TheCable

Rauf Aregbesola, governor of Osun state, on Tuesday said people find it difficult to believe that the state is facing serious economic challenges because of the massive infrastructural projects undertaken by his administration.

Maintaining that Osun is not the only state experiencing tough times, Aregbesola said the country must learn some lessons from the current situation.

He said this when he played host to the team of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Osogbo, led by Omowumi Omidiji, its new general manager.

“The difficulty we are experiencing is almost universal; it is national. And no sub-set of the federation is exempted from this economic crisis,” he said.

“Thus, as a state, we are equally challenged. But because of the massive work we embarked on in this state, it is difficult for the people to believe that we are going through serious challenges.

“The on-going work they see every day in their vicinity thus makes it difficult for the people to appreciate the seriousness of our economic challenges. The truth is that we are challenged economically.”

He said the disappointment in oil should trigger interest in the agricultural sector.

Aregbesola said God has been kind to the nation by giving it the best of weather, which makes agriculture practicable in all geo-political zones of the country.

He added that as a nation, Nigeria should depend on what her soil and climate can best produce.

Aregbesola advised Nigerians to refrain from “their heavy reliance” on foreign merchandise, warning that if the market continues to be saturated with 75 percent of foreign goods, the poverty trend in the country may continue for a very long time.

“We need to change our consumption pattern and domesticate and indigenise our consumption,” he said.

“We must reduce our penchant for foreign goods and services to the barest minimum and increase our local production and services.

“By this, we would have learnt our lessons and come out better from this economic crisis. But if we refuse to learn any lesson and we return to our reckless past, it would be sad. Generations unborn will not forgive us.

“Whatever we can produce locally should be our staple food. We should depend on what our soil and climate can support and produce such crops in commercial quantity.

“If we do this, we are on the path to self-dependency and happiness but if we continue our dependency on foreign things, we are on the path of continued poverty and dependency.

“We must assume our leadership in the global space by first changing our attitude to life; change our orientation and as well increase our production activities.

“If we do this, we are on the path of greatness. Unless we quickly do this we may remain undeveloped for a very long time.”