New Telegraph

Lawan to FG: Use Natural Resources Fund to diversify economy

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, yesterday, urged the federal government to deploy Natural Resources Development Fund to support enterprises within the agriculture and solid minerals sectors as a way of diversifying the nation’s economy. Lawan made the call in his contribution to debate on a bill seeking to develop tea and coffee growth, production and marketing in Nigeria.

“The Natural Resources Development Fund is supposed to support such enterprises in diversifying the economy through the real sectors such as agriculture, solid mineral development and so on.

“I believe that we have a way of ensuring that this bill and subsequent other bills would definitely help to improve and sustain our economy,” he said. Earlier, sponsor of the bill, Senator Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf (APC – Taraba Central), said that the Bill for An Act to provide for the establishment of the National Tea and Coffee Development Council, if passed into law by the National Assembly, would enhance rapid economic diversification of the agricultural sector as well as enhance revenue to government.

He noted that states like Taraba, Plateau, and Cross River in the South were endowed with suitable climate and soil conditions that could be harnessed for commercial cultivation of tea, especially around the Mambilla, Jos Plateau and Obudu Range. “It is regrettable that governments have not made any major impact in terms of active involvement and/or participating in tea and coffee growth, production and marketing sectors of the economy.”

“The only government presence in the development of tea production could be placed to the mid 70’s, when government officials netted into joint venture with some state governments and private entrepreneurs to setup a tea farm and factory in Taraba State,” he said.

The politician observed that the New Nigerian Development Company Limited (NNDC) and the Adamawa state government had since sold equity shareholding in the above mentioned tea company as “the only government presence in coffee development is the establishment of Coffee Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN).”

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