The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, stated that the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had recorded tremendous achievements in agriculture.
He told newsmen in Abuja yesterday, that the feats of the party in agriculture were not adequately reported.
He berated some media houses for their preference for negative headlines at the detriment of success stories.
Saraki, noted that in the area of rice farming and processing, the country under the APC government, had risen to a point where it would soon be completely self sufficient.
“You can see what the APC government is doing in agriculture but this is something we don’t talk about, the success that the government has made is tremendous.
“I am sure in a few years, we will be self sufficient in rice and that is a major achievement for a country that is always importing rice to get to the stage where we no longer have to import.
“But how often do you report it, how often does it make your front pages in the papers?
“But the point I am making is that some of these things that we have done in agriculture, I am happy to see that there are a lot of successes,” he said.
Recalling the poultry farm he established during his tenure as governor of Kwara, he said that the farm had grown to be the second largest poultry in Nigeria but was not being reported.
Saraki said that the farm was a true example of a success story, adding that with its current growth rate, it would soon become the largest in Africa with many international companies buying into it.
“Recently the farm was bought into by the largest poultry farm in South Africa.
“I don’t think there is any other example of success in seeing something start from nothing and growing to a state where it is viable and growing to a stage where you can see private sector’s involvement.
“If you go to the community around there, you will see a lot of small scale industries that have picked up and small scale farmers also. It has been a great success.
“The problem sometimes is that some of you in the media, you don’t like going beyond Lagos and Abuja.”
Saraki, however, warned that the success story of the FG in agriculture and those of other states and individuals would amount to nothing if smuggling was allowed to thrive.
He, therefore, called on all agencies concerned to immediately step up their game and end smuggling in Nigeria.
