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The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has said that the Forbes 2013 African Man of the Year award he won was a recognition of what he stood for.
Adesina said that he was not a billionaire but he had a mission to make billionaires from agriculture in the country.
"To have been selected for this award is quite humbling for me knowing full well I am not a billionaire.
"But I have a vision and a mission to turn others in to millionaire and billionaire from agriculture.
"For me, it is not a competition, it was a recognition and that recognition is bigger than myself.
"It is not just about me, it is about what I stand for; it is about what I have tirelessly worked for all my life," he said.
Adesina said it was wrong to find poor farmers in a country like Nigeria that was blessed with a lot of rainfall, great sun shine and big population to consume what was produced
He blamed the situation on the negative conception of some Nigerians, saying that the President Goodluck administration was changing the impression on agriculture to that of creating wealth.
"We are shifting the mindset to agriculture as a sector to create wealth not as a way of managing poverty and I think that Forbes gave recognition to the giant strides we are taking in that direction."
The 2013 Forbes Africa Man of the Year urged African countries to wake up and recognise that the future was not in oil but was only in agriculture as a business.
NAN reports that the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, won the Forbes 2013 Africa Man of the Year on 3 December.
Copyright NAN
"To have been selected for this award is quite humbling for me knowing full well I am not a billionaire.
"But I have a vision and a mission to turn others in to millionaire and billionaire from agriculture.
"For me, it is not a competition, it was a recognition and that recognition is bigger than myself.
"It is not just about me, it is about what I stand for; it is about what I have tirelessly worked for all my life," he said.
Adesina said it was wrong to find poor farmers in a country like Nigeria that was blessed with a lot of rainfall, great sun shine and big population to consume what was produced
He blamed the situation on the negative conception of some Nigerians, saying that the President Goodluck administration was changing the impression on agriculture to that of creating wealth.
"We are shifting the mindset to agriculture as a sector to create wealth not as a way of managing poverty and I think that Forbes gave recognition to the giant strides we are taking in that direction."
The 2013 Forbes Africa Man of the Year urged African countries to wake up and recognise that the future was not in oil but was only in agriculture as a business.
NAN reports that the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, won the Forbes 2013 Africa Man of the Year on 3 December.
Copyright NAN
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