Nigeria should make use of the comparative advantage it has in its agricultural sector over other developing countries in the world, for her to enjoy national focus to drive its industrialisation agenda.

This was the submission of Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) at a media briefing in Abuja recently.

Rafsanjani who noted that the provision of inputs like fertilisers, sprayers and crop protection chemicals on credit at market prices to farmers to boost agricultural products in the country said "Nigeria must take advantage of the present trend in the price of rice and other staple food stuff in the international market stands to put its house in order for the present and future generations".

He said "The revolution in the country's telecommunication sector could also be achieved in the agricultural sector to the benefit of the industrial sector and indeed the economy if the government take cognisance of the role to be played by the private sectors in the agricultural development of the country"

In his words, "What is required to reposition the agricultural sector is a policy to attract increased Organised Private Sector participation. This has been proved by the remarkable results achieved in the telecommunication sector within a very short time."

Specifically, he canvassed measures to improve the production capacity of farmers. "For instance, only 10 per cent of the land in the North is accessible to irrigation," he noted.

He also urged government to provide farmers with a minimum guaranteed price, which he said, would assure them of good returns on their investments even in the event of price fluctuation.

He called on the three tiers of government to put in place measures that will help protect the agricultural sector, just as it stressed the need for government to improve on agricultural productivity.

He said "While Nigerians celebrates her 50 years of development of oil sector; we must also lament the underdevelopment of the non-oil sectors and of course underdevelopment of our politics compared to even Sierra-Leone, Ghana and South Africa among other emerging democratic African nations".

He, however, said government should play necessary roles in improving rice and other staple food stuff production in the country, especially in view of the global food crisis.