The National Chairman, APGA, Dr Victor Oye, said on Tuesday that the revival of the Ajaokuta Steel Company and strategic investment in agriculture will help revamp the ailing economy.
Oye told the News Agency of Nigeria in Awka that it would be difficult for the country to attain economic prosperity soon if it were to continue to rely heavily on imported food and raw materials for the industrial sector.
Oye said: “How can the economy recover when a multi-billion naira project such as the Ajaokuta Steel Mill is lying idle?
“The Federal Government should fix it because that will form the basis for our industrialisation pursuit.
“Food items worth billions of naira are still being imported for us to consume.
“All that put pressure on forex and lead to inflation and the scarcity we are experiencing at the moment.’’
Oye advised the Federal Government to emulate the agricultural development model of the Anambra government to grow the economy.
He stated that the Anambra government, under Governor Willie Obiano initiated a deliberate agric development policy, which has made the state to become a leading food producer in the country despite the limited farmlands in the area.
He said the state government was able to achieve its objective by attracting private partnership investment to the sector.
He said: “The government in Anambra has set the standard on ways of unlocking the potentials of the agricultural sector; it is a good example for all to learn from.
“I am recommending the Anambra model to the Federal Government; it is good that they are already visiting Anambra to see what is going on there.”
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