A Professor at the University of Port Harcourt has commended the Federal Government’s prioritizing of agriculture to boost food security which is one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 9-point agenda.
Prof. Olufemi Adesope, Assistant Director at the Center for Research Management and Development in the institution gave the commendation while speaking with Our Correspondent in Port Harcourt.
Adesope said that agriculture and food security have enjoyed some improvement during President Buhari’s second tenure in spite of the global economic crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Obviously because of the poor performance of the oil sector of late, occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the agriculture sector has shown relative progress in terms of food sufficiency,’’ he said.
Adesope however, urged the Buhari administration to do more by matching words with action in implementing its agriculture policies.
“The continued ban on food importation especially rice is highly commendable and has also created more thriving opportunities for our local farmers in the sector,’’ he said.
Speaking on other areas of Buhari’s achievements, Adesope asserts that the Tertiary Education Trust fund (TETFUND) delivery has been impressive.
He added that the Federal Government should invest more in the education sector to enable it to compete and effectively meet global standards.
On service delivery by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) Adesope commended the relevant examination bodies on recent enhanced technological boost.
He attributed the high standard by the examination bodies to a conscious effort by the Federal Government towards salvaging the education sector.
The don however lamented the poor standard in the health care sector.
“The health sector is one critical sector still yearning for speedy revolution, the volume of money invested so far in the sector is not commensurate with what is on ground,’’ Adesope said.