The World Bank says it has committed about N13bn ($41m) to six projects in Oyo State, including Urban Flood Management Programme, Ibadan Master Plan, health and agriculture, as part of its efforts to partner the state government’s socio-economic development agenda.
But, the state Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, wants the apex global financial institution to do more for the state in view of the pervading economic recession that has incapacitated the state from harnessing its huge potential.
The governor bared his mind while hosting the World Bank Country Director, Mr. Benmessaoud Rachid, and his mission members in his office in Ibadan, on Monday.
Thanking the World Bank for extending its largesse to the state so far, Ajimobi called for further cooperation and support of the institution in the renewed drive of the state to make agriculture the fulcrum of its economic revival agenda.
He told the visitors that the state had a comparative and competitive advantage in agriculture, including a high concentration of research institutions, vast arable land, manpower and clement weather condition capable of making it to excel in agriculture.
If its potentials were well harnessed, the governor was optimistic that the state was capable of surpassing the success story of the likes of Kebbi State, which is renowned as the highest rice producer in the country.
Ajimobi said, “Your earlier collaborative efforts in agriculture, like FADAMA, State AIDS Control Agency, and others are laudable. But, in the face of the current economic recession, it is our belief that only agriculture can take Nigeria out of the economic doldrums.
