Posted on: 06:01 Sat, 02 Apr 2016



President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed the Federal Government’s determination to significantly reduce the very high bill for importation of food products to Nigeria.

Speaking at a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mr. Lars Rasmussen in Washington DC, President Buhari also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to the rapid diversification of Nigeria’s economy.

“We developed a mono-product economy and lost opportunities to diversify in the past,” the president said.

“We have great potentials for agriculture and solid minerals. We are now determined to exploit them to the fullest. Addressing the past neglect of these two sectors will help to reduce unemployment and make us a more productive country.

“We will welcome more investment in our
agriculture and solid minerals sectors from countries with expertise in the two sectors.

We abandoned them for petroleum. Now, we have to go back.

“Our bill for the importation of food and dairy
products is very high. We want to cut it as
much as possible by developing our local
potentials,” President Buhari told Mr.
Rasmussen.

He assured the Danish Prime Minister that
the Federal Government will continue to work
in partnership with other countries to further
improve maritime security in the Gulf of
Guinea.

Remarking that his country is a major shipping
nation, Mr. Rasmussen thanked President
Buhari for Nigeria’s current efforts to enhance
security in the Gulf of Guinea.

He assured the President that Danes will be
very interested in investing in the development
of Nigeria’s agricultural sector if the right
policies and conditions are put in place.

“We are quite experienced in agriculture. It is
an area in which we can cooperate. If you
pave the way and remove the obstacles, we
will like to come in,” the Prime Minister told
President Buhari.