Abuja — Presidential Adviser on Agriculture and Food Security, Chief Audu Ogbeh, yesterday predicted doom for the Nigerian economy in the next three years except urgent steps were taken to stop importation of agro- based products and foods which can be sourced or produced locally.

Besides, Ogbeh raised alarm over the rising level of unemployment and poverty in the country despite the poverty alleviation initiatives mounted by the Federal Government, blaming the situation on importers of food and agro-based products which are produced within the country.

Ogbeh, National Chairman of the ruling- Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spoke at an expo for Vladimerets range of tractors and agricultural implements and fertilizers staged at the Nicon Hilton Hotel Abuja by an agro-based firm, Nigerian Investment Co-operative Agency (NICA).

Reeling out statistics of imported foods and agro-based products, Ogbeh disclosed that Nigeria spends at least $750 million annually to import rice, about N400 million on cassava and other related products and another N400 million on sugar and milk.

"The argument has always been that it is cheaper to import every thing. For it takes one person to bring in a shipload of 10, 000 tonnes of rice, at the same time half a million Nigerians will produce 10, 000 tonnes of rice per annum given the very low level of mecahanisation. So for one ship load of rice that arrives, 500,000 Nigerians are denied their jobs and earnings" Ogbeh said .

"It's quite convenient to say you can import sugar and beef, where on earth can you import yams from? Because nobody grows yams as much as Nigeria and nobody consumes like Nigeria. Where will you import your garri? Nobody produces as much cassava as we do. We are now producing at 40, 00 tonnes per annum. This means that we must try to rethink agriculture and also intensify mechanisation" he added.

Citing the example of the state of Punjab in India which he said has a population of 29 million but has a total of 400, 000 tractors to support mechanised farming, Ogbeh queried: "I would like any one of you to tell me how many tractors your state of origin has?".

The Presidential Adviser regretted that the neglect of the agricultural sector was responsible for the high level of unemployment in the country.

"What is the cost of a young graduate who spends seven years to get a three year -degree and roams the streets for another seven years in search of jobs. If you look at this in terms of just the value of Naira and the landing cost, its cheaper but if you look at the over all cost to the country and the agony it creates, it is certainly more expensive to import," he added.

Decrying the level of unemployment, Ogbeh disclosed that about 16 million Nigerian youths were in the primary schools, 4 million in secondary schools and over one million seeking university education out of which only 250, 000 get admission. He said the universities and other tertiary institutions were producing annually a total of 500,000 graduates that had no jobs to do.

This situation, he lamented, has led to increase in the rural- urban migration which he said was at 5 per cent per annum, placing Nigeria as one of the countries with the highest level of rural-urban drift.

"Nigeria has the highest migration level in the world now with nearly 5 per cent per annum. It means that cities like Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt will become impossible to manage in the next 15 to 20 years" he noted adding that this will create a high crime rate as in Brazil which has a high crime rate because only 18 per cent of the population are living in rural areas.