Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe has stated that the majority of the Nigerian products being produced are wasting away, News About Nigeria Reports.
The Senator stated this while speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday.
He noted that, as opposed to the former, there are no industrial estates in the country, adding that the federal government must create industrial estates and invest in research as part of its efforts to address the rising cost of food items in the country.
“We had several industrial estates then. That is what the federal government has failed to do. Create industrial estates, where they do research on all these commodities, and put them out.
“Over half of what is produced is wasted because they are not processed,” he said.
The former Minister of Works and Housing made this call while reacting to the alarming increase in the prices of food and commodities in the country.
Note that in recent months, the prices of food have increased tremendously as the high cost of living spiked across the country.
Speaking on how to address the situation, Senator Ogunlewe suggested that the right investments in research and the creation of industrial estates like they were decades ago will help tackle the issue.
Ogunlewe, however, lamented that the country’s continued abandonment of research, which, according to him, is the backbone of food security and other societal advancement, has done more harm than good.
He said, “There are professors in all our universities that are only doing research on rice – new varieties of rice; they are doing research on a daily basis on them.”
“Let the Federal Government invest in what we have, we will produce a lot better. But when you don’t invest in research in your country, and you think your country is going to grow, it is very difficult. Invest in them; give them more money for research.”
