Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has charged Nigerians to eat locally-made ‘Ofada rice’ regularly to boost food security and encourage those in agricultural business in the country.
Amosun disclosed this at this year’s edition of Festival of Food and Identity hosted by Institute of Cultural Studies of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State.
The governor said the government and people of Ogun State are proud to be identified with the citadel of learning.
“The theme of this festival, ‘Food and Identity,’ resonates with our administration’s initiatives in Agriculture and Food security. Ofada rice has rallied back with government renewed investment and support in today’s Ogun State.
“We believe Agriculture, and more appropriately, Agri-business, with its attendant value chain, has the potential to change the narration of our nation’s excessive and dangerous dependent on oil. We enjoin all of you, and, indeed all Nigerians to accept and pay greater attention to Ofada Rice. It is healthier and far more nutritious”, Amosun said.
Speaking earlier, OAU’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, said the university was striving to live up to the objectives of its founding fathers by giving prominence to the study, promotion and preservation of African culture.
“The festival seeks to enshrine the place and memory of our indigenous food culture in the psyche of our youths and to reiterate our capacity to survive as a people through the adoption and preservation of our culture,” Ogunbodede said.
Dignitaries who attended the event include the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka and Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, who was represented by his country’s Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
