Everywhere around the world, agricultural production is central to the overall wellbeing of the populace. This is why different countries place high premium on agriculture and strive to develop and protect the sector, thereby guaranteeing sustainable food security, employment opportunities amongst others. But in Nigeria, where over 75% of the population, mostly rural dwellers, are involved in agricultural activities, yet accounting for less than 5% of the foreign exchange earnings, the sector remains largely subsistent, primitive and undeveloped. Nigeria is presently the world largest importer of rice, spending over 2.5 billion dollars, approximately N400 billion annually on importation and other food items from less endowed countries like Thailand and Indonesia, according to recent reports by International Food Production Research Institute. This is despite the fact that successive administrations have always made agriculture their key policy programme, budgeting billions of naira to the sector without concrete results.
Presently, the Musa Yar’Aua’s administration has also made agricultural development one of its seven point agenda – its key policy thrust, allocating billions of tax payers money to the sector since its inception, with little or nothing to show so for it. Nigeria is endowed with fertile and cultivable arable land running into millions of hectares across different regions for crop cultivations and livestock breeding; miles of flowing rivers and resourceful Atlantic Ocean with varieties of fishes and a vast rich forest belt. Yet, the country finds it difficult to produce basic food items to feed its teeming population.
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Agriculture has a rich history, and the progressive roles it had played in the past are well known, and its antecedents in the lives of what is today referred to as Nigeria and its people both in social, political and economic spheres are equally well documented, including that of its colonial master abroad. Agricultural produce serving as raw materials fast-tracked the industrial revolution in Europe pioneered by the British, fuelling its engines with palm oil from the coaster states of the Bight of Benin, in today’s South-South Nigeria. Our ancestors, though technologically backward as compared to what obtains in our time today with advancement in science and technology, were almost farming with bare hands using crude implements. Yet, they produced enough food crops to feed themselves like most other Africans and also produced cash crops for export abroad. From their first contact with the outside world through Trans Saharan trade to the end of Atlantic trade, our forebears were never found wanting. They responded accordingly to the demands of their time, the limitations notwithstanding. The emerging British capitalist economy and other European countries no longer had needs for trading slaves, after decades of devastating havocs wrecked on the burgeoning ancient economy by the illegitimate trade on humans. The dawn of legitimate trade became the order, occasioned by the emerging industrial revolution in Europe that required agricultural raw materials to drive. Our fathers braced the challenges and exported the needed materials like palm oil, timbers, elephant tusks and other products running into millions of tonnes, that ensured that the fledging European economy particularly England survived and laid the basis for her future growth, development and influence.
During the pre-independence struggles and shortly after independence, before petroleum was discovered in commercial quantities, faced with the task of nation building and economic development, agriculture again beckoned and became the mainstay of the nation’s economy, though selectively developed with preferences for cash crops against food crops. This was partly because the British colonial power abroad needed the raw materials there from to service the industries in Britain. Nevertheless, agriculture played a pivotal role in laying the foundations for economic growth and social infrastructural development in Nigeria. This was achieved through massive investment in agriculture by both the federal and regional governments, leading to the establishment of research stations across the country. These include; Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), Ibadan; National Institute for Horticultural Research and Training (NIHORT), Ibadan; Institute for Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Moor Plantation, Ibadan; National Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR),Benin; Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN), Benin; National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI), Badeji; Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Ibadan; National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) Vom, Jos; National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), umudike; National Institute for Fisheries and Fresh Water Research, Kainji; National Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research, Lagos; National Institute for Animal Production, Zaira; International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan; National Institute for Trypanosomaisis Research (NITR), Kaduna; and 3 Universities of Agriculture across the regions. All this was geared towards boosting agricultural yields, and were funded appropriately by the governments.
This subsequently led to increasing agricultural production, and Nigeria apart from having food security, became one of the world leading producers of crops like Cocoa, Rubber, Palm oil, Ground Nut, etc. It is on record that the State welfare programmes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo led Action Group (AG) in the old Western Region like free education; free health care delivery, etc were funded by the Western Regional Government using proceeds from agriculture especially cocoa. The proceeds from the popular groundnut pyramid in the Northern Region funded national edifice like the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaira amongst others. Palm oil produce in the Eastern Region equally funded University of Nigeria, Nsukka to name a few! It is an incontrovertible fact that Malaysia and Indonesia, the world present leading producers of palm oil and rubber respectively, came to NIFOR and RRIN to learn how to cultivate these basic cash crops, and even went away with some seedlings. Ironically, Nigeria now imports these products from these countries!
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Nigeria blessed with both human and natural resources has never at any given time lacked the desired soil or favourable weather conditions needed for successful agricultural production. What have been lacking are massive government investments due partly to the discovering of non-productive petroleum in commercial quantities, but mainly due to the implementation of neo-liberal/anti-poor, pro-rich policies of the government that ensured total neglect of this vital sector of the economy under the guise of government having no business doing business, and the resultant underdevelopment. This explains why the various research institutes, though staffed with seasoned and world acclaimed researchers remained largely unproductive, due to under-funding and attendant dearth of facilities, could barely sustain itself left alone carried out research works. This in turn accounts for the low agricultural production and the inevitability of food items importation.
If the necessary attention is paid to agriculture and the needed investment made to develop the sector, and its potentials fully harnessed, it will provide employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths currently loitering main streets of various cities. It will equally guarantee amongst other things: alternative source of foreign exchange; poverty alleviation; food security; rural empowerment; eradication of youth restiveness and militancy; and place the economy on the part of recovering.
Presently, virtually all food items imported to the country have their traditional aboard in the states across Nigeria, where soil and weather conditions are particularly favourable for the cultivation of such crops. For instance, rice which Nigeria is presently world leading importer of can be cultivated successfully in states like Benue, Kano, Ebonyi, and Lagos; coffee, apple and strawberry are grown in Jos, Plateau state; cocoa abounds in Ekiti, Ondo and Edo; cotton is grown in Zamfara, Katsina and Oyo; palm tree and rubber plantations do well in Eastern and Niger Delta states. Root crops like cassava, yam and potatoes do well in various states across the country while Cereal crops including maize, millet, sorghum, etc are cultivated across Northern states, the same thing with leguminous plants. Livestock production is also very successful in both Northern and Southern states, fruits and vegetable are never lacking on Nigerian soil; the rivers and ocean are also rich in aquatic foods; and the country has very rich forest belt in the southern parts. The list is endless! Yet, our parasitic ruling elite still go cap in hand to lesser countries like Thailand for rice and other basic food items. This is essentially because it serves as avenues to make easy cash than developing the agriculture industry that will benefit everybody.
It’s clear from the foregoing analysis, that if the agricultural sector must be made productive and sustainable, government at all levels must be prepared to take the lead and play central rules by investing massively in the development of the industry. Contrary to the believe in government quarters that the sector should be private driven, government it should be noted cannot renege on its duties, and could therefore not cede its constitutional responsibilities of ensuring food security for it teeming population to private profiteers. Sadly enough, recent pronouncements by the federal government hiding under the current global economic crunch, does not indicate that our political office holders are prepared to commit public resources to better the lots of poor Nigerians, if anything, they are ready to inflict more pains on the already over- burdened poor working people so as to continue their ostentatious live style. Expectedly, the masses are ready to fight back these impending attacks, by demanding that government invest public resources on the real sector of the economy so as to guarantee improved living conditions for all and sundry.
At the 47th National Executive committee (NEC) meeting of the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja recently, the President said: “We cannot see the end of this crisis within 2009.The World Bank and IMF and all other institutions are saying that there is no solution in 2009. In fact, if the global effort is going to make impact at all, it may have to start somewhere, if we are very lucky, in 2010. While we are in this crisis, we must make sacrifices and we must be realistic. We must look beyond ourselves. It is in the collective interest of the nation to make sacrifice and tighten belt. So, we must make sacrifice, we have to face it because it is real. Prices of crude oil are hovering between $40 and $50 a barrel. We need sacrifice and belt tightening” (The Guardian, Friday, April 3, 2009).
The President should know that since the inception of this government, the masses have been making sacrifices whilst their belt remained tight, and will therefore not continue to starve themselves at the expense of the luxurious life style of the ruling elite. If sacrifice is desirable, the ‘elected’ officials including members of various houses of assembly –assemblage of dignitaries without dignity, should commence their sacrifices by relinquishing their earnings both official and other wise, and start earning the salary of an average workers, as a step towards collective belt tightening. In the final analysis, an unprecedented attack awaits the mass majority, unless the government is compelled to rescind its anti-poor policies through struggles. It’s imperative more than ever before that government is made to invest public funds on agriculture, health, education, manufacturing, etc, with workers steering the boat through democratic management and control. This arrangement will ensure proper planning and prevent looting of the resources meant for these sectors as experienced in the past periods have shown, and the impacts of the global economic meltdown will be inevitably mitigated.
Eko John Nicholas
Ikorodu Lagos
[email protected]
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