The Federal Govern
ment has been urged to declare state of emergency on both agriculture and tourism in the country particularly at this period the slump in the oil price is impacting seriously on the nation’s economy.
The Managing Director, Evergreen Farms in Port Harcourt, Chief Everest Eddie, who made the call in an interview with The Tide yesterday, blamed the strong effect of the oil price slump on the economy on the inability of our past leaders to show strong interest in developing tourism and agriculture.
According to him, “you cannot quantify the huge potentials in Nigeria’s agriculture and tourism sectors”, he said and stressed the need for proper steps to be taken towards developing the two sectors.
Eddie called on the Federal Government to declare state of emergency on both sectors and to also look inward into other numerous areas that could increase the nation’s economic well-being.
“In terms of food, raw materials, employment and economic generation, harnessing tourism and agriculture can be the sure way out of the quagmire we find ourselves,” he said.
He accused past leadership of empowering ‘portfolio’ farmers instead of the right farmers emphasizing that if farming was made attractive, so many youths would be interested and that youth unemployment and its associated problems would have been drastically reduced.
“Nigeria remains one of the best countries in the world for fishing and cultivation of different types of crops as well as livestock, he said adding that many tourism potentials remain unattended and called for change of attitude on the part of the political leaders.