Chief Imam of Ogbomosho land, Dr Yinus Ayilara, has urged Nigerians to go back into farming in order to tackle the economic hardship and food insecurity gripping the country.

Sheikh Ayilara asserted that rather than looking for shortcut to success, Nigerians, particularly youths, should learn to cultivate lands and plant crops that would be of benefit to them and their immediate environment.

He stated this during the a Ramadan Lecture held on Saturday, at Imasayi, Yewa North Local government area of Ogun State.

The Chief Imam lamented that due to the sins of humans and negligence of those in leadership, the country despite being blessed with several mineral resources remained poor.

Ayilara opined that Nigerians should seek Allah’s forgiveness in order to succeed in whatever they do.

His words, “The fact is that as Nigerians, we’ve decided not to follow the instructions of Almighty Allah.

“We have decided to sin against Allah and not to follow the laid down rules of the one who created us, and that is why we find ourselves in this problem.

“For instance, if we look at the country, Nigeria is blessed with so many mineral resources but our governments deciding not to utilize these resources effectively is why we are having these problem.

“Another thing is that we must repent from our sins, the sins of illicit acts that have corrupted our society, that has corrupted you as an individual and the people around us. If you do this, Almighty Allah will assist us, forgive us, and we will see His good face.”

Delivering the Ramadan lecture themed, “Navigating Food Insecurity In Nigeria: Economic And Sustainable Solutions During Ramadan”, the Chief Imam argued that another solution to the country’s hardship is by going back to the farm, urging government at all levels to key into agriculture and create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

“To solve this problem, every one of us should go back to the farm. Let’s go back to the farm.

“If you cultivate lands and plant crops, those crops would be of benefit not to you alone but to every other person around you. Go and become a farmer that would sell to your immediate community. It will assist them and solve the problem of hunger that we are having.

“Not only that, our government needs to intervene. They need to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

“They need to assist farmers for them to cultivate their lands, and assist in terms of mechanized farming because, subsistence farming cannot assist us. We want farmers that can feed himself and equally feed people around him,” he submitted.

In his welcome address, the Olu of Imasayi Kingdom, Oba Lukman Kuoye, implored Muslim faithful to strive to make positive impacts in their communities and always remember the values of compassion, empathy and kindness.

Embrace farming to tackle hunger – Chief Imam tells Nigerians