By Wale Adedayo
The average State Government in Southern Nigeria is not seriously interested in Agriculture. But up North, the commitment is real. And, it did not start yesterday. It predated the current civilian administration in the Country.
In Northern Nigeria, given the nature of the environment, they do not joke with irrigation for their farmlands.
Meanwhile, you hardly see large expanse of land without agricultural activities going on there, unlike in the South.
If a civil war had broken out earlier, the major fear of some of us, was Food Security. Almost all of Southern Nigeria depend on food supply from the North.
The massive hunger and very high cost of food items today should not be blamed on foreign exchange, aka poor Naira to Dollar rate.
It is due to the poor vision of successive State Governments in Southern Nigeria since 1999.
Up North, once Boko Haram started, it stand to reason that Farmers will not be able to access their Farms.
Sadly, like their Southern counterparts, the Northern Governors at the inception of virulent Boko Haram buried their heads in the sand of indifference.
It got worse after they seek to pat Terrorists disturbing the peace of the North-West on the head by labelling them ‘Bandits’.
Serious actions, which should have been taken against these Terrorists, who were mainly from Niger Republic and Mali were kept in abeyance on the altar of ethnic politics.
Core Northern Politicians were happy that land would be forcibly taken from the Christian and animist minorities.
Meanwhile, they forgot the negative impacts these criminal activities would have on food supply.
The North-Central State of Benue was worse! The State with the label of Food Basket of the Nation was invaded and overwhelmed by Terrorists, who wanted to take over the land. Yet, those in charge in Abuja were busy wringing their hands.
Even in Benue itself, there was hardly unity among the political class on how to tackle the invasion unleashed on them by forces bent on subjugating the people.
Kidnapping of Farmers in the rural parts of the South-West was the first sign that trouble was afoot.
As usual, the Governors concerned only paid lip service. They had no vision about what could happen tomorrow, thus no mission to ensure that their people and land are safe.
The same thing was exported to the landlocked South-East. And it was a similar reaction.
The ONLY ‘safe Zone’ appears to be the South-South, where there were already more than enough organized armed cadres seeking social and economic justice for their People.
Solving the current mess goes beyond President Bola Tinubu. Our Governors MUST be injected with vision, thus giving them a mission.
Right now, they have none of both.
Handouts, which they have started with cannot solve the problem. The first thing to do is to secure the land.
Next is to challenge the various sleeping Ministries of Agriculture to wake up in providing employment and food to the People.
There is NO need for any Government to take over or acquire land. They only need to work with faith with their respective Local Governments in locating Farmers who should have been registered with such Councils.
Whatever Marshall Plan being planned should go to these Farmers through each Local Government. And targets MUST be set.
How many tonnes of Rice, Cassava, Yam and the like should each Local Government produce within one year given the soil in their respective Areas ?
This is a very good opportunity to go back to the land and provide quality employment to the unemployed.
We’ll need Accountants, Engineers, etc, not just those who read Agric as a course. We have more than enough hands to provide security IF the political will is made available. Of course, there MUST be a deliberate effort to kick out impunity.
Whoever is caught in the criminal enterprise of kidnapping should not be allowed to escape simply because such is ‘connected’.
Provision of security and implementation of quality agricultural practices are the way to go !
