Erelu Olusola Obada, a delegate representing elder statesmen at the National Conference, has called for the stipulation of constitutional roles for state deputy governors.
Obada made the call in Abuja on Tuesday while commenting on President Goodluck Jonathan’s inauguration speech to the conference on May 17.
Obada, who was a former deputy governor of Osun State, said: “Currently, there is no specific role for the deputy governor of any state in the country’s constitution.
“Section 186 of the constitution says that for every state, there shall be a deputy governor.
“Section 193 says that the governor of the state, at his discretion, assigns role to the deputy governor.
“To ensure there is great harmony between governors and their deputies, there should be some clear cut roles for the deputy governors.”
Obada said Nigeria could boost her common wealth if we could diversify the economy by exploiting our mineral resources and agriculture.
She said there was a need to harness cash crops and other agricultural products being grown in different part of the country.
She added: “Cocoa adds about 30 per cent to our GDP and makes another 30 per cent of our agricultural exports.
“Last year, it contributed more than N112 billion to the revenue of the country.
“We also have hides and skins in the North and when all these are harnessed, they will enhance our common wealth.”
Kashim Ndjida, a delegate representing the North East, stressed the need for the development of the country’s agricultural value chains.
Ndjida said that the country was endowed with resources, including agriculture that should have been exploited to create wealth for Nigerians.
He said there were value chains related to agricultural products such as groundnut, cotton, cassava, cocoa, beans, hide and skins from the farm, processing and to the finished products.
He said: “Through each stage of the processing, employment can be created and value will also be added to the produce.
“This will help Nigeria to reduce its dependence on single commodity for its foreign exchange earnings.”
Ndjida urged the conference to come up with recommendations for exploiting the potential in agricultural value chain.
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