Pige 20, THISDAi, Vol 17. No, 6244
MondlY, MIY 28, 2012
FEATURES EDITOR: ROLAND OGBONNAYA
Ca:n Jonathan Diversify the As President Goodluck Jonathan marks his first ylJaf in office, Davidson Iriekpen takes him to task on his promi5e to re<Jamp the
agricultural sector in order to create jobs and.di:na~ t~y Dtil Nlpa JOIned the rank of OII-pmduclna ..ooas In 1958 acnculture wu the country" maiMl.IY of the cconoD"y, Analyw recall with rtOtta lai.....heII the IcCCDd,'Y pouadDU( pyrarrucb dotted the ludKlIpe 0" KMlo, U puuodnUI was the map cub crop of thr nonhem Slltes of the country, In the Soulh-wcss., tMre "'el'e Oounshm, cocoa plantaOons, wMe the South<CUl was home 10 thoviel rubber" planl.lliom and palm od prod.~C' "" IMWIa:, In the SOt; .nd early 601, IJ.neulture eon1nb"ued more than 65 pa oc:nt of the GI'061 Domesuc Produa (GOP). n.en, the oountl)' wu • tlet uJXIf1a" ,of food nel eamed IDOIt 01 III forelln achanp from Isncultunl produce. Not Inymen Today,ltOI ollly hal more thin 80 pa cent of the fORip o.ehlnle comu fUM" Oil llone, the nqlect of IInc:ulture has nqatl'wly ImpJCted oa the oountl}'" c:apac:lly to erelle jObI. reduce pomty. llICIUSe GlIIOIlaI prodUCtiVity, dlVC'nl fy the econom),.1e 'K:ve food teCUnty. and put I! on the patb of i Uil.lln.bk de.., leopmenl Recent C.JiUmalCS puc the nam, beT of himif)' pC'1'fJle In the country II over 53 million , whteh IJ aboell JO Je'r cent of the counuy', lotal popullhon of rou&hl,I50 mll K"n;.nd 52 per«-nt live. under the povcrty line AI\.lIYIU ba\e en many 0IXfI5ions UJ\ICd th.1 the hllh l'llte of unoc:mpk 'ymer.t In the' country wu becauK of the atTItude of ~meol n lhe peopk to qrieulture 1bey arped thai wnh ,,~ 19 mllhon bcc:l.IreI 0( arabk land, eliftQlftcd cco1OfIcai condnJOM, .1:Iunda.nt WIlier J"e$OW'ttS Ind 8dequale "'10[111, tbef"C is no reason for Ni,eri.lo spend over USS4blllion lllnually on food IInponalion. be }Obku Of why lht YUI I1U.IOOI)' of the peopie IhoukilO 10 bed .... Ith emplJ llOmIChl Recent es;hl'1llt' JMlI the numbler of bunlf)' people tn NI,cna.IO¥eI' j;3 millJOD. whteh Ii .boul JO pen:cnl of the coumry'l toul pIl')UI.llon of rotlahly 150 IIlIlhon; and j;2 pen:enl live unde lhe povttey hne . 1bese arc mitten of ,r1Ive concern llUJdy because NI,en. was Ielf-lufficJCnl in food productKln 100 was Indeed • nel uporler of food 10 other repons of the COIlunml In lhe 19501 and 1960s ThIn" chanJCd UlImlllCllly for the W'Of'1E foltowin, lhe ,1obI1 erooomte tn ••, thai. hll de~'clopln, COUOtne:S beg.tn_ nln, from the lalt 1970', onwanl The ditcovt"f}' o r cnKk od and fist", ~ o'ae ftom lhe connlry's pecroleum leCtor tnCOUfII!C'd olT'tel" oe,1cct of the acncultural '«tor aDd lurned NIJCf1. Inl):t Dd Importer food Allhough .,ncull ure c:ontnbulea .bout 42 per cenl of the GOP. provKlcl en ploy-menl and • means or lI ... elihood for mou tho 60 per cnl or the producelvely enalJCd popul•• lion. It 11lOeI'f'H ku thaa 10 pa cent of the eMul budlClII)' .11oca1lo1l$ C<:ImIP"On and mlsapplic.ahon of fuods In thiJ rq.ud art ce:ltnl 10 the Olsis of rood prodUCtion. and food IeCUnly In ,.. IICflI Ie upl.ln. the peraisterKe of poveny_lbe lou food IO\"ttelanty aDd the dependence a. food imporlllJo)ft ·s .Iso mU.ln"he counuy quue IUJCeptt· tHe 10 nuctu.llOfIl Irt ,Iobal food COlli n.e KlCG&OO IS c'en IlIOR mVue.nlnl, as • rcce nl World Bank report indio;: 111:1 that aeve.raI people dtc. 011 daily bam from buoau- and ·lUnau--~I.ted dikIKS In the deYetoplnl countnes, locloo .." I'IIIccna. Elforu by SUCCC:UIYe ,0veJllmenu 10 relnlrodxe .,r1c:ullure InlO the conSCIOU5neJ. or people ba\"C flO( )'Jctdcd the deSll'ec1 rcsu.11. For IMtanDe. NilC'nUII WII~ aJ OIUJeJUn ObuanJO·s Openuon Feed lhe N.llOtl ,.hen I e was military head of stile between 1976 and 1979 llIe J""Oll'IImme was n04 only melnl 10 IKkie rood InKCUllt y. hJ I .lso 10 erelle JObs fOf the peopk. It elMJ not IChaeve lhe desued Impect ThIs was rollowed by PrC's!dcnl ~hu SUltan'. Often ReYOluhOn, _htch .110 (.I~ at hI' mil i.len ~ IIMX'C Inl~cd 1ft Importln, COIllmodllteS IMI could be plodu.:ed ~lIy th.n punulnl the .lflCUltuni P"'O!,.mmc of chli aJmlntstl'lllton Gen Ibnblm ltabanaKia who ruled the country bel ....ecn 1985· cn also c.t'11C wllh Suuc:tural AeljU:fUnCnl PruaTlmmt' (SAP) and On '(lorale fOf" ~. Roacb Inel RUI'III lnrruuuelur~ (l'1=JIRJ) 10 boosl food productIOn .nd IUI'III deYC~nt hul nl' .bo came 10 Glu&hl a COfTUPCM'ID undenmned I' I ~.II of thCIe pru,rammn, btl lions Mira ~l down d'C ,lrIIlO While'. lot of these biUlOfIs. ""hl.;h wc-re meanl 10 I ""lemenl proJCCIl were .I!e,ectly olokn, othen were ml""I,ltCd AI pan of ~ffOlU to booit .gocul_
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lunt production ia the c:ou.c.y. the r"Cden.l Gownullem establil hed 12 ri¥tf basin developmenl .uthorities (RBOAl). but these IFftCICI ha~ --t.at become aKIn
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The RBt)As were primanly esbb65bcd 10 pro¥ick . . . . for irri,1lJOn rannln& and ....a'" suppI,. Unprove.ltlCat or n.viptKMi , hy~1ectric powet" cc-n1ion. rccreatioa rxilitae:s aed fishcncs JIIVjecu bul oIMcrfiera milt tMI they baYC become. oondwt P'PC f~ lhe ~ 01 publec funds In the ... four yean. bup t.tr;eu ...--a ialo tnlliollJ of 1\.111'11 have. been voted lO l&"CulIU~ by bot.h federal and stale JOYalImmll With 1Odli... 10 dKJW for it_ Thil 1.1 ..... '1 10 many ....rysu. the ralCM IhaI NilC'"l DOW depends 011 many couAlries for the lUfIpIy 0( Sl.Iple foods Ihll could be produced kJadly is womsome RettOt reporu haw: il tbar NiP., coutry wilh • popul... tioIt 0( O¥U 1501llJlljoa" does DOC Mve. food JeCW1ly. "The repocu re'¥Clket cbaa the 00dtfJ dqIeads heavil, 011 ThailaDd f~ na:. Bm-F1IIo for --... Spain f~ tinllCd tomatOCl and (]aiDa aod Sweden for rub. It added thai the c:ounlfy If'C'IM $12 bill'Oll bet_ lOO9 -.t lO ll 0.. rood impor1Mioll Recently. !be a..u- 01 the All Fannen AHoc1atlQG 0( NiFria (AFAN). SeaaIor Abdullahl Adama, delcribed l&f1Cul!~ as !be moil qlectcd and ~ under"deYeklped lCCIor I. !be ....K:.al CIC01IOGIy HII words; ""Ioriay. Ni&eria has loll Irs pride or place ill the upon -tet to odia" countries. Far worse, the coantf)' DOW C1IIUKIl feed IlJclf: " and bas 10 impon fCXKI items. e'f'eD those: il CM produc:c. .. abundaJx:c:. " NiJenl DOW yearly Imports foodllQ the lune of 0Y'Cf three bill'Oll doIlan: (1IIbcMI N450 billioa)_I.mporU of wheal. nee. fish and IU:U &10K COR NilClU I trillion nat,. la for-eian ucbanse .nnually and the imports are ,mwlna at 11ft alannin& f1lIe: of II pel'" a:nI pel'" _ .... Adamu, who i~ • fOl"rlkl'" pM:IlKJf of N....... Swe, stJUKd lbal Nllcna', lackp , _ aomewbal qua_ tionab&e becauJe of the powml food ia:securily in the CIOUn-
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I'd, malhlyOff'OOd ImPorts. MWe cannot have ~ and cannot deYC.lop ., the I'IIk: we.lbouki. wheD local food" productioD u (allina and our fannen; are betnl dapUccd; wbdt iDnlt10ft IS be.... fuelled by food Impocu; when unemploymenl rate is 01ins; when povttey is 1ncn:u101 aman! the popul.lIoIl; and when hunKer i, l'II¥1I&lna the land.. ObvtOUsly,lhe curreat t ltuallOO is 11:1 lDCJI.cusable as It IJ an.aa:cpc.ble. and tmUt, thcre:fore. be dwtJed for the better," Adamu wei Former Pn:sldent OIOJClun ObaAnJO while de.hvcnnl I leaure .1 the lOlernalKlnlI Conference. on lnfonnahon Communialion TecbonlosY (Of' Africa 2011 .1 thc Belli UnlYenlt" 01., Opll State recently. alerted the GIllOn 01 lhe of im portina food other counloCS and crt."n, wealth for them Instead of devdopln8 OUJS. He detcribed as 'shameful'. the NI55bdUon the cou ntl)' spends on na: imponatlOll annu.lly _He Idded Chal IntpcwWK"III of food by Nlarn. was condcmGlblc. 10 v _ oIlU vast uabk land .nd the unemployment ievel In the COWltty,1I:I it c:oa&LDltcd.,
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He DOled thai thcre: was I dlleonnectlon het.. ttn food IJId the nlbon 's popullliOtl. addlnl lhIt nobody II 100 old, 100 educated. 100 IOphI IIQIed lO 10 1010 fannlnl and lhen: IS no ICnder IliUC In fannlnl _0.. the problems confrontlo, lhe .,ncultural 5eCtor-. ()braanJO IWCd che IIICCd for-. IOluuoa 10 be found III the areas 01 filW'la: . Oetcnbina funds needed In chit JeCl.Of IS 'Ilme-bound·. he .. id that pmcu5ln"SIOI"Ise Ind nwtet· In& we:re lOme of lhe problem. coDJronllna .JPlCUllural devdopmcnl iD the COODIt)' He "Id lhIl the c:ountl)' had been luct,. amonl AfflCM nlhonl lo h.ve two OUI of !he five WJest nV\'fS In Afnca· RiVer Niles- and RIYl"I" Benuc. who re,mled Ih.t the natIOn had DOC taken adequate IdYl ntqe of the IWO nven, .bo obseJ"YCd thaI theR; was poor manaJCmenl of WIlier for food productKJII " I IUd lhIt the country unported NIj;5bllhon wurth 0( rice whtdt IS more lhan inVCl1in, Slbn on nee. In I COUll' Iry of over 100 millIOn people ,nd wl1h lhe kind of.,..bk I.nd we: bave, .. heft there ~here we Clnno! pllnt m. lllIlharneful 10 1trYC.St wch.n amounl or money on rioe Import.lJOtI. If ~ !like .11 our nMMIC:y from 011 10 Impon food, then we arc impovensbln, the n.hon , our children .nd chikl.re:n yet unborn We h.ve .nbk land. bul we sboukt !mow thai the land win DOl lrow rood no maller"'" fmiie it IS CJ.cqJl we: prepare !he land 10 pow food ~! ;::,::;'~::'" Iloc ~b', w,lI ~ productIOn
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hunly former IOVtcrnoC" of KWII1I Stale, Dr Bukol. Sanlb. who used .,nculture 10 crule weafth In 1m state dUnn, hiS ~IO In powa". equally lamenled th.1 NilCn. was IlOl nlUlmulna III cullum pocenlJaJ He URr1ed that lhe lancullunl ICCIor offen Niren. the bell oppoJtunlly f~ &rowth and deYetopme.nl and aute JOb for the peopie. Sarak.i added lbat hili apene.nce With the Zimbabwean rllfmCfll in K waB St.le shows that .,ricuhure can creale new jObs and IRMfer mode:m sbllslo IocII fanners The JOYCf1IOf who spoke on • paper tllket '"ZImbabvo"e&fl Fanners and Apx:ulcure InnoYlll1On1 10 NIJCt1.... noted th.1 NiJCf1. caD become sc.lf-sullklf:nl In food productlOn.IIVC fundi and create employmenl for the lee.mlnl number" of unem pfoyed people if II likes .JfKulture Knously and mod emua ud emlwatts commen:.i,1 .JJlCUlture Such commenll and wonie.s. peri\ars. Informed !he de<:lSlOn or PrelIKlcnl Goodluck Jonalban 10 '.unch the Apx:ullu,.1 TranlfonnallOll A,endl Jon.lhiln, who wu warned b)' the I'IIle on unemploymeot III the coonlry••IJQ UItW:IIed • roadmap .Imed at uSlnl Ipx:ullure not: 0..1)' 10 .lUlin food JcCUrily. bul 10 leneBle _Iy J~ mllhon JObs by 2015. The roadm.p. I.ued MAgncullu~1 TnmsrormallOD ACUOD Pt.n for NI,m.~. II borne 0It1 of the feclina Utal1lnc1llture coukt be one of the most powerful loob 10 «Idreu the challenle1i of unemploymenl .nd Ire.lereconotnlC ,JUWlh In the counll")' AI a runber Ikmonstl'llllOn of h" commllment 10 lhe ilK:C'CUful Imple.meollllon o( hiS A,nc"lcuraJ T,.lI.Ifonnall<H! A~nda (ATAI, Jon.th..., penultJITUlIr: week. In,u,u",ed lhe Aancultural Tr.nsrorm.IIon ImplefTICnl1lll<H! Council fATlC) . The body. ""llh the man ' dale 10 dnvc the ATA alonl dw: ... hac ch.ln, fc:w the JI'Ir
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Monday, May 28 2012
FEATURES
T I-IISpAY, Vol. 17, No. 6244, Page 21
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Th(' country imported N155billion worth of rice which is more than investing $lbn all rice. In a countn) of over 100 million people and with the kind of arable lalld w e have, ill which there is nowhere we canllot plant rice, it is shameful to invest such an amount of monel) on rice importation , ,
Economy through Agriculture?
pose of aclll~'ing rold security. employment genenllon and olhe;r compORt'l" of !be agricultural policy. will be chaired by lhe: pre -Idem willi tbe vice-president. as the alternate chllnniln. while the Minister of Agriculture and Rural DevdopOlcnl Jr. Akinwumi Adesina, will be the coordinator of the o.uncil The ATA involve~ tnrgeted interventions to Increase effiCiency and profit.blllly along the value·added c hains of 12 selected key agriC'lllul"IIl commodille5. namely: conon, cocoa, CauIVI. oil pnlm. mlUlI:. soya bean. oOion. rice. livestock. fishenes. tomato and sorghum. II would provide aboul 3.5 [IIIIIIOn neN jQbs to be crealed (rom rice. cassava, sorghum. cocoa ant lOtton value chams, Still many more JObs would be creatld from odler fmuTe value chainS acttvIties, with O\·er NJIIO billion of additional income in the hanch of Nigenan fLrnc.rs and rural t'ntreprcneurs. Over N60 billion (USS380 million) will be injected mto the economy from the liublilitution of 20 per cent of bread wheat nou, wilh canava nour, which WIS successfully launched rccc.ntiv b' l"residenl Jonatha" The counCil ",iii l)f1)vide ovenilghl functions for the enlireATA. Accortimg to tts lerms of rderence,ATIC would Identiry kc), minislntl, departments and agencies to work togetner to create a .;cnducive environment to grow private sector and public K If'!" investments in agriculture and rural development along !tralcgic value chams. Lalit week, Jonathan Inlugun ed the Agricuhural Transformati9.n Implementalion C()(oc'il Abuj.! wilh II tough against fortt:S Ihal are If')'ing tn f".slrale the administration's agncultllllJ lransfonnalion l'rogl"llmnlC5 . Though he: failed 10 mentiOn names . Ihe Presidell \.owed 10 deal wllh the forces , he .saId t~e new agn<i!l ll u~ policy initialed by the Federal
Governmenllhrough the Central Bank of Nigena (CBN) has attracted N450 bllhon fUnding Cft'djl at I single digit inter· cst rate for farmers 11le Council, according to"him. will be chaired by Presiden t Jonathan with Vice-President Namlldi Samba as alternate chair, would proVide ove.rslght for the agnc transfonnation agenda. 11te Presidenl, who hinted of plans 10 frusln'lIe the effons to transfonn the seelor,said despite this, agriculture is head· ing In the right dirallon Ue added tMtthere was litlU much to be done, hence the need for stakeholders to pInner and avail Ihemselves of the boom in the sector -I am Ix:nrlng unpleasant stOries or some companlcs worktng to frusnate our agricultural transfonnalion agenda. Let me Slate in vcry clear terms thai the Federal Government will deal decisive· ith lilY-'h 5;1IIa1lOn5 Igerian agriculture is heading In the right direction 1bere is still much to do, hence the need for all stakeholden to come together and engender the needed synergy to unlock and unleash the huge polenllal of the sector. But . let me use thiS oppartu· oily to make il very clear thai government will nOI allow any indiVidual of group of mdividuals. or any compa· ny 10 frustrate: our agricultural trensfonnation agenda", he said. 1be President also DOled that Igriculture remains the most important sector of Nigeria '5 economy in terms of contribution to lhe GOP (44 per cent) and employmenl (10 per ccnl). but lamented it has performed poorly o~r lhe years because of neglect He further said the countJ)!. has huge agricultural polential. wilh 84 million heclarcs of arable land , but hastened to warn that Nigeria may have its food security undernlined unless it becOIllCli self,~u,fficient in
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food production. He SlId :some aspects of the U1lIIsfonnatlOn agenda I.le meant to reduce excess gllns. bul Ilmenled that somt' companies, OUI of mischief are using that as an excuse and are doing things to frustrate govemment"s errons, but Jonllthan warned thai sut;h actions would be resisted. National Chairman of the Peoples I)cmocratlC PIny (PDP) . Dr. Bamansa Tukur last week idenllfied Igncullure IS the most crilical sectOf 10 the country's ~u""ival because of iu polentialli fOI crealing millions of Jobs. e.radic.atmg poveny and IJttSlln, youth (Utiveness. Spc.ak mg at • grand receptton held In his honour by the pIny at his home lawn , Jadll, in Adamawa State. Tukur saId that there 15 no reason any Nigerian should be: hungry, conSidering the country's vaSI land and water resourccs, He promised Ihlll PDP lind the government would improve their suppan, efrons and policicsto make agriculture the mainstay of the nltion's economy, but observed lhallhe efforts should not be restricted to PDP governments According to him . ~sinc-e hungry people Ire angry pe0ple , we should feed our people to secure our nalion. For thlS reason. I urge all stale governments In develop a minimum of 50.000 hectarcs of anble land for round-the-ycllr farmlJlg If we do thal, youlh resuvene.~s ~hllll be a thing of the past. Non-PDP governments, where mey exist, should also give agriculture the ulmost pnority It deserves. The PDP under my leadcr>hip, will ensure thlt III PDP gover+ non are cffectl~ 10 Iheir performance. In view of the fact thai Nigerilns have no! seen Iny meaningful achievement both in tenos or policies and IKimmistllllion of the Jonathan 8overnmenl. many are won· dcnng Ir hiS transfornlatlon agendl through agriculture IS nOli me.re s logane.c:ring