Our revenue from cocoa, sesame grew by $232.4 million in one year —Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria’s revenue from cocoa and sesame seed increased by $79.4 million and $153 million in the past year.

President Buhari disclosed this during a nationwide broadcast to commemorate the June 12th Democracy Day.

He said nation’s GDP grew from 1.91% in 2018 to 2.27% in 2019 but declined to 1.87% in the first quarter of 2020 as a result of the decline in global economic activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The President, therefore, said agriculture remains the key to the country’s economic diversification strategy. He said the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative programme has continued to deliver significant quantities of affordable and high-quality fertilizers to our farmers.

“This initiative has also revived 31 blending plants and created a significant number of direct and indirect jobs across the value chain”, he noted.

“Agriculture remains the key to our economic diversification strategy. The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative programme continues to deliver significant quantities of affordable and high-quality fertilizers to our farmers. This initiative has also revived 31 blending plants and created a significant number of direct and indirect jobs across the value chain.

“Our efforts on growing non-oil exports have started to yield some results. For instance, in the past year, our revenue from Cocoa and Sesame Seed increased by $79.4 million and $153 million”, the President said.

He further said the government was also revamping the cotton, textile and garment sector via a CBN Textile Revival Intervention Fund that would considerably reduce foreign exchange spent on cotton and other textile imports.

President Buhari expressed delight on how Nigerians are taking advantage of the various policies and programmes for agriculture to grow more food.

“Through the food security initiative, we are promoting “Grow What We Eat” and “Eat What We Grow”. I am also delighted that more and more Nigerians are taking advantage of the opportunities in the agriculture and agri-business sector.

I assure you that government will continue to support the Agriculture sector through the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme and similar schemes”, he said.

On protection of farmers in their farms, President Buhari said his government had deployed 5,000 Agro-Rangers and employed 30,289 in our para-military agencies to guard farmers.

Furthermore, the President said “we are also integrating rural communities to the formal economy by extending access to credit and inputs to rural farmers and building feeder roads.

“Africa presents a huge opportunity for our export base diversification and we are developing our strategy to grow intra-Africa trade through the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement”.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Buy and read digital replicas of your TRIBUNE titles by subscribing through E-VENDING

President Buhari’s Full Democracy Day Speech
Fellow Nigerians,The 2020 celebration of Democracy Day marks 21 years of uninterrupted civil administration in our dear country. This day provides us an opportunity to reflect on our journey as a nation, our achievements and struggles.
It is a day to honour our founding fathers who toiled to establish our republic and every Nigerian who has worked tirelessly to sustain it… Read full story

Democracy Day: NADECO lists 12 conditions to unity, peace •Insists on return to federalism
TWENTY-ONE years after it led the struggle that culminated in the restoration of civil rule, the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) on Thursday declared that Nigeria remained in dire straits. Accordingly, it listed about 12 fundamental conditions, including a return to federalism, coupled with the convocation… Read full story

Governance: Our best not good enough since 1999 —Atiku
EFFORTS by Nigerian leaders to govern the country rightly since 1999 have not been “good enough to improve on the lives of the citizenry and grow the nation in all facets of development needs,” former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said… Read full story

ASUU Challenges FG To Provide Proofs It Saved Money Through IPPIS
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has again challenged the Federal Government to present to the public a verifiable proof that it has saved huge amounts of money through its newly introduced Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) for workers… Read full story

Reps Increase 2020 Budget From N10.805trn To N10.810trn
The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a resolution to increase the revised 2020 budget from N10.806 trillion to N10.810 trillion. The resolution was passed after the adoption of a debate on the motion sponsored by the chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon Abiodun Faleke, who underscored… Read full story

COVID-19: Reject Patients, Have Your License Withdrawn, FG Threatens Medical Doctors
The Federal Government on Thursday threatened to withdraw licenses of medical doctors who deliberately reject and turn back patients from their hospital without attending to them or offering necessary advice on what to do. Describing it as unethical and unacceptable, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, while speaking… Read full story

Reopen Schools For SS3 Students First, Proprietor Tells FG, WAEC
A school administrator and principal of Adesina College, Ibadan, Mr Adejare Adesina, has advised the Federal Government to liaise with the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and other West African countries that subscribe to the council’s examinations to reopen schools for all the Senior… Read full story

COVID-19 Lockdowns Deny 500m Children Access To Education ― IMF
Over 500 million children all over the world have lost access to education as a result of the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday. The IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, said in a statement that “More than half a billion children worldwide have… Read full story

Nigeria Is 3rd Worst Country On Child Marriage Index
United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has said that with a figure of 3.5 million, Nigeria has the third-highest absolute number of child brides in the world and the 11th highest prevalence rate of child marriage globally. Tribune Online reports that only Bangladesh with 4.4 million and India with 15.5 million child brides are… Read full story

Anxiety Over More Deaths, Rising Cases Of COVID-19 In Nigeria
THE geometric rise in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the increasing casualties arising from the infection have continued to raise concerns among Nigerians. The deadly virus is still running riot despite concerted efforts to curtail it, crippling many facets of the economy as it passes the first 100 days of… Read full story

Senate Threatens To Issue Warrant Of Arrest On Heads Of MDAs
The Senate has threatened to issue warrants of arrest on some ministries department and agencies of government over failure to appear before it and respond to queries by the Auditor General of the Federation. Tribune Online reports that the threat follows the refusal of the agencies of government to honour the invitation of… Read full story

June 12: A Milestone For Democracy – Tinubu
The election of June 12th 1993 changed Nigeria profoundly. That it would have this deep and positive effect was not always certain. Many people laboured, struggled and sacrificed for democracy. They fought not that we would have democracy day but that Nigeria might exist as a democracy every day. When I say democracy… Read full story

EDITORIAL: Defence Minister’s Lamentation
THE Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, has lamented that Nigeria’s military is too understaffed and underfunded to tackle the various security challenges facing the country. He made this lamentation while briefing journalists after a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting where he said he had made a presentation on… Read full story