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| Lagos State Commissioner of Agriculture, Ms Ruth Abisola Olusanya (4th, 2nd row, from left) with Officials, Sponsors and Contestants. |
…Ali
Elias
As part of
activities lined up in observance of the World Food Day, which comes up on 16
October every year, the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture held Its annual Schools
Agric Quiz Competitions on Thursday.
Speaking at
the event, the Lagos State commissioner of Agriculture, Ms Ruth Abisola Olusanya, said the purpose of the
competition is to raise the awareness of the students to the importance of
agriculture and the Food systems.
“To the
students we look up to you as the present and as the future. For partaking in
this quiz competition is not for want of anything, but especially just to bring
to your awareness the importance of agriculture, the importance of the food
system and your role in it. That's why we are here and that's why we celebrate
the world food day.
“Today's
event, the school quiz competition, with the world food day theme tagged ‘Water is life, water is food, leave no one
behind’, is a very apt theme; considering that water is becoming a big
scarce resource. You may ask yourself, How? considering the fact that you see
flood, you see the rain, and you are wondering how is water is scarce resource?
“The truth
of the matter” she went on, “is that the requirement for water by the
agricultural sector is huge. And I believe that the agricultural sector
utilizes 40% of water available for its use.
It therefore necessitates that those in agriculture will find a way of
recycling the use of water, recirculating the use of water; such that there
will still be enough water for use by households for cooking or cleaning, and
for any other thing that might be required particularly around human
consumption”
Then she
underscored the importance of water, the importance of water conservation even
in the family, while revealing some of the government’s agricultural
programmes, and why the students should study and be part of the food system.
“Without
water there will be no life. I can't imagine anyone here today that will not
have a drink of water, at least, minimum once a day. And you know they say you
can live without food for a long time but you can't live without water, maximum
3 or 4 days, you can see the effect of not drinking water on yourself. That's
the importance of water.
“That is why
even as students the effective utilisation of water is important and the onus
lies on you to teach your siblings and help your parents to conserve water
“At the
ministry we run several programmes trying to bring to your knowledge the
benefits of studying agriculture and to be a part of the food systems.
“The truth
of the matter is that as I speak to you, your uniforms, some of them are made
of cotton. Cotton is an agricultural product; it therefore means that
agriculture is embedded in your everyday life. The hair cream you have on your
hair, be it coconut oil or coconut cream, or any other cream, most of the
components are also agricultural crop. If it is the rubber on the tyre of the
vehicle that brought you here, that tyre is made of rubber; rubber is an
agricultural commodity, that is also agriculture. If it is the Milo but you
drank this morning before coming to school, that Milo is also made from some
kind of bean. If it is coffee or chocolate, there will be a component of agriculture
in it, if it is milk, milk is dairy and that is agriculture, which is cattle
rearing. If it is rice, tomato, it is still agriculture” the Commissioner
concluded.
Earlier, the
Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture, Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola had
spoken in the same vein; emphasizing the need for students to be encouraged to
go into agriculture and for them not to see it as a back breaking activity. He
further told the students that they can reach the heights of their vision in agriculture.
“If you choose any branch of agriculture, there are no heights you can’t attain in life. You are the one who can stop yourself, not the profession. When I was growing, the sound was without cutlass and hoes, farming incomplete, but now it’s not like that. Now, tractors, information technology, and artificial intelligence can all be used in agriculture
“I am looking for some of you who will
transform Agriculture through Artificial intelligence to develop mobile
application that would be used to revolutionised Agriculture in Nigeria and the
world.
We need to
feed the nation with over 200 million, and we cannot achieve that with just
using cutlass and hoes”.
At the end
of the competition proper, Obene High School clinched the first position, while
Agidingbi Senior Grammar School, and
Alaro Senior High School, took the second and third positions
respectively. Mr. Olajide Ayodeji Famewo
anchored the quiz competition as the Quiz master, with a total of about 17
schools in attendance.
The event
which was well organized was partly sponsored by Dangote Sugar Refinery, Guarantee
Trust Bank, and others.