President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday urged Nigerians to patronise bread made from cassava, demonstrating this resolve by eating the product even as he added that he has been eating and will continue eating the product till he leaves the Presidential Villa.
Jonathan’s advice came just as the federal government disclosed yesterday that it spends N656 billion yearly on the importation of wheat.
According to the government, substitution of wheat bread with 40 per cent of cassava alone will save the country a lot of money as well as create jobs and markets for the farmers at stabilised prices.
Speaking at the presentation of the cassava bread by the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Adewumi after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, President Jonathan noted that it was proper for council to formally present the bread to Nigerians.
He said, “I have been eating this bread for the past one week and I will continue to eat only this bread until I leave State House. We must encourage what we have. Other countries that became great did not wake up one day and become great.
“If you look at the history of a country like China, at a time they closed their doors and restructured everything, began to think again and by the time they opened their doors, the rest is known by all of us.
“For us as a nation to move forward, we must also tame our exotic taste. Some of these things we bring from outside are not even as good as what we have within our country.
“Today, the Honourable Minister of Agriculture has formally given us a sample of cassava bread which is commercialised now. This project is one that the federal government started some years back when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was the president to encourage Nigerians to use cassava as part of the ingredients of producing bread and other items that we need because of the cost of wheat”.
Jonathan recalled that at a point in time, government was pleading with Nigerians to use only 10 per cent, noting that, “but today we have bread that is 40 per cent cassava and 60 per cent wheat.