By: Abdulrasheed Ibrahim, LL.M, Notary Public
If you have been privileged travelling throughout the length and the breadth of this country, you will agree with me that Nigeria as a nation is abundantly blessed with arable land that can bring about revolution in agricultural development (Agric-Dev) if we have been having at all levels of governments the right leaders that are seriously concerned about saving Nigerians from hunger and poverty. Since the collapse of those regional governments that made fortunes from the agricultural sector and the advent of the military rulers that sent the civilian government packing in 1966, the nation seemed to have waved goodbye to serious agricultural businesses. Do not mind the so-called “Operation Feed the Nation (OFN)” introduced by General Olusegun Obasanjo during his leadership as the military Head of State. Some people till date still hold the view that what Obasanjo actually meant by “Operation Feed Nation (OFN)” was “Obasanjo Farms Nigeria (OFN)” and not the other way round.
Alhaji Shehu Shagari that succeeded General Obasanjo as a civilian President did not see any reason why he should continue with his predecessor’s “Operation Feed the Nation (OFN)” but rather introduced his own programme called the “Green Revolution” which was said to have been designed to compensate the loyal party men and women who were issued with licences to import rice into the country. According to Alhaji Lateef Jakande in his book published in 1985 titled “The Action Years - An Economic Miracle” x-raying his leadership as Governor of Lagos State during the Second Republic .
“Only a handful of men and women of the party controlling the Federal Government benefit from the present disastrous situations. Licences for 200,000 tons of rice were distributed to party men a few months ago, party men who were not rice importers or traders. Most of them sold their licences to merchants who imported the rice and, naturally, inflated its price.”
Was it proper in a civilized nation to be talking about “Green Revolution” and still encouraging the importation of what can be produced in that nation? I feel very worried most times I see able bodied youths running about the streets and bus stops’ looking for loads to fetch for other people in exchange for payment .This is the result of joblessness in the country. There are youths interested in going into large scale farming but without adequate support from those in governments that suppose to introduce policy that will encourage and boost the agricultural sector. With vast fertile land in most of States of the Federation, most of the Governors are not interested in embarking on modern mechanized farming to revolutionize the agricultural sector. Is agricultural development not a good alternative to create employment for the jobless youths? One continues to wonder, what is the essence of those universities of agriculture and technology established around the country? There are countless number of graduates who studied and obtained degrees in Agricultural Science from various universities but are today either doing nothing or doing things that are irrelevant to that sector. In reality, do you blame those graduates when the governments are not taking the agricultural sector serious or have regarded farming as the business of poor people? I absolutely agree with Lateef Jakande when he said:
“As long as crop farming and fishing are seen as the occupation of the poor we can never solve the problem of food scarcity in this country. Under our programme, farmers will be organised into co-operatives and encouraged and assisted to operate on large scale than they are now. Together these organisations represent a new approach to agricultural development and I am satisfied that it will become a model for the whole country.”
The subsequent sacking of the Second Republic by the military coup of December 1983 frustrated the vision of Jakande to further demonstrate leadership style to others on agricultural development. This notwithstanding the vision plan is still on the ground for those leaders who may want to borrow one leave or the other from the one time Action Governor of Lagos State. It was the same Jakande that said:
“Honestly, I can never understand why a great agricultural country like ours with vast uncultivated and fertile agricultural land, should import such a large quantity of agricultural products. But the solution to the problem is not banning or controlling importation as the Federal Government has done but to render importation altogether unprofitable. The Federal Government should subsidize very heavily the production of rice and other food items so that the farmers can profitably sell their products at lower price than the imported items. We are blessed with several miles of arable land in Borno , Gongola, Plateau and Oyo States which can produce in three months all rice this nation needs for her consumption and for export to other countries.”
The above assertion was coming from a Governor who was never a university graduate like our present day Governors some of whom are Ph.D holders, Professors, Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) with other various foreign degrees. Can we ask them, what have they been doing with those “uncultivated and several miles of arable land” under their custody? Jakande made the above remarks about 40 years ago as the then Governor of Lagos State when we had only 19 States in the country but today we have 36 States excluding Abuja ,the Federal Capital Territory. Mr. Babajide Kolawole Otitoju once said it on the TVC’s Journalists Hangout programme that Tabara State alone can produce all the rice need for consumption in this country. Why are the Governors not interested in investing in the agricultural sector to develop the agricultural potentials in their respective States? Are they comfortable with the sharing the revenue from the crude oil? Why are parts of the allocations not invested in the agricultural sector?
While the effort of the present Federal Government must be commended for its commitment to the local production of rice, the problem being faced in buying the products as well as others at exorbitant price must equally be addressed by the government. There is no doubt that the problem of insecurity being created by the terrorists like Boko haram, bandits and kidnappers in different parts the country has worsen the situation of food scarcity. It is the responsibility of the government to seriously handle this security situation by dealing decisively with these criminals in the language they understand to create enabling environment for the agricultural development. The incessant clashes between the farmers and the herdsmen also need to be addressed and resolved. The major cause of this problem is the failure on the part of the government to do the right things.
Agricultural development in the civilized and developed countries has gone beyond the farmers making use of hoes and cutlasses in cultivating and planting on their farmland or the herdsmen being allowed to move about everywhere with cattle and sheep for grazing. As we are no longer in the Stone Age people must be taught to embrace new ideas and modern technologies in the way to things are being done to be more productive. As long as these outdated methods are allowed to continue in this country without the governments living up to its responsibility to invest heavily on modern technologies in agricultural development as being practised in the other developed countries, the problems will persist. What should the government do?
When General Yakubu Gowon was the military Head of State, he was reported to have said that money was not the problem of the country but how to spend it. This assertion must have been prompted by the volume of money his government made during the oil boom period which prompted them to abandon the agricultural sector in the country, the attitudes which continue till date by the successive governments. If those in governments had been very serious, a lot of money should have been invested in the training of the Fulani people on how to embrace ranching or animal husbandry as being done in many developed countries where you see different settlements to show for that. Similarly a lot of money should have been invested in the training farmers to embrace modern mechanized farming in large scale with farm settlements being established in different parts of the country as was done by Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the old Western Region as well as still being done presently in some developed countries.
If Nigerian leaders have been getting it wrong all this while, it is still not too late for change of attitude to embrace policy on agricultural development. All they need to do at various levels is to encourage formation of co-operative organizations or associations on different types of farming. Agricultural experts should be engaged to train members of these various organization on different methods of modern farming and the use of modern agricultural implements that the government must be ready to make available. Even if possible the representatives of those co-operative organizations can be taken on trips to other developed countries to see how modern mechanized farming are being practised. To really appreciate what modern farming is all about, take your Smartphone and watch the wonders of agricultural development in the developed countries on YOUTUBE ! It is very unfortunate that we live in a country that is so blessed with vast fertile land, but its great potentials are not encouraged to be exploited and utilised adequately.
It is necessary to state clearly here that the arrogant attitudes being displayed by some people including leaders at the helm of affairs who ought to know better will take them or the country nowhere. Some Governors have been heard to say that no land would be made available for ranching or animal husbandry for a particular group of people. If that is their position, let them make that land available to their own people considered to be indigenous and encouraging them into ranching and animal husbandry as well as large scale farming with the use of modern farming implement. If that is done, it is then, they will be taken serious and believed to mean well for the people in their respective States. It is will be irrational as a result of few bad eggs in the midst of a particular group of people to tag everyone in that group as criminal. Let the criminals be identified, fished out and dealt with in accordance with the law of the land.
I have said it somewhere else that the best way to have a successful agricultural development is to ban completely the open grazing of animals and if this is done a place must be provided for those engaging in animal rearing to restrict themselves to and practice their ranching or animal husbandry. I do not agree with those calling for the banning open grazing and at the same time still stand against the idea of ranching as that will be irrational. If ranching is created where animals are being restricted to be taken care of, any transgression therefrom must be dealt with and sanction. Another great misconception among some people that must be corrected is that the rearing of cattle is wrongly being seen as the exclusive business of the Fulani people. Like every other kind of animal husbandries, anyone that is interested in the rearing of cattle is at liberty to go into it. Cattle rearing may be the predominant job of the Fulani people but that does not stop other people from engaging in it. Some people including politicians who are not Fulani people are even said to be buying cattle for Fulani people to rear for them. Another irony of the issue is that the Fulanis that rear cattle hardly eat or consume them but other tribal groups can hardly do without the use of cattle in their various ceremonies.
The intent here is to reawaken and draw the attention of governments at various levels to again have a rethink and look seriously into the revival of the agricultural development in the country. There is the need to bring about revolution in that sector. There are people who are interested in the sector but lack of the financial capacity to be involved and this is where the leaders in governments need to come in .It is therefore the duty of government to make this economic miracle a reality which is capable of reducing drastically the issue of hunger, joblessness and poverty in the country. What is required on the part of government is commitment and sincerity of purpose. The agricultural sector is worthy of being encouraged and money invested heavily in it .The Nigerian leaders just need to be visionary and committed.
NOTE: Anyone is at liberty to disagree with my above submissions as I will surely appreciate a balanced, fair and objective rebuttal.
08055476823, 08164683735: [email protected]