A speech given in the House of Representatives on 12th April, 1961.
Mr. Speaker, Sir, at the outset, I would like to make two observations.
First of all, I notice that the Federal Government, in collaboration with the Regional Governments, is sending a trade mission to several parts of the World – China, Russia, United Kingdom, U.S.A. et cetera. This is in accordance with the suggestion made on more than one occasion by my colleagues and myself on the opposition bench. I hope, I sincerely hope, that those who are in charge of the detailed arrangements of this overseas mission which, judging from the size of its composition and the extent of the globe it plans to cover, is bound to be extensive; I do hope that it is indeed a trade mission and that every minute of the mission is, in the course of it, filled with 60 seconds of hard and favourable bargains struck for Nigeria.
The second observation I would like to make is this, I am very glad to note that there is almost a meeting of minds between the government and the opposition on the vital importance of agricultural development in our economy. Last year, in the course of my contribution to the debate on the Appropriation Bill, and on one or two other occasions thereafter, I said that the basis of our wealth is agriculture and that, therefore, the first priority should be a bold and rapid development of our agricultural economy. This proposition was not then well received by many Hon. Members including the Hon. Minister of Finance himself. Indeed I was asked by a number of members to go and tell it to the Regional Governments. In a speech delivered last week, however, the Hon. Minister of Finance had this to say – I quote from page 2 of the printed speech: ‘The development of agriculture is fundamental to the progress of the nation; without a flourishing and expanding agriculture, the growth of industry will be retarded.’
That is what the Hon. Minister of Finance said. In my view, however, this consensus of minds, which has been happily induced by the opposition so far as government is concerned, only begins and ends with a recognition of the fundamental importance of the development of agriculture in our economy. But it is clear from other points made on the subject by the Hon. Minister of Finance in the course of his speech, that Government is still regrettably untutored as to what is meant by agricultural development; what its proper role in this basic development should be, and the tremendous fillip which the development of agriculture could give to our economy.
On page 2 of the same speech, the Hon. Minister of Finance quotes with approval the following statement by Lord Netherthorpe. I quote with your permission: ‘No investment by Nigeria herself could yield greater dividends nor contribute more effectively to her economy and industrial development. That is not to say that Nigeria should content herself with a purely agrarian economy. Indeed, the contrary is true, since every increase in the national income and particularly in the level per head increases Nigeria’s attractiveness as a potential market for industrial goods. Thus an expansion in agricultural export by raising the national income could probably do more in a short time to encourage industrilisation than anything else.’ My first reaction, Mr. Speaker, Sir, to this passage in the Hon. Minister of Finance’s speech was that a conservative capitalist of the deepest dye like Lord Netherthorpe can only think in terms of our export products which provide British industries with the much needed raw materials at cheap and depressed prices.
But on further research, I discovered that the Hon. Minister of Finance had quoted this passage from the report of the Federation of British Industries on Nigeria’s industrial resources. I also discovered that he has quoted this gentleman out of context.
In this connection, I refer to page 29 of the report by the Federation of British Industries. The passage quoted by the Minister of Finance is contained at page 30 but at page 29 the Federation of British Industries, or the delegation of the F.BI., has this to say: ‘Apart from investment directly in plantations there is no scope for overseas investment directly in agriculture. Nevertheless, as I see it agriculture is the key to the prospect and rate of Nigeria’s industrilisation.’ That is the opening portion of the chapter from which the Hon. Minister of Finance has quoted the passage which suggests that Lord Netherthorpe is thinking more of our export produce than of the entire range of our agricultural economy.
I, therefore, wish to emphasise this short statement which I have just quoted. I wish to go further and reinforce the stand which the Opposition takes, that the bed-rock of our economy in this country is the development of our agriculture. I proceed to quote one or two other passages. I refer, Sir, to the Ashby Commission, and I will quote from pages 21 and 10 1 two short passages from its report.
At page 21, the Ashby Commission has this to say on agriculture: ‘Three out of every four Nigerians work on the land. Seventeen shillings out of every pound earned from Nigerian exports come from agricultural products. Investment in agricultural improvement and agricultural education could increase Nigeria’s yield, yet investment in agriculture is inadequate and is rarely in the public eye. Publicity goes to industrilisation, construction and the like.’ Then at page 101 this is what the commission says, I quote again: ‘In Nigeria agriculture bears three burdens not borne by agriculture in more highly developed countries. It is relied upon as an occupation for about 75 per cent of the working population; it constitutes what may be described as a built-in social security system and it provides government with the bulk of its revenue constituting at least 85 per cent of the country’s export and more than 50 per cent of its gross product.
CONTINUES NEXT WEEK
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