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THISDAY. THE SUNDAY NEWSPAPER · NOVEMBER 4. 2012
CICERO/ INTERVIEW
President Jonathan'sAssurance onFood Security "'-,,~."""""'2b President Goodhxk. Jonathan dedamJ thai N'gcna will not t!XPl" ~;my food O'ISIS. de.plle the R!Ct.'n1 flood dtsasler m many p.uts of the country. he absolutely inll!nded 10 n!ilSSUI"e a jittery nation. Such a5Sl1J'ilI'\O: may be polibcally
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expo..·(h.:nt,1&11eils11o wtull?w<l5li the psychologka.! "'feet of tho! unpnn'dcnled ra.t.nfa1l and flOOlh thatstrud. ruthlt55ly at the heart uf the country's capaory 10 produce food enuugh for L'\:eryone 10 eat But it has sci off thoughts ami wornes llboul the:.lalc uf Nigcn..:a·lostratL'gK: food ns:rve and othcc ISSue:. needed 10 t!IlSun: food !M.'CUriry. Nlgl'l'lol ~ alwaylo COI1SI.derm thecffect of cUlef"8t.-'IlC}' situations and sought to gathet'renoal Iolock.s 10 en:.ure national food !>eCUnty. In practire. howt.....cr. such effort h.ls remall\t.-.dl.ugdystillbom.BeIWf!t..O 2009 and 2010, the fOOeraI.go\'cmmenl "'l'l OUoIdl! fur the~· twn ul food :.Iorage stlos acro5S the <DUntry to Iotore<lbout onemillion tonnesof grain. liul many of the :.Iorage faalilll'!:. are t!.itht!r ab.:&ruJont.-'d or d)'Shmctional.
;m oumall.>d Nl46 billton
Cum.·ntly. theruulllry bloilid tot"Ht' ab.lur 12Iunl,'Ion.Ll grain storage bali~ narx.ll..-Idt!" with the l"OOlblllt.-'d cap;M:lty 01 m ().l) ml.-tnc IUIU'le!.. which Uo.stunah.-d lu I1lo."'-'I L"fI1Cq;t!nC)' tood IlL"'-'<b fMJlI:.t a /t:w munth". Willie ..xtly ilbout a lulf of thl!> figure b .KtUollly :.tod..ptlt.od. a third of tJlI! :.torai I~rvt! i!. ohen utilbcd lo:.tabilise PflCl!:>olOO n'h.--ct ISObled cmcrgt:l\CJe:. through the National En....'f!;cncy ~tanagL... men! Ag.."ncy. TIli.' NI~cri.ln Ston.>d Products Re,.c.uch
In:.tilutc, one of the key grain ~e agL'n· oe:.m !ht'country.loldTI USDAYla!.t wt."Ck that tilt!" wgarWoatiun had a tOlal 0(50 ~ oUood :.Iom::l in Its Uli.'l1 atm~!oollo:b It iJcnuh..--'d cas::;a\a, L"IX'OiI,Illd1Z.e, OLI palm. ria!-, wllt!.lt.:.ugarGll\l.", IOmatooandcotlon
Ib pnuntycrops.. 11lc L"ap..lcity of thIS 50 IIJlII\I;S of grams
ill>
storage Ul tht! 1lt'\\·Io!.OlUy mvcnred:.ilo::.
Ul the u\!obtut~ Ilt very :.wtable.lI thecam· ffiW\lly k.-vel w~y Itllt accessibleomd can bt!" InanaK"od by kx:ally trall'h.-od opt."r.lIor...~ Head of Dt.-partmt.'fll, Storage EnginL'ding. NSI'KJ, Mr. Folorunso Babari.n.!.a, said
1"hor figures really pall' illto IllSlgnificano.::c with regard 10 ~L"OUntry's popull· tionoi nearly lbOmilliun. Wh.Jt CiU\ ~y bt!" ~J.:.l.Ilt.od £rom the above pICtUre 15 th.lt Nlgerioll.S ill-prepan....t for a fo.lolJd cnsi!o. There is growing appreN.'Il-sian about food lihortolge!.a!o<1 result of tho,> recent floods that destroYl-d lhoU5illld5 of hccti1n.':>of folrmiands natiunwide The aruu· ety IS ollso fclt III gO\'cmmCllI circles. do;;spiie ilSSUCilIlC'l!S from the f..,JeraJ government that the flood woukl not result to £amine InSeptcrnbt.'r', ~luusterol EnVllOl\lllel\t, Mn... J-LJiul Ibr.tlum Mailaflil, wan'll;!d about the possibility of famine due to the effect oflhc floods, saying there is need for II national dt.'ba te 10 addre:..s the flood dbobtcr and its efft.'Ct on food security "Where you ha\'e in a lVuntry, well over 5.ooJ fannlands washed away, then the chano:s are that ~ iscall:.e foratrention. It 15 of nalional interest So, aU what we are saying is that it b. a n.ational eml."l'gency.lt calls (or!>Obcr reflection. I t calls for open dt.obale, ~ Mai.l.afia said. But IT'II.l'>t of the ~te on the effect 01 the flood il!i it ~lales to food J;(.'CUritv has tendt.":! to be un tN.- b.lsb. of CJlpedicncy. not
olre.wty.
f1oOO. \'icturu. arebcmg iK'CUnunod.J.W. ft.>d, .md prov,dl.>d health >oen'Kt.."!o The p~id~t hasaboculllthtutal a National Flood Rdicl and RchdbiliwtWn Conurull..oe, co-chaired by Alhali Aliko Dangolo! and Mr. Olba Aghakoba. to rai:.o.' CtmdJ, locomp~~1 gu'.-cmment'seffor-tl,
tuassbi tho: flood \.ictim:.. Bcs\det,Jon.athan has visited theaffa:kd SWIO. But tho.:> efforts ren\ilm allhc reaJm of palliativt'!) B..-yond thc palliatives., government neOO!.
o.u·dftun, Pg. 96
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f~ .10.1 ('\."01101TUC iiruVlhc:. have ht."'-'tI
dotrn}'t:d by the floods bad. to wurk anJ thcu- 1lOITII.llliv""". The f..-dL'ral guvernmt.'fll hob plt!dg...Jtu.do Just that. butlol.'Oous
dDubb rem.1Ul ~illu;;tL'ruf Agncul.tun.o,m.1 Rural [kovO;!!opmt.'lll, Dr AkinWunll Adc!JUn.:!, Solld un D.:lllbcr 13 m Nibiltilwa that thc:re was a flLOd Il.'C'OVL'l)' pror.lUL:tion plan 10 pli!~ 10 avert farTUlll!. Hcsaid government had Sl;."('UfU.1 100 nll."tric lullllC!o 01 extra--earl \ maturtngl>t."t.-d - that matures in 60days -IU plant5,SOO h~ofland In theaffl-'ctL-d are.l!> when tm' flood walt.'!' Il.'<.:L-des.1ltll., ht: SoiIid. iscxPl'Ctt."lI 10 produce II,ceo lounes of ma~ that will becomplt!flll'l1tL-d with an a.jdition.ll500,1.XXl tonnL'5 to bt!" produred underimgationmthedr)'~
Ado!Sohlllil !o.lld there WOlS oltlOthcr20,(XlJ tonncs of nce :.I."t.'d... to pl.lIlt 4OOJXX)
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ht.....--tare; of riC\! farms In ttw flood..-.i arc.l.5,
whICh lltc:..pectt.od to product-' 12 million mdnC IOIlneo of nee. Pl.J.ru. at\! abo und ..>f· wily to make aVilililble to fanner.. in the
affected at\!ol!>C&c.:.aya and yam ~ling!>, the mi.ni:.tcrsaid.
But Ul a country where annual budgetary .lUocabon to')gncuitun' ha:. remall"led at a
p.Ll1ly loss th.-m hIe percent SII~ the last twudt'l:Mlo. ffiU:ol cih2£>n:. are wont to take ~cum.'fIt as:.Utilfk.'l!:>OIl food l>t!CUrity With a pUl(hoi :.all. Between l'ASSilnd2005. buJgt.'tary alluwtion to agriL"Ulture huvcn-.:l from 05'¥o 103.-1" ". Agru:uIIUlC got 1.5% of~2012budgt.>land 1.7'Y.. ufiht!20J3 budg"'lhe a1Jo..:-allofb> to the St.>ctor are a far en' lrom the 10 per cent Il.'COIl\OldlI.1o:d Ul the African Uniun Dt.>daral1on oi2CXn lJl Mapulo. Mw..<llllbique, and 25 p'-'r'cenl e.rescribt.-d b\· tho! Food and Agriculture Organbalion. YL-t agriculture employs about 7Opern>nl ull\,;lgcriaffi;md conlribute!> .llxMJt 36 percent to lhecountry's Gross Dombl:ic Product. In the nudst of theCUJ't'(!flI skynx:ktmg of food price; aflL'!' the natiollllfAood dtsaster. N'genano. would C'l$til1nIy require more than vt.'!'b.:lI.tSSUIi1l"ICl'S 10 bt!"lieve thaI Nigena H!>haU not have a food cri:iis 01' famine. as promised by the MlIli:.ter of Agrlculture H
-V"IDI"II'Dbm~
WE NEED TO LOOK INTO RESTlIUCTURING 11fE COUNTRY·
own part and do the best you can and leave it to
otheis to come and continue. Certainly, when I left, there were quite a 101 of problems, but t did not deceive myself that I could come up with the solution toall the problems.ld. us all put our tiands on deck and give other people the chance todlme and continue where anyleader leaves..
What do Y()U 'hink is the wtty Ollt of the "nl:,,'ploymert' pro;bfem in the country? Well, go bad.: to the economy that has collapse? It\ the world. We have to revive the economy In this country; we need a way to preserve our c;r?PS, our products for the markel. 1'fiereare lots of thinljS that are helping in developing any economy. Famung is the g--r:ealest thing we can do m this country. We Mve got a lot of field; we have got a tot of fertile land, but we need lodo a lot to enhince fanners' viability. In this way they can imprOve and increase the ec0nomic si luation in this country. 1heother problem is manufacturing industries. Like I say, we need energy. We need to improveon ourpowersupply, we need to improve on our rood mfrastructure, rural roads,so that things can be taken to the market 10 boost the economy and by extension lead to}ob creation.
How would Jlou assess Ahe educQtion sedor In Hi eria tod '-1 !fducation the bedrock oC any society (it is because you wenllo school that IS why you are here now interview-~g me).1here is a lot to bedone. I
fl
to takodclibcrolte:.u.ops to put ti'lCb(.' whll!>l'
SinI..'L'the mWlt.'I,halc allt."l'IThlthill the
flood:. thai aftt.-'CI..>d almu.t all tho,> 36~t ..... of the fedt.'f';ltlon and Ablljol.lood pnces luw gone up by aboul 200 po!fC\.'11I Som.- ~1I.:f':' have oo..'fItake:n to I~I the :ot.'\'cntv ot tho.di.:.a:.tL"l', but lhey are b.blcoillly temporary. B.-bt.-d un the report uf oiIll inter-ntinisterlolJ IL'Chnka1 L"Olnnlitk·... heldt.":! by tht,> Mme.ler o(Em'irunll\clll, whichwcnl round tht! COWltr)' to ~ theCAlenl of tllI." flocJ.h, tilt! pre.ldL·nt n.....---ently iUUlOun..·,:d.l I\: 1711 billion relief tund for.:1l1 tJ-K. :.til~afft.'Ch.'(j by tho,> flood. The money has, reportedly, been rclcilM.,J 10 the !oWlet. whid\ hdwloot't up dtsplal"C\! persons' Clrnps. wht.'fl! the
don't know whether il is population explosion, go to our classrooms. ideally, you should not'have more than 30 or4O people in the classroom. But go to the classrooms, the a'..erage you have now is about 50 students. There is a limit to what a leachercan do. During our school days we were given homework and teachers came. marked them and corrected them. But when you have SO students it will be difficult for the teacher. We need to structure how we deliver education righl from prirruuy school and provide all that is neede(J for education to work. CertaWy, theIe 15 the need for a lot to be done. The prolifernhonof wtiversitiesdoes not augur well (or us. Years ago, we had only premier universities and our universities anyw~ in the world were reckont."Cl with. Bul now because of the prolift!rntion of universities the standard of thestudents ooming out of these universities leaves a lot to be desired. What is you.r opinion on th~ 12gil12Hon for true federalism? True federalism depends on what we really want. Nigeria has four reglonsorold stales.lbere "ClSa 101
o( competition and ~ions gOI t~ether iUld formed lhisfederation. Yes, there is need to look into restructuring what is: happening in the federation. Let'sstart from the state, the Wily some these 1()(jJ.1 governments are being run really needs 10 brJ.oo~ aL Let us look at how tFtey are funded. hoy.t.tney peifonn. The bediock of any state is tfie lOcal government.
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deliver. During my days there was NativeAuthority; these Native Authorities were in charge of primary schools, primi¥)' health care and so on. and they were funded from the resources of the Native Authorities. So, I will like us to go back to thai situation when ' the!ocaI government is given its due to deliver its ~i6ilities.And from then! we can go to thestate; the states have fwv:tions to pE:riOIlIl, things out of the reach of locaJ governmenl and the federaf govern· menl Now there are!ots of things you nee(! to leave for the state to perform. The foocmi government has the defence, the internal security, the forei.~ policy and things like that.,and il tries tob&lrmonise the education syslem. YOM sum 10 have much hope in tile future of the eOlU/try, but rrwny Nigerians don't seem Eo. Whal d~s 'his grtnurng tkspair portend for the country? It is wrong not tohave hope in your country. Yes, there are problems, but "these problems can be sucmounted if every one of us plays his own role.
Youhavc 10 play yourparl You have toensure that !o(.-'('1J.Iity is proVIded in yourown locality; you have to check the people ~ elect to pedorm for you. These are combinations of re:sponsi&ilities thalare holding the leaders and the led as well Certainly. there are problems but th.,t does not mean you should lose h~pc in this "!lunny-.
Hmo do ..... " rem? As you ciitSee, in the furm where I speru:!. -.~.--tire menl