Audu Ogbeh, the Nigerian minister of agriculture and rural development and his Moroccan counterpart, Aziz Akhannouch, have signed an agreement on vocational training and technical support, which will increase the capacity for agricultural management in Nigeria.
The two countries signed three agreements on agricultural cooperation, basic chemicals platform and a gas pipeline. In December 2016, Nigeria and Morocco signed a collaboration agreement to revive the abandoned Nigerian fertiliser blending plants. 14 fertiliser plants have been revitalised so far under the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative. Minister Audu Ogbeh is on the entourage of President Muhammadu Buhari on his 2-day official visit to Morocco.
In an audience with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Morocco, Saadeddine Othmani, at the Royal Guest Palace, President Buhari stated that Nigeria’s visionary and resilient population works hard to always position the country for more growth.
“Nigerians are intellectually aggressive and economically ambitious. I received some of our students here yesterday and I am really impressed with the zeal and fearlessness they exuded… In Nigeria we have a very young and aggressive population and we are working very hard to create the enabling and inclusive environment for their contributions to be better appreciated,’’ the president of Nigeria said.
He also make a remark about how Nigeria is on the verge of an agricultural revolution as the importation of rice has reduced by 90 per cent in less than 2 years.
“We need to do more to improve our statistics on food production and graciously, the weather has been auspicious in the last couple of years for agricultural growth. We are happy that through partnership with you and hard work, the price of fertilizer is already down by 50 per cent,’’ he said.
The Prime Minister of Morocco stated that his country had always been impressed by Nigeria’s intellectual zeal and strength, “Your visit to our country is historic and we are looking forward to more partnerships, especially among our universities, which would further consolidate our relationship,’’ said Mr Othman.
