News in brief:Â
– Yoruba Elites in Politics group urge Nigeria to shift focus from petroleum to prioritise cocoa production.
– It emphasised its potential for economic recovery and blamed the current economic downturn on abandoning it initially.
Yoruba Elites in Politics, a socio-political group, has urged the Tinubu-led administration to prioritize cocoa production over petroleum as a way to recover the country’s economy.
In a statement, the group’s chairman, Olaposi Oginni, stressed that human and natural resources must be utilised for optimum production in the area of agriculture for speedy economic recovery.
He also claimed that neglecting cocoa farmers and production due to oil discovery was responsible for Nigeria’s current economic vulnerability. Also, he blamed the depreciating naira on the fall of exportation.’
Oginni urged the government to follow the economic blueprint of late Obafemi Awolowo, where cocoa production was prioritised. He called attention to the cocoa industry’s potential to boost Nigeria’s economy and reduce poverty.
The group’s admonition comes shortly after the Cocoa Revolution Project was launched in Abeokuta, Ogun State. This project targets increasing cocoa production in Nigeria by 1 million metric tonnes in the next five years.
Nigeria is the world’s fourth-largest cocoa producer, but its production has declined in recent years due to a number of factors, including aging cocoa trees, pests and diseases, and lack of investment.
The Yoruba Elites in Politics believe that prioritising cocoa production can help to revive the Nigerian economy and create jobs for millions of people.
