The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Mr Adams Oshiomhole Thursday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for initiating sound policies and programmes in the agriculture sector in the country.
Speaking to State House correspondents after a close-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Oshiomhole said the president’s decision to encourage local production of rice has made it possible for Nigerians to patronise home-grown rice.
“We decided at the level of the national working committee to pay a new year visit to Mr President and to congratulate him on what we have been able to accomplished last year and also to commend the President for the renewed hope as captured in the new year message that was delivered to Nigerians.
“Few years back, people were always afraid of what will happen during the Christmas season, all your money, all the little money you are saving to take back home to celebrate with your people, you end up patronizing ‘Black Market’ to buy a litre of petrol at two, three, or four times the value and sometimes it is adulterated. And we see pictures of people who are stranded across the country because they cannot access petrol.
“I also think that we ought to celebrate the fact that we are able to celebrate Christmas and New Year and people have rice everywhere that were not imported from other countries- Nigerian made rice.
“Now if we can sustain this policy for another one year or two years and Nigerians get used to eating Nigerian rice and our farmers get a ready market for rice, obviously, that aspect of food security would have been put behind us. I thought it was something that we should commend the President for what he has done and the courage to put Nigeria first before any other sentiment. So, we can say that we can see a gradual revolution taking place in the agricultural sector,” he said.
Oshiomhole said the president’s 2020 message was unique and has given a lot of hope for Nigerians.
According to him, “We also thought that giving the reactions of some oppositions, we reassured MR President that there was nothing wrong and we are indeed happy with the New Year message to Nigerians.
“The responsibility of every leadership is to inspire hope. Life is sustained and driven by hope and the challenge of leadership is not to join the people to lament that things are terrible, to give up and join the people in wallowing in self-pity.
“The principles of leadership is to inspire people, give them hope and in this case, in line with the principles of Accountability and Democracy, democracy is not only about voting and everybody goes to sleep, it’s all about explaining periodically what he is doing, what he is going to do differently and what he hopes to accomplish within a given time. And I think that is what the President’s new year message sought to do.
“And I am surprised to see that there are people who begin to wonder why should the President reassure Nigerians that he is not going to do Third Term in office because Third Term was planted by PDP- People’s Democratic Party it is still in the sub-consciousness of most Nigerians that the first Nigerian President who tried to do Third Term, emptied the treasury to bribe members of the National Assembly and since that President left, thanks to the National Assembly, no other next President has done eight years in office. You can recall that President Yar’Adua unfortunately has since joined his ancestors, and President Jonathan did six years and so by the special grace of God, this President whom we pray will do his eight years complete in line with the provision of the constitution.”
Oshiomhole assured Nigerians that the APC would ensure that it takes into account all the mistakes it made in 2019 so that the party would be more stronger, more coherent and more peaceful.
