At a time when the Federal Government is focusing on agriculture, in its diversification programme, former governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, has stated that Nigeria can experience economic boom, not recession if it is fully committed to the growth of agriculture.

According to ceoafrica, Kalu stated this in a paper he delivered on Thursday, entitled: “Sustainable Agriculture: A Credible Alternative for National Development,” at the 43rd convocation of the Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu, Ebonyi State.

He expressed regrets that successive governments in Nigeria had paid less attention to agriculture, in preference to oil, saying with the drop in the price of oil, the country was now grappling with economic problems, which should not have been if attention was paid to agriculture also.

He called on institutions of higher learning to show the way by becoming more practical in their approach to teaching.

He said:  “There is the need for our institutions to be less theoretical and become more practical, especially now that the world is changing. The time has come for us to move this great country forward, and to do this, there has to be an end to the blame game.

“Today, I make bold to say that all over the country, what we enjoy in terms of infrastructure are basically projects that were initiated and executed by the founding fathers of this great country. Just imagine if the resources we have earned from oil over the years had been committed into developing this country the same way the one earned from agriculture was deployed by past leaders, today, Nigeria would have been in the mode of Dubai and Saudi Arabia, if not better.

“However, all hope is not lost, as agriculture, which gave us the pride of place in the past, is still available to be explored and exploited, and now is the time to do that, especially with the Federal Government’s preparedness to support it at any level not just to ensure food sufficiency but also for national development.

Kalu said that the commitment to agriculture by the nation’s founding fathers led to the infrastructure development Nigeria still enjoys till date.