For Vice President Kashim Shettima and six governors to visit the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone, near Cotonou in the Republic of Benin, to understudy their agro-industrial model, shows how Nigeria’s ratings in agriculture and other indices of good governance have dropped to abysmally low levels due to the mismanagement of the country’s abundant natural resources by successive governments, Ejiofor Alike reports
It was quite shocking to many Nigerians when news broke last week that six governors visited the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ), in the Republic of Benin, and pledged to replicate the country’s state-level agro-industrial zones in their respective states.
Many believe that a country that prides itself as Africa’s largest economy should have reserved such a trip for relevant officials and agencies in the state and Federal Ministries of Agriculture, and not the vice president and the governors.
The governors, who were led on the visit by Vice President Kashim Shettima, had also vowed to adapt GDIZ model to revive textiles, process farm produce and create job opportunities.
Nigeria was already an agricultural giant in the 1950s and third-largest textile giant in Africa in the 1970s, operating about 180 textile mills.
