26/06/2024
"LOOMING FOOD CRISIS IN THE NORTH" . . .
Northerners have become slaves to petroleum products and menial jobs in the south.
Farming that Northerners are known for have been discarded.
We have become slaves to Igbo spare parts and pharmaceutical dealers.
We keep buying spare parts and drugs from Igbo traders.
We sell our lands and properties to Igbos and Yorubas.
Our excuses on insecurity is flimsy because we refused to come together and flush the bad eggs amongst us; let's take the fight to the criminals on the same day and recapture our farm lands.
What is the technology behind tomatoes, onions and pepper planting as if we have not planted them when we are children.
Areas that plant tomatoes, pepper, onions are Kaduna, Kano, kebbi Zamfara, Jigawa, Plateau, Sokoto states have been left fallow.
Northern governments especially LGs don't see reasons to mobilise their citizens to go on these empowerment crops; think of the money of a trailer load taken to the south in a day ?
All our Governors and LG chairmen are so fixated on Federal Allocation forgetting that we can make more money from Agriculture than what we are getting from Abuja.
It is a big shame on us in the north.
The Northern region is richly blessed with land, good weather, good topography, surface and underground water, having river basins for irrigation.
If harnessed properly, there will be all year cropping !
Ministries of agriculture, traditional and religious leaders should encourage northerners to plant fruits, cash and food crops; the rich amongst us should build industries that will add value to the produce like canning them for sales internally and for exports
Million Naira worth of pepper, onions and tomatoes are bought in the south on a daily basis which means there are markets.
Imagine what northerners will gain in one month, do I hear you say billions on tomatoes, onions and pepper only?
On security, we should allow southerners to come down to the north and purchase crops they needed.
It is interesting to know that Northerners cover many distance to the south to sell, covering over 700 Kilometers and come back with billions of Naira.
Yet the nineteen northern state Governors continue to fold their hands and allow this economic opportunity slip their citizens helplessly.
There is no state in the north that will not be making money monthly as IGR if we can leverage on scaling up agriculture and motor parks tax.
We just sit down under the tree and be generating all manners of childish excuses for economic downturn.
Another area is for the northern state Governors and LG chairmen to go is creating enabling environment and encourage people to go for animal, fishes and birds farming 🐟🐪🐄🐑🐏🐓🦃🐇🦤.
Encourage people to go for cows, rabbits, camels, goats sheep, pigs, grasscutters, chickens, pigeons, ducks, guinea fowls, ostrich, rats farming.
There are ready made markets for protein in the north and southern Nigeria.
It is not rocket science in rearing animals, fishes and birds that we cannot do in the north to take advantage of the market.
We can't afford to be lazing down and be complaining about hunger.
It is a big shame!
I am not an Agriculturist but I think a hectare of land is about the size of a 15 plots of land or about 2.5 acres.
1 Hectare will give you 50 bags of Rice if properly cultivated.
1 Hectare will give you 100 Bags of cassava (rogo) for Garri.
Imagine the quantities of tomatoes, onions and pepper we can get from just 1 hectare of land.
Yet we have millions of uncultivated hectares.
The Local Government Areas are the third tier of government and they have responsibilities to the people as the lowest level of government.
They also receive allocations from the centre apart from
the IGR.
Methink some percentage of these monies should be plugged judiciously to empower rural farmers.
Lest I forget, one of the duties of Local Government Areas according to the 4th schedule of the 1999 constitution includes food production and agricultural development.
Imagine northern LGAs putting 15% of their annual income into Agricultural Development, cumulatively we are going to have about billions of Naira monthly and about tillion Naira annually.
If LGA in the north can invest 15% of their income annually into food production in just 1 Year, will the food inflation be like this?
Will our youths be roaming the streets aimlessly with no jobs?
Haba! If monies are chanelled to food production, there will be massive creation of direct and indirect Jobs, MSME, industrial growth, railways and development etc.
Northerners sit down and expect the Governors to start growing tomatoes or pepper inside government houses and sharing it to their homes?
We must wake up and improve the economic status of Northerners in Nigeria.
We are at the bottom of the ladder.
We are not doing anything apart from selling of properties, cars, land. Promoting tribal and religious divide.
Northerners must develop
attitude to productive work !
Kebbi, Kwara, Niger states can meet more than 25% of the rice needs of Nigeria.
Sokoto, kebbi, Katsina, yobe, Borno states can meet the needs of millet. Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina states can meet the needs of maize. Nassarawa, Benue, Niger states can meet the needs of yams, cassava. Kaduna state can meet the needs of soya beans.
Borno, Niger, Kaduna, Zamfara states can meet the needs of beans. Kwara, Adamawa, kebbi can meet the needs of sugarcane.
For animal protein, most of the Northern states can deliver enough meat through modern ranching.
Northern Nigeria has places for fruits - cashew nuts, mangos, oranges, guava, etc.
Let's put our land to proper use.
Our state Governors and LG chairmen have to do a lot in agriculture since the Land Use Decree of 1978 have made them custodians of land.
No Igbo or Yoruba will develop the north apart from northerners, therefore we should identify our diversity, appreciate it and come together to develop our region.
