There is a popular saying used by the Tiv people of Benue State, Nigeria that "Or timin nguhar veren a ver pe timin nguhar ga". Loosely translated it means "he who limps does not choose where to limp"; he limps in the valley as much as he limps on the hill, limps at home as well as abroad; wherever he goes, he limps.
There is a popular saying used by the Tiv people of Benue State, Nigeria that "Or timin nguhar veren a ver pe timin nguhar ga". Loosely translated it means "he who limps does not choose where to limp"; he limps in the valley as much as he limps on the hill, limps at home as well as abroad; wherever he goes, he limps.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) a couple of weeks back enjoyed prominent media attention over its plan to 'facilitate' ownership of mobile phones by ten million poor Nigerian farmers (since the Ministry said it is not buying and distributing phones, I guess the word 'facilitate' will do for now).
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I listened first hand to the honourable minister on TV as he passionately reeled out some of the benefits of the project to the poor farmers who (in his words) "are not on facebook or the internet". It was so captivating I almost drooled on myself as I listened to him; it sounded so good. At a point during the interview, I switched to fantasy mode visualizing the benefits such a project will bring the poor Nigerian farmer. It felt so good until one 'senseless' comment cropped up in my head; "the planning, visualising, conceptualising is usually very good, it is the implementing that is the problem!" Oh my God, not now! Why do these thoughts keep crashing and spoiling parties? I decided to check up on the Minister and his Ministry to see if he can do all he says he will do; give farmers fertilizer, seeds etc through their phone; link them to tractor hiring agencies using their phones; give them tips on new farming technique, give them information on the market value of their farm produce etc.
Since the phone for farmers project or e-wallet project is information technology driven, I looked for one place I could check how the Ministry of Agriculture is doing IT-wise, and what better place to check than the Ministry's website www.fmard.org? Normally, most government agencies use gov.ng (www.fmard.gov.ng); when I tried it, I was redirected to www.fmard.org. What I saw on the site didn't disappoint me! Not because it was ok, but because it was not, and I wasn't expecting it to be (no expectation, no disappointment).
Please, find below my findings on the website.
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1. The latest news item on the scrolling "Latest News" bar was updated 26 September, 2012 (First TEF Fellow Resumes at Ministry of Agriculture).
2. The FMARD News (bottom left of front page) has "Oyemomi urges agric ministry staff to remain productive, peaceful" as its latest entry on 1 November 2012.
I could stick with these two and close my case; what can be more latest on a webpage than news? However, I took the pains to explore further, hoping against hope that at least one post will show up later than November 2012. I found NONE!
In the Media Room, the latest NEWS was the one of 1 November 2012 (listed above); The VIDEOS link didn't work (it couldn't open); the latest MEDIA RELEASE was on 04 September 2012 (Adesina - we won't lower tariff on crude palm oil); EVENTS link opened a blank calendar; PHOTOS had the latest entry on 24 September 2012 (the Minister addressing participants at the ICRISAT 40th Anniversary Symposium). I could give up now, but with the last strength and hope I opened the Knowledgebase page; the latest entry (semen of animals) was not dated, I couldn't tell its age. I am done with the site, I left.
What this means is, since this year 2013 began in January and now we are almost closing shop for March, the Ministry's site has not been updated. Is this how 'regular' the Ministry will be updating the knowledge base of farmers or sending new farming tips to them?
I don't have any problem with giving phones to farmers (jeeps are given to those with enough cars already; Mr Biggs money given to those already constipated; we are known for misplaced priorities, pounding yams before grinding the egusi for the soup), but I am seriously concerned, worried and wondering whether this too will become one of the many abandoned initiatives; and seriously, going by the way the Ministry treats its site I may not have a long time to wonder. Besides, the day another minister enters that office, Nigerian farmers better blow e-wallet a goodbye kiss. We know Nigerians leaders hardly continue with their predecessor's projects.
How can we trust a ministry to regularly source for information and facts to update farmers' knowledge and skills on new farming techniques, prices of farm produce, accessing form input, etc when it cannot regularly update its website with even the activities it (the ministry) does?
It has long been observed that the issue with Nigeria is not in project planning and initiation, but the successful implementation. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture cannot and should not choose to 'limp' on farmers' phones only. If the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina wants Nigerians to believe he can pull this through, he should start by showing Nigerians how serious he is by regularly updating the Ministry's website. The way to show us you can regularly feed farmers with tips and updates on their phones is when you can regularly update your site.
Until then, I would cross my fingers as I count this as yet another drain pipe of the nations "scarce" resources.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters
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