By Atoyebi Nike
At the 2025 South-West Labour Summit in Lagos, Trade Union Congress (TUC) President General Comrade Festus Osifo called on Nigeria to embrace agriculture as a primary driver of economic transformation, warning against over-reliance on crude oil revenues.
Osifo described political inaction in harnessing the country’s vast resources as “laziness” and urged structural reforms to boost productivity. He noted that while Nigeria’s national budget exceeds ₦50 trillion, its dollar value $13-35 billion over the past decade—remains low compared to global benchmarks.
Citing the $120 billion needed to rebuild federal roads four times the annual budget, he stressed that agriculture could unlock far greater revenues. “The Netherlands makes twice Nigeria’s crude earnings from agriculture on far less land. Why can’t we?” he asked.
Lagos State Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Afolabi Ayantayo, representing Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, reaffirmed the state’s commitment to workers’ welfare and called for active promotion of exports and foreign investment.
