Anchor Borrowers’ Programme: Rice Farmers Yet To Refund Loans – Official

FILE PHOTO: Rice farm in Nigeria.

The Kano State Government has expressed concern over the refusal of rice farmers to refund over N900 million loans which were advanced to them under the Anchor Borrowers’ programme.

Prof Mahmoud Daneji, the Managing Director of the state Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA), made the complaint at a news conference in Kano on Monday.

The news conference was organised by Sasakawa Global 2000 to review the media field day, during which the team visited farmers in Kano, Jigawa and Gombe states, last week.

“I am not happy to say that some of our rice farmers that benefited from the CBN anchor borrowers’ programme are yet to refund over N900 million.

“A total of N906 million was disbursed to the farmers but regrettably, not up to N6 million was recovered from the money, as most of the farmers think that it is a national cake,’’ he said.

Daneji said the state had no fewer than 1, 800 extension agents that worked directly with farmers in the state.

“If the extension link is missing, then farmers or agriculture generally will not develop, hence the government’s decision to recruit more extension workers.’’

Daneji disclosed that the state had within the last one and a half years recruited 729 extension workers to support farmers across the 44 Local Government Areas of the state.

He said the decision to recruit the extension workers was borne out of the state government’s effort to boost agricultural production in the state.

“The current ratio of extension agents to farmers in the state is one extension worker to 300 farmers, while the United Nations recommendation is one extension worker to 250 farmers,’’ Daneji said.

He commended Sasakawa Global 2000 for training the 100 newly-recruited extension workers.

The KNARDA chief executive added that the state government had established five Farmer Information Centres which would soon be inaugurated.

In his remarks, the SG 2000 Country Director, Prof Sani Ahmed-Miko, said the visit to the farmers in the three states had afforded the team the opportunity to interact with farmers.

According to him, the visit had given journalists the opportunity to hear from the beneficiaries of the SG 2000 intervention programmes, especially on the improved production technologies that are being promoted.

Irked by the farmers attitude, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) recently constituted a committee to recover the loans from the defaulting farmers in the state.

The Anchor Borrowers’ Programme is an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), designed to assist farmers with loans to enable them to be able to procure farm inputs, to enhance their productivity.

Source: PM News

Katsina Govt To Train 8,000 Farmers

Aminu Masari, Katsina State governor

Katsina state government has concluded plans to train 8,000 farmers across the 34 local government areas of the state on the production of tomatoes.

Training, to be undertaken under the state Himma Project Agricultural Programme is in partnership with a private company called Agro Alala.

The chairman of the company, Mr Victor Bazugbe, made the disclosure on Sunday in Daura in an interview with NAN.

He said that the 10-year-programme, would involve the establishment of cottage industries in the 34 local government areas, adding that the farmers would be trained on extension services.

Bazugbe said his company would provide the farmers with the required inputs and guaranteed market for their products.

He added that the training would expose the farmers on modern farming techniques.

The chairman said the programme was aimed at employment generation and poverty eradication.

He stressed the need for the farmers registered for the programme to be committed to enable them reap the benefits.

Source: PM News

FADAMA III: 300 Youths, Women Undergo Training In Jigawa

FADAMA Project

The FADAMA III Project in Jigawa has trained 300 youths and women in agricultural entrepreneurship, as part of efforts to boost food production in the state.

The state Project Coordinator, Alhaji Aminu Isa, stated this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Monday.

Isa said that the beneficiaries received the training under the FADAMA’s Graduates Unemployed Youth and Women Support Scheme (GUYS).

He said they were trained on rice thrashing, poultry, fishery and other agricultural practices.

The coordinator stated the programme was being funded by the World Bank under FADAMA III Additional Financing (AF).

The project coordinator, who said 30 per cent of the beneficiaries were women, told NAN that 200 of the trainees would be assisted with grants to enable them set up their own agricultural ventures.

“Two hundred (200) of the beneficiaries, who prepare a feasible business plan, will be given grants to set up businesses.

“Their information and business plans have been sent to our national office in Abuja for consideration.

“The names of the remaining 100 graduates have also been sent to Abuja for linkages to financial institutions to enable them secure soft loans to start their businesses too,” Isa said.

He, therefore, urged them (beneficiaries) to set up their business outfits immediately the fund was given to them.

Source: PM News

Empowering youths for national development

By Dennis Erezi

Without doubt, the youth reflect the  positive and negative picture of any society. Their energies, inventiveness, characters and orientations define the pace of development and security of a nation. Through their creative talents and labour, a nation makes giant strides in economic development and socio-political attainments.

In all societies of the world, a virile youth is the bedrock on which national development is predicated. The youth are the backbone and the building blocks of any nation. It is a fact that the stronger the youth, the more developed a nation is. The role of the youth in the nation-building process cannot be overemphasized as countries that develop and utilize their youth in the right directions seem to be more developed. The energy and brightness of the minds of youth act as torch-bearer for a nation. There is a confirmed connection between the prosperity of a nation and its youth development system.

The late British politician and writer, Benjamin Disraeli, had rightly described ‘Youth of a Nation as the Trustees of Posterity’. It is in the reality of this that many nations have made concerted efforts in galvanizing integrated approach in putting in place youth development structures that have a very high propensity to be a catalyst for their national growth. On the contrary, the countries which fail to realize the importance of the youth lag behind in all aspects of life.

It is, therefore, in realization of the positive value that the youth could add to the growth and development of any society, that the United Nations set aside a week every August from the 12th day to celebrate the International Youth Day. First celebrated in August 2000, the primary objective is to draw public awareness to youth-related issues and values.

The 2017 edition of International Youth Day, with the theme, “Youth Building Peace”, was aimed at stressing the principal role expected of the youth in global peaceful coexistence among the people and the drive for positive change for development through the transformative and resourceful force of the youths, which has been identified by national leaders globally including Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.

Any nation that denies its youth the necessary enabling environment to enthusiastically participate in nation building merely does so at its own perils. Nation-building is a dynamic process that calls for the participation of all segments of the society, including the often-overlooked and undermined youth population and youth resourcefulness that will provide invaluable speed for the progress of any society as well as its development.

As youth are brought into and connected with national issues and programmes, they can participate actively and contribute to decision making at multiple levels. As youths are engaged in more sustained positive relationships with adults, other youths, and national development programmes, apart from realising that they are valued citizens of their nations, such collaborations and participation may lead to skill enhancement, empowerments and confidence-building traits, which will help prepare them for active interest and involvement in nation building.

It is important to note that young people play a crucial role in the prospect for development and should be included in all National Development Plans and Programmes. But, the reality shows that attention to youth has not been sufficient and more needs to be done considering the practical implications of shifting perceptions of youth and the role they can play in the society. These conceptual issues relate to the barriers to effective youth participation in national development, such as lack of education, unemployment, extreme poverty, diverse illnesses and diseases, discrimination and cynicism from both adults and young people themselves about participation competence and institutional resistance.

In Nigeria, the greatest challenge confronting the youth today is unemployment which has become a great challenge to national security. Despite alleged success of various youth   empowerment programmes across the country, over 54% of Nigerian youths remain unemployed. The unemployment record in the country clearly portrays an increase in idle hands across the length and breadth of Nigeria. It is often said that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, so an unemployed youth is a disaster waiting to happen. Activities of groups such as Boko-Haram, Niger Delta militants, Biafra agitators and recently, the Badoo group have serious implications for national security in the country. Sadly, some of these rebellious groups have youths at the forefront of their nefarious activities.

It is a known fact that youths possess a transformative force. They are creative, resourceful and enthusiastic agents of change. Therefore, the need for youth to be listened to and productively engaged cannot be over-emphasized in every context. Youths can determine whether this era moves towards a great peril or a more positive change. Let us support the young people of our world so they can grow into adults and a true platform for more powerful leaders of coming generations.

Unfortunately, in our clime, youth are not being given the needed platform to freely express themselves. Though they have always been touted as ‘future leaders’ since God knows when, our nation clearly needs a spiritual or physical veil remover for us to act the saying ‘the future is now’ for us to stop saying the potential leaders of tomorrow are too young to lead alongside other flimsy excuses.

Around the world, there is a growing recognition of the need to strengthen policies and investments involving young people.We need a properly marshaled policy aimed at harnessing the innate and budding potential of the youth. In Nigeria, the youth almost do not have a voice in the scheme of things. Unemployment, lack of opportunities, faulty educational system, repressive political system, dwindling economic fortunes, among others, are mostly responsible for the suppression of the voice of the youth in our dear nation.

However, it needs to be stressed that the Nigerian youth need to be more focused, creative and disciplined if they are to actually become real agents of change in the country. The Agric and ICT sectors, especially, represent areas where the youth could truly make enormous impact in the country, if only they could become more forward-looking.   

Erezi is an Industrial Attache with the Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Lagos

The trend of rural/urban migration by Nigerian youth has drastically reduced the capacity of agriculture sector to sustain the economy which has capacity to provide job for over 70% of the youth. Sadly, lots of youth idle away in cities rather than getting engaged in agriculture at the country side. Similarly, advancement in ICT presents numerous prospects for the youth to become creative, productive and prosperous.  Unfortunately, rather than exploit the positive and resourceful sides of ICT, some youths have turned it into a tool of defrauding and tricking unassuming individuals through the infamous “yahoo, yahoo ”  syndrome.    

   

On a final note, governments, NGOs, youths based organizations and other relevant stakeholders need to regularly enlighten and properly guide the country’s youth to imbibe the positive sides of life. Also, our education curriculum should be reviewed to reflect contemporary realities that would assist the youth to contribute meaningfully to national development.   

Source: Nigeria Today

$35 billion food importation into Africa

As important as food is to the family, nation and the African continent, how much commitment is there to its availability in sufficient quantities, and acceptable quality as well as at affordable prices? The recent experiences in Somalia and South Sudan where negative impacts of insufficient or total absence of food are manifest, speak loudly to the dire straits in which many African states are. That is why individuals and groups should make concerted and diligent efforts to ensure there is enough food on the table. A country unable to produce enough food to feed its population risks insecurity in various dimensions, especially as food is a major weapon of war and even re-colonisation. African nation states must strive for food security.

To avoid lack of food, countries that do not produce enough for their people, resort to food importation to fill gaps. When the gaps become huge as to substantially drain national resources that would have been used for other needs, great concerns are bound to be expressed. This is particularly germane when the importing country is believed to have what it takes to produce enough food internally without the embarrassment of importation.

Such it was that some African leaders who recently gathered to celebrate with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Oyo State, at its 50th anniversary reportedly expressed concerns at the continent’s annual importation of food worth USD35 billion. What ordinarily should have been an occasion for the clinking of glasses for the recorded achievements of IITA became a platform for some of the leaders present to bemoan Africa’s high level of food importation.

Aware that merely bemoaning the situation cannot solve the problem, they reportedly highlighted some of the measures to reverse it. The measures include increased investment in all aspects of agriculture by African countries, encouragement of the youth to be involved in agribusiness, partnering with institutions such as IITA in order to effectively deal with any challenges facing agriculture and agricultural production, increasing the quantity and quality of agricultural output, sustaining production of agricultural products, bridging the link between research and development, developing strategies for the engagement and support of women farmers especially in the areas of access to finance and land as well as other resource inputs. The leaders also emphasized the accruable benefits if the continent internally produces enough food for its 450 million people to include, prevention or overcoming food insecurity, creation of employment and wealth as well as assurance of sustainable agriculture production. In addition to these, it is essential to add improvement in human skills development, expansion of industrial production and markets, enhanced gross domestic products, prevention of socio-economic challenges that arise from food scarcity, conservation of foreign exchange, cheaper food prices and improvement in living standards of Africans.

Unfortunately, a few former heads of governments (General Yakubu Gowon and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria) and Matata Ponyo Mapon (former Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo), who proposed what could be done to check spending huge sums of money on importation of food into the continent, are no longer in office to implement or cause implementation of their propositions. Worst still, with the exception of the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh who represented the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo Nigeria’s state governments that parrot agriculture as their wining tool were absent at the occasion to share or draw experiences.

Nevertheless, hope for the future of investment in African agriculture was raised at the occasion by the incumbent President of African Development Bank (ADB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina who committed that, within the next ten (10) years, ADB would invest USD24 billion in agriculture business across Africa. If properly invested and managed, that sum should bring some improvement to the continent’s agric value chain which in turn, will aid reduction in food imports.

Governments and leaders in Africa (past and present) should know that if there is one thing the continent should not be found lacking in, it is food. It is shameful that, with the large arable fertile land, expansive body of waters and other enviable endowments, Africa cannot feed itself. That such a humongous amount of foreign exchange is being expended importing food is a serious minus for the leadership of the component countries in Africa.

Now, beyond food, if manufacturing and industrialisation could be made realities within the continent, the case for agriculture-the feeder of industries with raw materials, must be promoted as a necessity. Africa has come of age and its agricultural practices should be driven by research, mechanisation and modern technology to steer it away from remaining rudimentary.

Africa being a net-exporter of agricultural products should be the worthy vision of African governments and leaders. Of course, diligent planning, development of appropriate strategies, deployment of sufficient resources and unflinching commitment by the governments and the citizenry will be the game-changers for the realisation of multiple objectives of food security, industrialisation and foreign exchange earnings. Thus, African leaders should henceforth stop using agriculture as a mere propaganda tool. They should put their hands on the plough and never look back.

Credit: Guardian

Oyo, Ogun cassava farmers adopt mechanisation through CAMAP project

Farmers in Oyo demonstrating the use of machine to plant cassava, facilitated by AATF through CAMAP.

Farm mechanisation is one aspect of agriculture which has made agriculture easy, profitable and attractive to Nigerian farmers, especially the youths.

The conventional ways of farming which are manual, have not yielded much result as people especially youths have dumped  their hoes and cutlasses to seek white collar jobs, thereby leaving agriculture solely for the aged in the rural areas.

It is at this backdrop that the African Agriculture Technology Foundation (AATF), through one of its intervention schemes, Cassava Mechanisation and Agroprocessing Project (CAMAP) with the support of United Kingdom Agency for Technology Development (UKAID), deployed machines to assist farmers in the cassava value chain.

These machines will assist cassava farmers in harrowing, ploughing, planting and harvesting of cassava with ease.

During a field visit to Oyo State which is part of the states this project is being implemented, the Communication Office of AATF, Mr Umaru Abu revealed that the Foundation traveled across the world to look for machines that will ease the stress of cultivating cassava in Nigeria.

According to him “When we kick started this programme, we first of all went around the world to identify technologies that are easily adaptable to improve cassava production in Nigeria and also to address all the constraints in the cassava value chain, and that is what we have been able to achieve with CAMAP.

“After the search for technologies to improve cassava production, we settled with China and Brazil where we got the cassava planter which makes planting cassava easy.”

Abu explained that “before a farmer could be part of this programme, he must have a minimum of one hectare, and the farm should be about 5 kilometres away from where there is good network of roads because we are thinking of the harvest season where trucks will be coming in.”

Furthermore, the Country Coordinator of CAMAP, Mr Ayodele David further explained that the farmers who are preferred to be in a clusters will pay N47,000 which covers ploughing, harrowing, planting and spraying.

David also revealed that from calculation, it is expected that the farmer will get an income of about N400,000 per hectare following the good planting spacing of 0.8 metres and other agronomic practices.

His words: “With mechanisation, the yield of cassava is more than 20 per cent higher than manual. If a farmer was able to get 20 tonnes per hectare, and a tonne is sold for N26,000, and if a farmer is doing a full scale mechanisation for one hectare with us, he pays N47,000 (N14,000 for ploughing, N 11,000 for harrowing, N13,000 for planting and N9,000 for spraying).

“So if the farmer spends N47,000, buys his input (cassava stem), for one hectare, between 60-70 bundles are needed at N350 per bundle, a hectare of cassava planted with the machine gets about 12,500 stands of cassava. During harvest, each stand gets at least 2kg of cassava tubers.”

In Igunrin Village of Isenyin Local Government Area, a group of 15 young farmers called Path-P Agricultural Enterprises, cultivated 40 hectares of farm land with the assistance of AATF through the CAMAP programme.

These group of young farmers had in the past years ventured into other agricultural value chains without getting any tangible result, until they eventually adopted mechanisation in cassava farming.

The young farmers reportedly sold some of their belongings and leased the 40 hectares of land for N167,000 from the community, cleared the land and provided cassava stems. Then AATF provided the farm machines, fertiliser and chemicals.

According to the leader of the group, Abdulrazak  Abdulwaheed, “We leased 40 hectares of land from the community at the cost of N167,000 for one season. We bought axes and other implements to clear the land which took us two and half months and then AATF came in. After our agreement with them, they supplied us with inputs.

“We have seen maize planter but we have never seen cassava planter. When AATF told us that they will bring cassava planter and harrower, we didn’t believe it until it arrived our farm.

“When the machine was brought to our farm, AATF provided the operator of the machine to put us through on handle the machine. They enlightened us on farm mechanisation, they brought all the implements we needed in the farm, like tractor, harrower, plough, planter, boom sprayer, chemicals, 80 bags of fertilizer, and they also brought the money to buy fuel for the tractor.

Recounting their challenges, Abdulwaheed said “Land acquisition was one of our major challenges. There were controversies in acquiring this land, but after the intervention of the traditional ruler of the community, we were given the go ahead to farm on the land.”

Explaining further on the functions of the machines, Abu said “If you are using a two-row planter, you can planter one hectare in 45 minutes, but the manual planting takes about 22-man days to cover an hectare.

“The planter also applies fertiliser simultaneously as it is planting. We also identified a harvester which harvests an hectare in one hour 25 minutes. We started off in 2013 effectively, supporting farmers in Kwara, Osun, Ogun and Kogi 100 per cent. The primary aim is to ensure that mechanisation is adopted.”

This CAMAP programme is targeting 3.5 million farmers in five years, and the major objective of the project is to increase the income of farmers, and improve their standard of living.

In Ogun State, the CAMAP programme is supporting farmers to cultivate 65 hectares of cassava farm in Ayetoro cluster, Yewa North local government.

The Ayetoro cluster, according to Mr David, “is one of the clusters coordinated by IFAD and Value Chain Development Project (VCDP) which is being implemented in six states across the country. Ogun State is part of the benefiting states.”

Idowu Friday, leader of one of the groups in Ayetoro cluster, with about 25 persons in the group, said “We cultivated the 20 hectares last year through mechanisation. When we are using manual, we can cultivate about one to two hectares in about two weeks, but by using mechanisation, we were able to cultivate 20 hectares in a day.

“The profit margin has increased because when you cultivate with mechanisation, the yield increases due to proper spacing. We are expecting 30 tonnes per hectare, but before we adopted mechanisation, we were getting roughly 10 tonnes per hectare.”

Abu further noted that the target of CAMAP is to move away from the average six to eight tonnes per hectare to 45 tonnes per hectare.

However, he said “So far in Osun State we have achieved 35 tonnes per hectare. Currently, our average is 28 tonnes per hectare in all our areas of intervention.”

Explaining further, Abu said “the project also takes care of agronomic practice, so we ensure that the right agronomic practices must be done for us to be able to achieve what we are looking at. We supported them with fertilisers. We are working with the extension unit of all the states where we are working. We went into an agreement with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development during the last administration.

“As an organisation, we work through partnership. We identify the technologies, bring them to Sub Saharan Africa for them to be adopted. In the course of that, we build the capacity of the National Research Stations who don’t have the capacity to meet up with this modern technologies. We build their capacity both in human and infrastructure.”

On sustainability of the mechanisation project, Abu explained that AATF is in an agreement with the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM) to domesticate the technology, and currently, NCAM has been able to fabricate its own machines.

“We went into an agreement with National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM). Part of the arrangement we had with the manufacturers of the machines was that they gave us the go ahead for us to domesticate the machines. So we trained NCAM, gave them one set of the machine with full compliment for them to uncouple and then learn through that process. Now they have been able to produce their own planter.

“We are also looking at the entrepreneurship aspect where we build individuals, especially youths and women who are our primary target such that they will access these machines and provide services within a given cluster farmers because mechanisation is very expensive. That is why we jump-started by supporting them for three years”, Abu added.

The plan of the project is that the first year, AATF provides the improved cassava stem, plough and harrow the farmer’s land, provide four bags of fertilisers, spray the farm, and more importantly, look for off-takers because before cultivation, there should be market.

AATF identified some people who use cassava for industrial purposes and went into an agreement with them. It is also expected that when the farmers harvest, 60 per cent of the stems will be given back to AATF to support other farmers.

This is the kind of project the government at all levels need to embark on to diversify the economy.

Source: Tribune

‘Most African countries neglect cotton production’

Baba Berthe is the President, African Cotton Association (ACA), as well as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Malian Company for the Development of Textiles. In this interview, he speaks about the difficulties of cotton production in Africa and the preparations of ACA to host its annual conference in Nigeria next year. Excerpts:

Baba Berthe

There are challenges with the economy and neglect of agriculture for other resources. So how is cotton contributing to the development of African countries?

I was born in Mali where cotton is contributing to a large extent to the economy. When I went to Kenya last year to chair the ACA congress, I and my team travelled by the economy class. We noticed that many of those who bought our cotton came with private jets. It showed that we have something very important economically that we don’t exploit or know its importance. We produce cotton for others who benefit more. Cotton is a very important commodity but African countries have not mastered the price. We don’t know its value.

So the relegation of cotton production in many African countries is much.

Yes, it is. However, in Mali and Burkina Faso, cotton is the main cash crop. They produce and earn foreign exchange. After the governments of these countries remove their profit, the balance is shared among the farmers. Gold is also mined in Mali and sold, but the money is not distributed to the miners but is used in some other ways. 

So cotton is the commodity that can be used in the fight against poverty. Also, in the 2016/2017 harvesting session, cotton production earned $330m for Malian farmers. But the amount is even little because there was value addition in the process. Besides, shirts that are produced with cotton are very expensive, and so many other things. We sell one kilogramme of cotton at $1.7cents but those who buy it, process it and resell to us at $25 to $30 depending on the value-addition. So when a shirt is made of cotton, it could be sold at $100. The difference is much. 

This goes to show that cotton represents a high-level commodity which can greatly improve the economy of many African countries. The power of cotton to a country’s economy cannot be over-emphasised and that is why we are urging the Nigerian government to resuscitate the cotton industry so that other countries can follow her example.

What is African Cotton Association’s mission to Nigeria?

Since the organisation was established, congress is being held and rotated yearly from one country to another. The March 2015 edition was held in Chad, the 2016 edition in Kenya and at that conference, Nigeria was chosen for the 2018 edition to hold in March. As such, it is important that before the event, the African Cotton Association should visit the next host country and meet with critical stakeholders on how to go about organising the event. We are here to discuss with the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), stakeholders and the government on how to start preparations for the conference.

What is the anticipated number of people the sector would employ if fully developed?

The number will be difficult to evaluate, but we have to note that one company can employ hundreds of people in different capacities and sections of the production chain. And don’t forget, we have direct and indirect employments that can be derived. To show how cotton is very important is by looking at the oil extracted from it. In Mali, for instance, there are 80 cotton oil-producing mills with about 2.5 million litres combined capacity production. Each also has about 500 workers. The multiplier effect is huge.

What is ACA doing to boost technical expertise on production as most farmers still use manual means?

ACA is a very organised association. We do not have funds for companies or member countries for technological development. However, we have seed cotton production, classification, transportation, trading and ginning commissions where experts teach countries on these specialties. Recently, we organised a workshop in Garoua, Cameroon, on some technical issues that will lead to the promotion of cotton production: these are some of the things we do. In Mali and Burkina Faso, many cotton farmers are mechanised but more needs to be done.

With this scenario, how do you see cotton farming and production in the next few years?

The concern of ACA is to provide a link with governments of African countries. Every year we hold a meeting in one country or another. The 16th meeting will be in Nigeria in March next year. We are in Nigeria to prepare grounds for the meeting. We met with ECOWAS and they assured us that they are working on a regional strategy for the promotion of cotton from now to 2025. This is in collaboration with the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. We also met with the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) but could not meet with state governments, as we would have wished. 

So, it is a strategy to meet high level organisations as a way forward. It is expected that after meeting with ECOWAS’ Department of Agriculture, they will make a report to the president of the commission who will in turn forward it to all member heads of state. By that, we are pushing our strategy.

Credit: Daily Trust

Osun commences all-year-round farming through Solar-powered irrigation

As part of efforts to diversify her economy through agriculture and turn the state to the food basket of the West, the Osun State Government has embarked on all-year-round farming through massive irrigation system.

The initiative is aimed at fulfilling one of the six-point integral action plan of Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s administration which is to banish hunger through massive agricultural production.

The farms with 40 acres of land capacity each across 24 Local Governments of the state are being cultivated to encourage the agriculture revolution agenda of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola led administration in the state.

Gov. Rauf Aregbesola

The new farming system, an initiative of the volunteers of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES), was said to have encompassed solar-powered irrigation to encourage all round farming across the seasons.

While inspecting one of the 40 acres of the already cultivated farm land at Ilesa, during the first harvest of the hybrid cucumber cultivated by the OYES cadets, the Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola said the decision was to make the state to be self-sustaining and self-sufficient in food production and as well make Osun the food basket of Western Nigeria.

He said the initiative was aimed at fighting the scourge of irregular farming by encouraging modern agriculture practices through irrigation system.

According to Go‎vernor Aregbesola, agriculture is where the future lies, thus it is high time for all to engage in massive agriculture production as panacea to hunger.

Governor Aregbesola who expressed delight over the seriousness being put in place by the OYES cadets said the state has turned a new leaf in agriculture practices.

He added, “I am very impressed with this high level of seriousness being put in place by our OYES volunteers. It shows that our state is not only committed to infrastructure, but also human development.

“With this giant stride in agriculture, it is not a doubt that Osun can boast of all round cultivation of major commodities like sweet potatoes, cucumbers, and exotic vegetables.

“As we have this farm in Ilesa, we also have similar ones in 24 Local governments across the state. This is aimed at fulfilling our commitment at banishing hunger, poverty and unemployment, as the scheme wouldn’t only encourage irrigation farming system but also build confidence in the youths towards agriculture.

“As we all know, food and shelter are too essential for the survival of humanity and no serious government will trivialize the need to encourage agriculture, particularly at a time when the value of crude oil is progressively sliding into zero.

“It has been brought into public knowledge that in the next 20 years, it will be practically impossible to import food, not because there won’t be money to do so, but there won’t be food to import.

“So, to prevent this unforeseen circumstantial uncertainty, then it is time to go into massive food production capable of making us self-sufficient and as well encouraging surplus for export.

“We must do whatever we can to sustain ourselves in food production because a time is coming when a nation like Nigeria will be left with no other option than agriculture.

“Our major economic product, crude oil, will soon become unpopular as it is evident that in the next 25 years, there will no longer be a serious automobile company that will be producing petroleum-powered vehicles.

“The major buyers of Nigeria’s crude oil have declared that by 2030, petroleum-powered automobiles will no longer be produced and what this implies is that, petroleum will become an ordinary commodity, and not a money making commodity as we have it now.

“If this is the case, then we must all go back to farm and see the need to feed ourselves as a nation and produce agriculture produce in surplus for export”, Aregbesola stressed.

While lauding the commitment of the OYES cadets at complementing his administration’s efforts to ‎revamp agriculture, Governor Aregbesola said it is time for the youths to demonstrate the passion for farming, instead of chasing non-existent white collar jobs.

Earlier in his remarks, the OYES Commandante, Colonel Eni’Ibukun Oyewole‎ (rtd), commended Governor Rauf Aregbesola for being aggressive at revamping the agriculture sector in the state.

Oyewole said the state government of Osun under Aregbesola’s watch ‎has democratized governance as evident in the success recorded through the series of his life-changing schemes, in which OYES is pivotal.

OYES Commandante ‎said the idea to develop capacity for all year-round farming practice through irrigation system was to meet up with the state’s policy at taking agriculture to enviable height.

He said the initiative will not only aid the mass production of indigenous crops but also attract youths into farming, saying “agriculture remains the panacea to dwindling crude oil revenue and economic recession”.

“We have every reason to thank Governor Aregbesola for taking our youths off the streets for better productivity. It is on record today that Osun is the role model in youth empowerment and social protection programmes among others.

“On youth empowerment alone, the state has engaged over 40,000 unemployed youths into different social services, and today, majority of them are in different organizations as Managers, Managing Directors, Chief Executive Officers, as so on.

“This is a glad thing to know because the current administration in the state has painstakingly and productively harnessed the youths potentials for greater development.

“Today, Osun is one of the states with the lowest index of unemployed youth, and as a matter of fact, this is a result of thousands of youths being engaged by the state in various public services.

“It is obvious that Governor Aregbesola has done excellently well by touching the lives of youths positively in the state and Nigeria at large through his youth-oriented programmes that had been replicated by the Federal Government and other nations of the world.

“To us, OYES is a life-changing scheme. Most of the government’s strategic policies have in one way or the other been brought into action through the efforts of the volunteers.

“And as for this new farming technique, thousands of the OYES cadets who are interested in farming are the brain behind it. They have contributed immensely to ensure that farming is revamped.

“The aim of this initiative is to ensure that Osun is free from hunger. We want to turn this state to a central point and hub of agricultural produce in the West.

“The idea of all year round cultivation will therefore go a long way at helping the state to meet the desires of farmers as our farm will be powered by solar energy to enhance irrigation system”, he added.

In their separate remarks, the Commissioner for Empowerment and Youth Engagement, Mrs Folake Adegboyega, Chairman OYES Management Committee, Barrister Femi Faturoti and the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Professor Oyedele Durodoluwa, commended Governor Rauf Aregbesola for taking the lead among his peers in agriculture sector.

Source: Nigeria Today

Southern monarchs to Sultan: Nigerians want full restructuring, opposing it unfair

Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III

OLUFEMI ATOYEBI, FEMI MAKINDE, KAMARUDEEN OGUNDELE, SIMON UTEBOR, ETIM EKPIMAH, PETER DADA, CHIDIEBUBE OKEOMA, and GIBSON ACHONU

First-class traditional rulers across the southern parts of Nigeria have denounced the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar’s stance on restructuring, noting that it is unfair for a monarch of his stature to speak against the wish of the people.

Some of the monarchs told SUNDAY PUNCH that the position of the Sultan was born out of the interests of the North.

Last Monday, Abubakar had called on Nigerians to focus on the devolution of the economy, rather than the restructuring of Nigeria, while speaking at the Niger State Investment Submit in Minna.

“Rather than the clamour for restructuring of the country, the Federal Government should be called upon to release dams across the country to state governments for massive participation of Nigerians in all-year farming seasons.

“We have the ability and technical knowledge to feed the continent with what we can produce, with the required political commitment, through the provision of modern farming implements for our teeming farmers,” he had said.

Rather than economic restructuring, the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, stated that it was mind-boggling that the Sultan was not in tune with the masses.

“If the people of Nigeria want the country to be restructured, as traditional leaders, we are not in a position to oppose it. We are closer to the people, so we must lead by example. It is important to find a way of addressing the yearning of our people.

“Without the people, there cannot be a leader. We can see clearly what is wrong with the present system. The people and all the major political parties are calling for restructuring. We should allow people to develop at their own pace. It is the only way out of a potential crisis. That is how we can address all the agitations across the country. We support the restructuring of the nation,” the monarch, who spoke through his Director, Media and Public Affairs, Adeola Oloko, said.

Another first-class traditional ruler from Eket, Akwa Ibom State, Obong Etim Abia, noted that reforming the country’s economic policies to make it more buoyant was not the focus of the call for restructuring.

“I think the general opinion is that, as Nigerians, we all need to come together, sit down and discuss how we want this country to be governed. This is the only country in the world that people have to go to the centre and share money. Things cannot continue like that — that is why some people insist on resource control.

“To say the country should not be restructured and that we should leave it to what the military decided to make it — with the military all from one side of the country — is unfair and unrealistic. We must agree on resource control in which every state will control its own resources and give a percentage, even if it is 50 per cent, to the centre,” Abia said.

Also weighing in on the matter, the paramount ruler of Aburemi Kingdom, Ogbia, Bayelsa State, King Collins Daniel, told SUNDAY PUNCH that he disagreed with the Sultan, arguing that only restructuring would address the perennial problems of the country.

Daniel, a first-class monarch, said he did not buy into the idea of building dams across the country as the solution to the restructuring Nigerians were calling for.

“The man (Sultan) who is talking about building dams across the nation is talking in respect of the Sahel region. You know this country is divided into different geographical regions. You have the savannah; you have the Sahel, the forest and the swamps. You will find out that most of the Niger Delta states are in the swamps, lowlands; the South-East and the South-West are in the forest region. The Middle Belt is in the savannah and the North-East and the North-West are in the Sahel region. Now the problem of someone that is in the North-East or North-West cannot be the same problem of the people in the swamp region; it cannot be the same with the people in the forest region.

“So, what is the significance of dams? What will dams do? Dams are for those who don’t get enough rains. The northerners don’t have enough water, so they need dams. So, if that is the solution to their problem, that cannot be the solution of Nigeria. There is always a unifying force for people to say, ‘Let there be restructuring.’ People should be able to negotiate on this structure that we have, so that a section of the country does not have undue advantage over other sections of the country,” the Ogbia monarch said.

For the Deji of Akure, Oba Aladelusi Aladetoyinbo, a paramount ruler in Ondo State, there are many imbalances in the Nigerian system and only restructuring can correct them. He told our correspondent that no monarch should ignore restructuring demands.

“I must say that we cannot shy away from the restructuring of this country. Remember that we are talking about an equitable society where we will all see ourselves as one and not a lopsided situation as we currently have. We need to restructure the political frame of the country; the fiscal federalism must equally be addressed.

“We must, therefore, look for a way to discuss these challenges and the best way to overcome them is by the restructuring of Nigeria,” the Deji of Akure said.

Similarly, an Ekiti monarch, the Ajero of Ijero, Oba Adebayo Adewole, argued that, contrary to the view of the Sultan, the country would not progress without political restructuring.

Oba Adewole said, “I believe strongly in restructuring. There is no need for a region to be dragging another region behind. Each state should develop at its pace and control its resources.

“This is why the Niger Delta people are agitating; they feel they are the ones generating the wealth of the nation and their region is not developed. If Nigeria is restructured, the economic and security challenges will go away.”

Similarly, a first-class traditional ruler from Imo State, Obi of Ihim, Eze Oliver Ohanwe, noted that the northern monarch’s preference for economic restructuring would not bring about equity, fairness and justice that Nigerians are clamouring for.  He asserted that anything aside full restructuring would continue to undermine the unity of the country.

“I do not agree with the Sultan of Sokoto with his take on restructuring. We need to restructure the country. Agitations for the restructuring of the country did not start today. They started during the amalgamation in 1914 — most Nigerians support restructuring of the country.”

In the same vein, the Okirika-Ama, Umuokirika in Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of the state, Eze Dom Okoro (Eze Okirika I) told SUNDAY PUNCH that he was not surprised that the Sultan did not throw his weight being the restructuring that many Nigerians wanted.

He said, “I say this because they (northerners) are beneficiaries of the current distortions in the country.  By that campaign from the Sultan, they want the existing imbalance and cheating in the country to continue.”

His view was shared by another paramount ruler, Dr. Ikechukwu Okoligwe, (Okukoro II) of Awo-Idemili in Orsu Local Government Area, Imo State.

The monarch said, “Many Nigerians are calling for restructuring for us to have equity and fairness in the country. If we fail to do that, we would be deceiving ourselves.”

However, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi, told SUNDAY PUNCH that he agreed with the Sultan’s call for economic restructuring.

“I sat with the Sultan and he explained what he meant to me. He explained everything about the devolution of the economy to me and I agreed with him. If restructuring is about breaking up the country, I am against it. But if it is about how to improve the welfare of the people, I will support it,” he stated.

Oba Akanbi added that there should be a clear understanding of the restructuring being called for.

“So many people do not understand what the restructuring is about. Many think it is about the break-up of the country and the people must be educated that the restructuring they are clamouring for is not to break up the country.

“What I would advocate is industrialisation. This government must do everything to ensure that Nigeria is industrialised. The kind of agriculture we are practising in Nigeria is wasting our produce. Farmers lose 75 per cent of their produce after harvest,” he said.

Source: Punch