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From Laolu Akande, New York
TOP government officials,
politicians and farmers in the United States'
largest state of California, including
actor-turned Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,
are eagerly awaiting Nigeria at an international
agricultural exhibition taking place in
the state's Tulare County next month.
United States (U.S.) Congressman Devin Nunes
has personally invited President Olusegun
Obasanjo to the event that is regarded as
the biggest agriculture fair in the world.
The Nigerian leader has, in a letter, accepted
the invitation in principle.
A special joint session of the California
State Assembly might be held to officially
welcome President Obasanjo to the state.
As a follow-up, talks are on of a possible
visit to Nigeria by Governor Schwarzenegger,
whose state is the fifth largest economy
in the world.
Nunes, a Republican representing Visalia
in the U.S. House of Representatives intends
to sponsor a Congressional Record Statement
on the floor of the lower legislative chamber
to commemorate President Obasanjo's visit.
Nigeria's possible participation is receiving
considerable attention in the U.S. especially
in California because of the international
deal that the country has secured that
reduced its debt by 40 per cent. The expectations
among international business people, especially
farming magnates in California, is that
Nigeria would soon be ready to focus on
non-oil resources and create a new business
climate that focuses on agriculture.
More than 1,600 exhibitors are billed
to participate in the yearly expo and the
attendance of Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture,
Alhaji Adamu Bello, and the Kwara State
Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has already
been confirmed.
The President of the Alliance for Agriculture
Corporation, Muyiwa Omololu, said that
the representatives of Kwara, Kaduna, Niger
and Sokoto states would also attend.
The organisers of the event are very excited
in receiving the Nigerian delegation that
they set aside a separate room for the
Nigerians at the International Business
Centre, on the grounds of the fair.
Omololu, an investment banker has been
at the forefront in the U.S. local media
campaigning for a more active agricultural
collaboration with Africa.
As a facilitator of this event, the Alliance
for Agriculture is focusing on irrigation
and solar energy to drive agricultural
development, not only in Nigeria, but also
the entire continent.
Omololu said: "We have received inquiries
from some of the 1,600 companies who are
exhibiting at the expo with a view to establishing
operations in Nigeria. We have also planned
a series of agricultural tours, town hall
meetings and a dinner reception in honour
of the President."
A preview of the February edition of the
California Farm Equipment magazine in its
current edition reports that Obasanjo's
expected visit "was partly informed
by the recent $18 billion debt relief granted
to Nigeria by Western creditors."
It also attributed the development to "Obasanjo's
reforms and renewed drive to steer Nigeria
away from over-dependence on crude oil
as a major foreign exchange earner."
Omololu noted that the exhibition "enables
us to transfer equipment and technology
to all the states in Nigeria across all
the geographical terrain, to assist in
food production and alleviating poverty."
He added: "This will force a rethink
of our collective approach to agriculture
that would lead to self sufficiency, food
security and excess capacity for export
in Nigeria. This will in turn create thousands
of jobs for our youths that are currently
unemployed."
He noted that Obasanjo now "has a
unique opportunity to champion agricultural
development on a mechanised scale not only
for Nigeria, but also the African continent."
This, he added, "is especially true
for countries like Liberia, with its new
democracy and the goodwill it enjoys from
the United States as evidenced by the recent
attendance of Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson's presidential
inauguration by the American First Lady,
Laura Bush and Secretary of State, Condoleezza
Rice."
The fair starts in two weeks and media
reports in California have continued to
highlight Nigeria's participation. A report
from the Visalia Times said: "President
of Nigeria might visit Ag Expo." It
quoted the U.S. Congressman's office as
saying: "Nigeria is a country in transition.
They have an oil-based economy for a long
time and they're trying to diversify their
economy with agriculture."
The acting General Manager of the International
Agric Centre, Jerry Sinift, said of Obasanjo's
likely attendance: "We are trying
not to get excited, but if he comes, its
cool."
The paper also quoted Obasanjo's speech
at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos
last year that Africans "cannot think
of security as just the absence of violence...without
food security, there cannot be the peace
and security that world is looking for."
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