Apero Sessions 1 and 2 focused on how the Golden Era of the Yoruba prioritised people’s wellbeing as the ultimate responsibility of government. Speakers on education and healthcare emphasized The Awolowo Administration’s total commitment to this responsibility. Apero Session 3 focused on Rural Development and Employment Generation and the question of how it was done then and how it can be done now.
But first, there was an unfinished business from Session 2. Professor Isaac Adewole, former Minister of Health had a conflict of schedule on June 18 and his presentation was moved to June 25. That was a presentation we couldn’t afford to miss, and zoom participants soon knew why. With an introduction of the speaker by Professor Tunde Bewaji, who also skillfully directed the discussion, all was set for a productive session.
Professor Adewole has been collaborating with DAWN Commission on health issues in the Southwest (SW), and his presentation was based on that project. Like previous speakers on health, he observed that the goal that The Awolowo Administration set itself for Western Region was Universal Health Coverage, which meant high quality of healthcare, at no cost to individuals, and no long commute for healthcare. No Nigerian government now thinks of doing this.
In view of the present situation, Professor Adewole asked: “what is the way out?” His answer was to recover lost ground for the welfare of the people. The statistics are sadly daunting. The population of the SW is 39,742,130, which is 19% of the Nigerian population. Nigeria’s status as the #10 most populated nation is a “demographic disaster” in the making, as Adewole put it. Unfortunately, it is a disaster that we are not reckoning with as a nation. While the Abuja Declaration on health prescribed 15% of annual budget for healthcare, actual budgetary allocation is 4%. Out-of-pocket medical expense is 70%. This means that many will forgo seeking care, others will incur heavy healthcare debt, and still others will die.
From Prof. Adewole’s presentation, currently SW lags behind other zones in many aspects of healthcare. Maternal mortality is highest in the SW. Malnutrition in SW is worse than Southeast (SE). There are more underweight children in the SW than other zones. SW is #4 in the procurement of mosquito nets for children. The prevalence of malaria is worse in SW. In antenatal care SW is third behind SE and Southsouth (SS). SW is last in provision of drinking water and the menace of open defecation. Public health facilities in SW lag behind SE. Northcentral (NC) beats SW in health distribution. With these data, where is SW’s sense of pride? Whither our First in Africa status? The answer is blowing in the wind.
For solution, Professor Adewole prescribed workable ideas: Invest more in healthcare. Make Primary Health Care play its role as a gatekeeper. Reverse the decline of dispensaries and maternity centers. Establish Ward Health System with a Ward Health Committee in every Ward. Commit 15% of budget to healthcare. Let states leave Teaching Hospitals to the Federal Government and focus on Primary Health (PHC) Centers. Pay healthcare workers on time. Establish model PHC with essential machines, supplies and vaccines. Involve the private sector and the diaspora population in healthcare financing. Treat health as pro-development and accord it a priority.
From Healthcare to Integrated Rural Development (IRD), there was not a dull moment in Apero 3. Chairman of the day, Professor A. G. Ayoola, an agricultural economist with years of experience, identified education and IRD as Chief Awolowo’s topmost programs. He highlighted the preparatory work that Awolowo did, including leading a committee to Israel to understudy Farm Settlement, Cooperative Societies, and Healthcare, arguing that this gave the administration a head-start in the development of the region.
Professor Adewumi Taiwo, also an agriculturist with many years of experience, looked back at the Golden Era, observing that the federal system of governance helped Chief Awolowo and his team to develop and implement their ideas for development. Welfarism was their ideology and priority for action. They asked such questions as: how can we get water nearer to the people? How can we expand social services to benefit the people? What industries should we establish to create wealth for the people? Believing that agriculture must be the vehicle for the development of the region, they developed policy papers, and sourced funds to invest in rural development. This was the origin of the Farm Settlement project as an instrument for the fast development of the region.
Professor Taiwo explained that The Awolowo Administration’s development objectives included making farmers more prosperous; granting them access to land; educating them on effective production system; and helping them with product marketing. After visiting Israel, the leadership came up with a strategy. They established six Farm Institutes across the region with Fashola as the coordinating centre. They also established thirty Farm Settlements with 640 acres each for cattle, poultry, and piggery. They imported cattle breeders from Mali. Engineering units fabricated tools and machines.
According to Taiwo, trainees trained for two years at the Farm Institute after which they were deployed to the Farm Settlement closest to their homes with equipment and stipends. They had access to extension workers who offered technical advice. Government bought their produce at harvest time and Marketing Boards processed produce for export. Cooperative societies offered facilities for savings and loans.
The scheme was enormously successful. Professor Taiwo referenced some alumni of Farm Institutes and Farm Settlements who became big time farmers. These included the proprietors of Olaogun Farms, Lala Farms in Ilora, and Ogun River Basin Farms. In his concluding message, Professor Taiwo averred that the IRD scheme, which worked effectively during the Golden Era, can also work now to generate employment and wealth for our young people.
The final presentation was from a young entrepreneur, Mr. Rotimi Olawale, CEO of JR Farms, which he co-founded with his wife, Jibike. This agriculture Power Couple are in their mid-thirties! They have farms in Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia. They are into Cassava flour, roasted coffee beans, and agro-consulting. Over 8 years, their impact has been felt in nine nations in three continents, with a network of 4,000 coffee farmers, employing more than 300 direct and indirect labor, with more than 30 million end-users of their products.
Mr. Olawale decried the unhelpful mindset of Yoruba youths who see agriculture as a dirty job, think that SW is not ideal for farming, that agriculture cannot create enough jobs, or that it is poverty-ridden. On his part, Olawale is convinced that agriculture is wealth-generating, that it was used to build infrastructure in the Golden Era, and that Yorubaland has a favorable environment for every food crop and livestock. For him, agriculture can transform SW into an economic power zone of the nation.
The challenges Olawale sees include youth misconception, infrastructural gap, bureaucracy, poor education, poor policy implementation, and inadequate investment in the sector. To overcome these challenges, Mr. Olawale’s recommendations include developing data/driven, people-oriented agricultural roadmap for SW; mobilizing investment in agriculture; promoting agricultural education; optimizing agriculture; and promoting priority crops and value addition and export.
For workable programs, Mr. Olawale prescribed agricultural incubation/processing centers for training and easy start-off of agricultural business. Rwanda is doing this! Second, food standardization center for export in partnership with gold standard organisations such as USDA and EU. This will prevent the rejection of our products in overseas markets. Third, for access to market by farmers, create a SW Commodity Trading Platform. Finally, school farms in primary and secondary schools should be brought back.
Professor Modupe Adebayo (nee Aka-Basorun) rounded up the session with an impeccable summary of all the presentations. She skillfully highlighted the vital points and recommendations which will help further work. It was another feast of ideas with great potentials for Southwestern renewal and renaissance in agriculture for employment generation and wealth creation.
Now we move on to the “Years of the Locust, 1966 to date” and what we must do to fumigate the land.
No discrimination. No intimidation. Just an enlightened dialogue for homeland renewal. Join next Apero:
Saturday, 02/07/22 at 4:00 pm Nigerian Time
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