricaonline.com, the first Africa-owned, US-based newspaper published on the Internet
Dr. George Agbakahi , a stakeholder and one of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South East Zone, has highlighted what he commended as the central and elevated role of agriculture in the 2025 budget of N55.99 trillion from Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu.
He applauded the major allocations to the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) and Bank of Industry (BOI).
He noted that the “BOA has been mandated to give loans to farmers, small scale farmers, and subsistence farmers. In that way provide employment opportunities. The Bank of Industry similarly is now dealing with small and medium enterprises, providing loans and small scale manufacturers and that will in the long run prevent importation which is killing us in this country.”
He added that “In the area of agriculture … in Nigeria even with the establishment of Livestock Ministry, prior to that anyway, Nigerians import chicken, Nigerians import fish there is nothing we did not import; we import eggs in Nigeria … all these importation needs to stop for economic growth to take place effectively.”
“I see the 2025 budget as bold, it’s a budget of transformation and it’s a budget that encapsulates all the necessary things that guide this country. If you look at what the president did, he was able to target certain areas, specifically, diversification of the Nigerian economy.”
He said that “Since independence, oil has been the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. So the President is now targeting certain sectoral areas like agriculture, he is targeting solid minerals and if you come to agriculture, livestock ministry is also there and these are areas that if they mature very well can provide foreign exchange earnings for this country.
But more importantly, national security is also very critical. I understand that he budgeted N4.9 trillion for this particular sector.”
Agbakahi, who served as the South East Leader of the Tinubu Support Organization during the 2023 general elections, stated these during an NTA current affairs show.
Overall, he characterized the 2025 budget as ambitious and bold with transformative ideas for Nigeria’s economy.
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