Imagine receiving a lifeline that temporarily lifts you above water, only for you to be submerged again as soon as you [are] let go.
This is how Jibril, a 32-year-old farmer from Kaduna, feels about the Nigerian government’s plan to distribute N50,000 to 3.6 million households and spend N155 billion on food items palliatives.
For Jibril, it’s a momentary fix for a deep-seated problem. He believes that addressing agricultural challenges confrontationally is deeper than offering palliatives that only scratch the surface.
The Federal Government’s recent initiative to distribute N50,000 to millions of households and allocate N155 billion for food items is being lauded as a much-needed intervention in a time of economic hardship.
On paper, this plan seems like a lifeline for many Nigerians struggling to make ends meet. But for Jubril and countless others in the agricultural sector, this move feels like another missed opportunity to tackle the root causes of the nation’s economic sufferings.
The Core Problem
Nigeria’s agricultural sector, which has the potential to be the backbone of the economy, contributed 23% of Nigeria’s $472.62 billion GDP in 2022. Assuming a similar proportion in 2024, the sector could add approximately $108.8 billion (23% of $472.62 billion) to the country’s GDP.
But challenges, ranging from inadequate infrastructure and outdated farming techniques to lack of access to credit and erratic power supply, are hindering this.
Despite these well-known issues, the government’s approach remains focused on short-term relief rather than sustainable development.
Jubril contends that the N155 billion could be better spent on addressing these foundational problems, creating long-lasting solutions that would benefit the entire country.
This isn’t just about numbers—it’s about survival, resilience, and the delicate dance between policy and reality.
Imagine N155 billion as a seed—a seed that, when planted in fertile soil, could yield more than sheer sustenance. It’s not just about distributing bags of rice or cans of oil. It’s about transforming the industry of agriculture, one furrow at a time.
The Food Sufficiency We Crave!!!!!!! Let There Be Food!!!
Anytime the developmental issues revolving around Nigeria come to the fore, one is often pensive, yet wanting to write. But shall we do, then, to put our thoughts to paper, peradventure we could set the pace for the change we desire so that all of us may live a prosperous life.
In the southwestern part of Nigeria, the Yoruba go by the proverb, “Ti o’mo’ de ko’ iyan ale’ awon agbalagba afi itan bale,” translated in English as, “If a child refuses the pounded yam prepared by his father, after the mother unceremoniously left his daddy, such a child has already initiated a path to history.”
As a people, we urgently need to ask what exactly has come over us as a nation, that things have fallen apart and scattered in such a way that the center can no longer hold and everyone seems no longer at peace. So sad! We are now at a stage in our nation where hunger is teaching lessons the hard way.
But from the beginning, it was not so. T. Odetola, in his work “Contribution of Agriculture to Economic Growth in Nigeria” between 1960 and 2011, found that an average of 83.5% of agriculture GDP was contributed by the crop production subsector.
The resilient nature of the sector is evident in its ability to recover more quickly than other sectors from shocks resulting from disruptive events, e.g., the civil war (1967-70) and economic recession (1981-85) periods.
Historically, Nigeria was reasonably self-sufficient in food production until agriculture lost its primacy to oil. The neglect led to the mass abandonment of farms, resulting in the extreme ‘peasantization’ of the sector.
Related negative fallout was Nigeria’s transition from food self-sufficiency to food dependency and the attendant massive importation to bridge food gaps.
Again, under the stint leadership of the late sage, Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo, the industrial hub of the Western region of Nigeria was well-conceived for the Lagos area using money from agriculture.
The Ilupeju Industrial Estate, Ikeja Industrial Estate, and the spread to Apapa and others, which were invitations to industrialists to locate, were all products of agriculture.
This snowballed into Odu’a Group of Companies as the holding enterprise, an industrial/commercial giant coordinating activities, all from agriculture.
This was also replicated in the northern and eastern parts of the country, with the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello (1910-1966), Nnamdi Azikiwe (1954–1959), and Michael Okpara (1959–1966). We made good money from groundnuts from the North and palm oil from the East.
It is therefore sad that fast forward to 2024, Nigeria can, without an iota of deep introspection, receive 25,000 tons of wheat donations from the war-ravaged Ukrainian government.
The problems ravaging Nigeria’s agricultural sector include poor land tenure systems, low levels of irrigation farming, climate change, and land degradation. Others are low technology, high production costs, poor distribution of inputs, limited financing, high post-harvest losses, and poor access to markets.
Added to this is the 2024 eye-opening analysis by Harmonisé, which predicted that Nigeria is expected to see about 26.5 million people grappling with high levels of food insecurity, while approximately 9 million children are said to be at risk of suffering from acute malnutrition or wasting. Of these, an alarming 2.6 million children could face Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and require critical nutrition treatment.
The above scenario aptly paints the picture of where we find ourselves as a people and demands from us a need to ask ourselves serious soul-searching questions about how our policies are conceived. What do we intend to achieve? How sustainable is the path we have chosen and our implementation plan?
For us, we have the view that sharing 50,000 to 3.6 million households worth N155 billion for distribution seems to be a cosmetic solution. The question is, of the over 200 million Nigerians, from which a paltry 3.6 million people were chosen, what happens to others who may not benefit? For how many months or years would the government keep on doing this?
If the aim of championing the idea of transferring money to the citizens is for short-term measures, it may have been properly conceived, at least as a spillover effect of not doing the right thing at the right time, in the right proportion, to get the right result. However, to propose such a policy for the long term and its sustainability raises a lot of questions. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!
As a country, we owe it to ourselves to chart a new and sustainable path that nips the food insecurity challenges in the bud.
Thus, it is our honest and patriotic charge for all and sundry to subscribe to a sustainable path of addressing our food insecurity challenges by addressing the insecurity that has almost sacked all our farmers from their farms. We may also need to start looking at formulating policies that directly affect the farmers without being held to ransom by the middlemen.
The truth is, in most cases, the farmers are not aware, nor is their expertise sought in our agricultural policies. Again, we may also need to look towards engaging our teeming youth in commercial agriculture. Do not tell us the youths are lazy.
If need be, let’s seek the transfer of knowledge from countries that have results. Thus, doling out Father Christmas’s palliative of N155 billion and making bogus policy claims may not squarely address the problem. We need to start thinking and acting in practical terms, while all our leaders put on their thinking caps and do what is needed.
The Remote and Immediate Strategy
Jibril raises an important point: clarity. The FG must unveil its strategy—a direction that stretches beyond immediate relief. Here’s what we need:
- Technology push:
Can N155 billion push us into precision agriculture, smart irrigation, and data-driven decision-making? Let’s leverage innovation to empower our farmers.
- Market Linkages:
Beyond food distribution, let’s create strong links between farmers and markets. Cold chains, e-commerce platforms, and cooperative networks can bridge the gap.
- Climate-Resilient Farming:
N155 billion can fund climate-smart practices—drought-resistant seeds, agroforestry, and soil health initiatives. Let’s build resilience against nature’s whims.
As the sun rises over fields, let’s reimagine N155 billion. Let’s see it as a whole—a promise not just to households but to generations. Let’s sow it wisely, nurture it fiercely, and reap a harvest that surpasses palliatives.
Dear FG, let N155 billion be more than a sum. Let it be the resilience of progress.
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