By Ginika Okoye
Abuja – The Federal Government has inaugurated a 10-man committee to work out modalities for repositioning, refocusing and integrating Universities of Agriculture into the Ministry of Agriculture.
Inaugurating the committee in Abuja on Friday, Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, charged the committee members to be committed in the drive for taking the universities to their pride of place.
Ogbeh said that the move was to enable the ministry adequately support the institutions to recover in research and encourage vibrant youth farming in the country.
“The committee will review the updated report of the three universities submitted to the ministry to determine the remedial actions that may be required immediately to stabilise and refocus them.
“I am optimistic that with all of us working together relentlessly and harnessing our respective competencies and strengths for the transformation of the agricultural sector, our ultimate goal for the diversification of the economy will be achieved,’’ he said.
The Committee Team Leader, Prof. Gbolagade Ayoola, commended the Federal Government plan to relocate the institutions from the Ministry of Education to Agriculture.
He promised on behalf of the team to work assiduously to reposition the institutions.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Muhammadu Buhari had recently directed the immediate relocation of the three agriculture institutions to the ministry of agriculture.