The Governor of Osun state, Rauf Aregbesola has urged Nigerians to practice birth control and curb excessive desire for foreign food items in order to survive recession.
The governor said this on Thursday in Osogbo while hosting some youth who just returned from a training sponsored by the state government in modern agricultural technique at Germany.
He explained that his government’s decision to send the youths for the agriculture programme is to boost food production in the state, adding that this will bring about a positive boost in food production.
The governor advised the youths not to be idle as they wait on the government to fulfill its promise to offer financial support.
According to him, “Nigeria is in economic crisis especially as the nation’s economic mainstay, oil, was cheap on the international market.
“The production capacity had reduced significantly due to the activities of the Niger Delta Avengers.
“Besides, we also face food crisis and if we are unable to feed ourselves, then there is problem. We believe, as a government, that we must produce what we consume.
“The first panacea out of the food crisis is for us as a people to drastically curb our excessive taste for foreign foods.
“We should patronise our local foods rather than spend huge but scarce foreign exchange on importation of rice.”
Aregbesola stressed that this would help in reducing the rate of poverty in the state, adding that “now is also the time for our people to practice birth control and control our population”.
