Nigeria aims to be world's largest cocoa producer

Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh

 -The federal government plans to improve cocoa production in Nigeria

- A committee was established and saddled with the responsibility of achieving this

- Nigeria is the seventh largest producer of coca in the world

The President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has announced plans to become the world largest producer and exporter of cocoa in a move some have touted as a way of stopping the country’s over-dependence on oil.

Vanguard reports that this was disclosed by Chief Audu Ogbeh who is the minister of of agriculture at the launch of the Cocoa Re-launch Committee led by Dr Olayiwola Oluwole in Abuja.

The minister said the ambition of the government to reach the top of the ladder and be the world largest producer was possible with the new committee.

He said: “In-house here we can say is a shame for us to be number seven on the list of cocoa producers in the world, but we must reverse it to be at the top and that is why we are here. This is the time to do it and no other time than to do it now."