Since the inception of the APC-led federal government in May 2023, Nigerians have been overwhelmed by multi-faceted socio-economic problems, occasioned by hasty policy implementation and policy summersault. In recent times, the problem of food insecurity has caused acute hunger due to the high cost of provisions and agricultural produce.
The country continues to grapple with the effects of this maladministration, resulting in infrastructural deficit, gross unemployment, insecurity, notably terrorism, banditry and armed robbery. Since these problems could not be solved, they contributed significantly in crippling the agricultural sector and the economy at large. Farmers were forced to leave their farms in many parts of the country and food inflation reared its ugly head. Yet, there were further complications as many multinational companies exited the country, causing further economic strangulation, with the attendant devastating hunger in the land.
While the government is yet to extricate itself from blame as fingers are pointing to lack of action against bandits, Nigerians are still proposing that far-reaching actions must be taken to return the country to days of agricultural glory.
Unfortunately, while the people are groaning under the subsisting harsh economy, the present administration is yet to start supporting farmers to turn things around.
It is indisputable that Nigeria’s problems are mountainous, but efforts must be made to address what is considered the most relevant to the common man – food.
In the past few weeks, many Nigerians have spoken on the need for the people to embrace farming, produce food for the table, and save their families from hunger and resultant death. Last week, the voice of well-meaning Nigerians echoed the country, calling on the people to return to farming.
Just recently, the Governor of Delta State, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori charged civil servants in the state to embrace subsistence farming to produce foods that can be consumed by the household while expecting that things will turn around soon.
Also, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in Sokoto, recently, called on Nigerian leaders to focus on promoting agriculture and food production in the country. He acknowledged the essence of infrastructure as transportation, road construction, agricultural settlements and housing projects. Obasanjo’s coy remark that “Stomach Infrastructure is the best”, is instructive.
This is so because a staggering number of about 20 million of the citizenry cannot feed themselves. The number, no doubt, has increased tremendously as many families cannot afford the required square meals daily. Incidentally, the areas most affected are the North, where foods are produced in vast amounts to service the nation.
For instance, states in the North East and North West, including parts of the Middle Belt are in this category. In these areas, which are the epicenter of terrorism and banditry, many farmers have been displaced and their lands taken over by insurgents.
Therefore, Governor Oborevwori, like many others, including Obasanjo, spoke volumes of what is needed to liberate the people from the biting economy. We join the call for the government to lead the way back to the farms, while citizens should follow. This is exactly where we are and what we need to go forward.
Young farmers require massive lands, improved seedlings, and storage facilities, as well as favourable policies that would encourage them to return to the farm.
But there is a snag in farming in Nigeria during this period. The obstacle, no doubt, revolves around the activities of insurgents and rampaging bandits. For whatever policy is going to be initiated, insecurity occasioned by high incidents of banditry must be addressed.
Consequently, the government should intensify the onslaught on bandits in the North and check the cases of herders/farmers clashes in the South, which has dissuaded most farmers from accessing their farms and making the future bleak as hunger could get worse in the next few months, if action is not taken.
Whether the government agrees or not, this is the way to go in this present time, and we call on relevant authorities to act.
