The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Farmers

  • Farmers raise alarm over agrochemicals adulteration

    The growing market for agrochemicals estimated to be in excess of $308.92 billion by 2025 has attracted counterfeiters whose activities are flooding the country with huge quantities of fake products.

    It is estimated that over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s close to 190 million people are said to be farmers.

    Agrochemicals, such as fertiliser, pesticides, fungicides and insecticides are commonly used in agriculture to control weeds, pests, improve crop performance and yields.

    Fraudsters and counterfeiters are eying the global agrochemical market estimated to net $266 billion in 2021, according to statistics.

    Experts say over 20 percent  of that market share will be lost globally to the adulteration and counterfeiting industry.

    It is believed that the growing agrochemicals market in Nigeria is driven by a rapid population expansion, demand for food and more people showing interest in farming.

    Recently, regulators, such as the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC) raised the alarm over the influx of adulterated and substandard agro-chemicals in many stores across the country.

    Speaking in Kano during the public sensitisation workshop organised by the duo to educate farmers and agro-chemical dealers on the dangers of substandard and adulterated inputs in manufacturing process and farming,  NAFDAC Director-General Dr. Moji Christiana Adeyeye said the situation was counterproductive to the country’s drive to rejuvenate its agro-economy, and pledged the preparedness of her agency to deal decisively with those on the wrong side of the law.

    Contributing SON Director-GEneral Mr. Osita  Aboloma said most of the products in the markets are substandard and adulterated.

    According to him, investigations by his agency reveal that a larger percentage of agrochemicals in the market are substandard, containing contaminated contents or do not contain any active ingredients.

    Others country of origin, he said, are falsified or re-labelled or expired.

    Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kano State chapter, Farouq Rabi’u Mudi, said for long, farmers in the Northwest region had been suffering losses in their yearly output due to wrong use of substandard chemicals on their farmlands.

    The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has warned: “Every pesticide user should avoid choosing products whose origin is not guaranteed. The efficacy of the products cannot be guaranteed and they can be more toxic to humans and the environment than products from a bona fide source as they contain toxic impurities normally eliminated by reputable manufacturers.”

    Experts at Arjo Solution, an international firm in authentication and traceability solutions to combat counterfeiting, parallel markets and illicit trade said: “The use of fake products generates lands depletion, compromises crop yield and threaten farmers’ health.”

  • Controversy trails whereabouts of 100 rice milling centres

    Although official records show that the Federal Government has since set up rice over 100 rice milling centres but farmers across the country hardly know where these mills are located fueling fears that these so-called are white elephants projects. Olugbenga Adanikin who toured some farm settlements across the country reports

    Horror stories of farmers

    In the last farming season, an aged farmer who did not want his name in print got 43 bags of rice paddy. This, he said was even little compared to what farmers in the communities could get if rightly supported by the government.

    The Nation gathered that some of the rice farmers trek as far as 30 kilometres to nearest rice mill in Idah town, Kogi state, on the eastern bank of the Niger River in the middle belt region.

    In Okpakpata village of the state, Mr. Simeon Ikani, father of six children blamed government for failing to respond to their needs. To him, it’s been promises without fulfillments. He said farmers contend with poor access to water while rice are being milled at N250 per bucket at Idah.

    “After harvesting our rice from the farm, we boil and dry it. We then carry it on our head to a place in Idah where we mill the rice. If a farmer is milling 10 buckets, that equals to N2,500.

    “Our road from here to Ofuloko is bad. We want government to repair it so we can easily take our farm produce to the market.”

    The villagers shared their pathetic sad stories adding that their wards could not also attend school as some of the teachers stayed away from school due to unpaid salaries. They claimed that except during political campaign, there is no government presence in the areas. But they applauded humanitarian bodies for making efforts to supporting the villagers, building their capacities.

    Damodu Achema, a rice farmer in Okpakpata village, Igalamela/Odolu Local Government, Kogi State has just turned 60. At this age, he still enjoys farming. He plants mostly rice and cassava. But his excitement often turns bleak during harvests.

    Reason: This is due to lack of access to rice milling machines to mill his paddy while bad roads to transport the goods remain yet another major challenge. “We have a lot of problems in our community. It is sad that we don’t have rice milling machines, so we suffer a lot before we take the paddy out to mill in town.”

    Achema and other rice farmers in the community usually convey their rice paddy on their heads. It takes them about nine kilometres to reach the nearest rice milling centre in Idah.

    Mr. Usman Haruna, another farmer has two wives and 10 children. Though in his early 40s, he feeds his family with proceeds from his harvests. His situation is not too different from Achema, who is also from the same local government but lives in Ofuloko community. As at the last farming season, he got 100 bags of rice paddy but milling was a difficult task.

    “I farm rice, maize and cassava. After harvest, I dried and stored it before milling but I had to travel to Idah to do that. It’s a real problem for us, because we don’t have rice milling machines and the road to Idah is very bad.”

    Unfavourable operating climate for farmers

    It is a similar experience in Aku village, Adavi local government, Osara-Gada among others. These are the pathetic situation of the rural farmers in the country.

    Aside tough process involved in land cultivation, without access to farm inputs and machinery, they grapple to process their produce, especially rice, cassava, grains despite 110 milling machines reportedly procured by the Federal Government.

    “As ActionAid established this rice mill for us, we are very happy. We will no longer suffer and we will easily get market for our rice and other farm produce,” said Achema.

    “In the area of machines like the ones provided by ActionAid, we don’t have it here until now. If you measure the kilometres before you transport your paddy from here to town, it is about nine kilometres, so it’s a big suffering to us. And before you get to Ajaka market, it will take you nine kilometres also,” Ikani who was able to mill about 50 bags of rice paddy through machines provided by ActionAid stated.

    Startling revelations

    Findings from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that 30 states in Nigeria currently plants rice. But Kebbi, Ebonyi, Kogi and Zamfara States occupy pride of place in the scheme of things because of the massive production of rice in their respective domain.

    Interestingly, the government claimed to have built over 100 mills evenly distributed across the states but no one seems to know where they are located.

    Allocation of over N10.7 billion for 10 new rice mills, 100 additional mills

    Available information sourced from the ministry showed that between February and July, 2017 the Federal Government claimed to have procured 100 rice milling machines meant to be installed in different parts of the country but the exact locations remained a mystery. In 2017 approved budget, N4, 155, 019, 415 was appropriated for purchase of farm equipment from N75,072,908,439.20 total budget allocation for capital projects in the ministry.

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, at a town hall meeting in Umuahia shared the exciting news to obviously expectant public saying the machines would be sold to private millers at a subsidised rate.

    Ogbeh described the gesture as part of intervention towards supporting the agriculture sector. But from the approved N4.15bn procurement, N1 billion was set aside to procure farm equipment for inputs for the 36 states of the federation (supply of agricultural machinery, mini combined harvester, 50-75 HP tractors and small tractors with basic spare parts). These gestures were ultimately expected to boost local rice production and support rural farmers, especially rice producers in the states.

    Shortly in 2017, the procurement of 110 rice mills was firmly reiterated by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, in one of his press statements boasting that since October 2016, Nigeria had been feeding many parts of West, North and Central Africa as a result of the intervention. However, he never gave specific details on how the mills were distributed.

    Till date, no such official information was made public by the ministry. Though, rice imports is said to have reduced significantly from the commencement of the current administration but local farmers are still confronted with milling challenge, except for private sectors investing in the mill business especially in the north.

    In April, 2018 the Federal Government through the Federal Executive Council (FEC), almost a year after (2017), further approved the establishment of ‘very large’ additional 10 rice milling machines at the sum of N10.7 billion. The final agreement for the procurement did not hold until three months after, while the new integrated mills are expected to be delivered in December 2019.

    According to the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Heineken Lokpobiri, the nation, as at that period of new approval, had only 21 rice mills, thus clearly contradicting the initial claims of the senior presidential aide and Ogbeh that 110 mills were already procured.

    Other listed benefitting states are Kebbi, Zamfara, Benue, Bayelsa, Anambra, Kaduna, Niger, Ogun, and Bauchi.

    The Minister listed intervention programmes rolled out by the Agric Ministry to include rice, maize, sorghum, wheat, groundnut, cowpea, soybean, millet, sesame, tomato, onion, okro, cocoyam, cassava, yam, ginger, cotton, cashew, oil palm, cocoa, fish, as well as animal and livestock.

    “Under the Rice Value Chain – all rice producing states recorded an increase in rice production, with Lagos State having the highest increase of 30.5 per cent.

    “Milling capacity of the functional integrated rice mills has increased from 13 to 21 mills and from less than 600,000 MT capacities to the current 1,295,000 MT,” said Ogbeh.

    However, none of the seven villages visited in the state had benefited in any form. The Anchor Borrowers Programme they noted is still a mirage as they are yet to get credit supports of any kind.

    Rural empowerment to reduce communal conflicts 

    Beside provision of health supports and capacity buildings, an international organisation, ActionAid Nigeria identified most affected and secluded rural communities in the state and provided supports to improve their livelihood.

    The support was in form of rice milling and processing centre for women and youth, bread making machines, grains grinding machines, cassava processing machines, brick block machine among others. The nine intervention projects in the rural communities gulped N36 million.

    Some of the beneficiaries in the tucked in localities were filled with enthusiasm to have gotten such intervention despite being neglected by governments. The support programme according to the humanitarian body was mainly targeted to empower less privileged women and youth in poor and secluded villages.

    On behalf of youth in Ofuloko community, Comrade Aminu Falaruna applauded ActionAid Nigeria and the implementing partner, Executive Director, Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development (PIBCID), Mrs. Gift Owonipa for their ingenuity and commitment to supporting the poor. He said the support groups have been helpful to eradicating poverty among women and improving access to quality education in their communities since 2006.

    ActionAid Country Director, Ene Obi, in her remarks, said the projects were to improve rural livelihoods, discourage youth from being used as political thugs and radicalism. The Country Director, represented by the Programme Manager, Humanitarian and Resilience, Ipoade Omilaju said the villages were selected based on data from the Bureau of Statistics to measure level of poverty.

    The villages were considered as extremely poor communities, hence they got the intervention.

    Lamentations galore

    Despite these lofty promises and recent FEC approval, farmers in rural Kogi communities still lament over poor access to rice milling facilities, coupled with the pain of bad rural roads to transport their produce to market. “We have lots of problems and we do a lot of rice farming but we don’t know where we will mill it,” said 65 years old rice farmer.

    Rebuttal

    Reacting to this story, at an agreement signing between the Ministry and a local firm MV Agro Engineers, alongside its international partner, the Agric Minister clearly showed ignorance to the project cost of the 10 rice mills.

    He was quick to ask his colleague, the Minister of State before affirming the project after the partnership agreement with the contractors. The minister said the N10.7 billion integrated rice milling machines will be delivered in December, 2019. He explained that the benefiting states would have to indicate interest as off-takers, make 10 percent down payment and express technical capacity to own and operate the mill while Bank of Agriculture (BoA) is expected to take over the loan repayment in the next 10 years.

    “As these people arrive, they will install these mills and the BoA will take over the loans repayment over a period of 10 years,” Ogbeh said.

    Asked if the 18 months deadline could be reviewed upward for benefit of the farmers, the minister noted that, “building machines is not cheap. It’s a scientific thing. These people say they may do it faster but we give them 18 months, so there won’t be issues for delays.”

    Meanwhile, there are concerns on the actual status of the 100 rice mill and if by the data provided by the federal government, the rice mills in the country should have increased beyond 110 and more accessible.

    “We are buying smaller mills and giving them out because the smaller mills produce more rice than the big mills added-up but they are scattered all over the country. Virtually every state has small rice mills somewhere, Niger, Bayelsa, Benue, Taraba, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Katsina and Jigawa,” the minister stated.

    On Kogi State poor access to rice mills, the minister advised the rural farmers to formally write and request for the mills. Ogbeh said there are plenty of mills in the ‘store’ but not accessed.

    “Did they apply?” the Minister asked the reporter “We advised. Let them apply, we don’t discriminate wherever there is rice. I have been talking about rice mills for Igbaji, and asking people to apply. It is a swamp area. They can grow rice all year round. We have them in the store. Let them come, write a letter and we approve. We want everybody to grow rice everywhere,” Ogbeh added.

    Sadly, majority of the rural farmers are uneducated and the ministry has very low extension workers who could interfere and support the community farmers not only in this area but also on farm inputs. The Minister has repeatedly complained on the ratio of farm extension workers to existing 13 million farmers scattered across the country.

    The State Government, in its reaction through Chief of Staff to Kogi State Governor, Hon. Edward Onoja attested to sufferings of the rural dwellers and the bad road access. He admitted to the water shortage, poor health care delivery as well as inadequate farm inputs to the rural communities.

    However, he said 500-kilometre rural roads would be constructed to assist farmers in evacuating their farm produce through the World Bank Rural Access Mobility Project (RAMP). While commending ActionAid and PIBCID for their sincerity of purpose to supporting the rural dwellers, he promised to make provision for 12 cottage industries in nine local government areas to boost the economy of rural communities.

    Villagers depend daily on stream water for survival  

    Residents in these villages trek two miles to the river to fetch water for domestic use. 2017 World Bank report stated that the country provided clean water to fewer than 10 percent of its city dwellers in 2015, this is lower from 29 per cent in 25 years.

    The United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) pegged the data to 70 million people from a population of 170 million. It stated that the 70 million lacked access to safe water while over 110 million lacked access to improved sanitation in 2013.

    But the Federal Government through the Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu said only 57 per cent of the nation’s population have access to potable water. He attributed this to population upsurge and climate change.

    The community usually visits the river named ‘Aji Okpeji’ and the smaller one ‘Okpakpata River’ for all their needs.

    “We don’t have pure water here. The borehole water we are managing is bad so we only rely on stream water. That’s what we use to cook, bath and for all our domestic use,” said Usman while he tried to justify the purity saying “the stream water flows, it is not stagnant.”

     

  • Group advises farmers to increase soybean production for export

    The Federation of Agricultural Commodities Association Nigeria (FACAN) President, Dr. Victor Iyama, has advised farmers to take advantage of the trade war between the United States (U.S.) and China to double their soybean acreage for increase exports earnings.

    This followed China imposition of  tariffs on U.S. soybeans, a development that has shaken  global trade flows.

    China is the world’s largest consumer of soybeans and the destination for well over half of U.S. soybeans.

    Beijing said it will impose an extra 25 per cent import duty on more than 500 U.S. goods, including soybeans from today. The move was in response to Washington’s plan to slam duties on $50 billion Chinese goods, as the trade dispute between the world’s top two economies escalates.

    The tit-for-tat trade threats have already disrupted trade flows across the commodities sector from sorghum to coal and inflated prices of animal feed ingredients such as soymeal.

    China is the world’s biggest pork producer and consumer and its industry relies on soybean meal, a product of soybean crushing, to feed its pigs. Rising costs for hog farmers risks increasing the price of pork, a component of China’s consumer price index.

    Iyama said the rising cost of American soybeans  will  improve the competitiveness of Nigerian  supplies to China markets.

    According to him, local producers can join other suppliers to replace the supply of soybeans from the U.S. going to China, urging  farmers to take advantage in markets where  U.S.  share of exports will drop.

    Iyama urged food exporters to explore opportunities, appealing to the government to focus on sustainable development and is creating fantastic opportunities for agribusiness and food.

    According to him, while agro commodities   are growing ,  so much  need to be done to increase volume  to enable agriculture make an impact on  trade.

    Exporters, he added, ought to focus on value-added products and diversify export markets which typically fetches higher per-unit value than  unprocessed  produce .

    He explained that the  government and the private sector needed to jointly work out ways for boosting the per-unit value of exports. That can come from a combination of high-end processing and value-addition in export products as well as from targeting richer segments of export markets.

    Meanwhile, agro investors on the platform of Madaki Agro Services Limited have said they are targeting an investment of 100,000 hectares of Arable land in soya beans cultivation in the next five years.

    Its Executive Director, Operations, Mike Enahoro stated  that the target is to have 100,000 hectares by the end of five years, noting that the target is just a drop in what Nigeria arable opportunities have. “Nigeria still has about 1.6 million hectares,” he said.

    Enahoro said the group is targeting three tons, adding that if there is a natural disaster or herdsmen attacks, the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Commission Company (NAIC) will step in to remedy the situation.

    He said: “The role of government is to create an enabling environment, support investors with investment programmes such as the Anchor Borrowers Programme, accelerate and support us with all necessary platforms.”

    In his presentation on the investment opportunities earlier, the company’s Executive Director of Finance, Chijioke Ofomata, said: “The Madaki Agro Services Limited is working to unlock untapped value in the agriculture and agro allied processing sectors.”

    He revealed that the company had acquired 10,000 hectares of farmland in Ganjuwa Local Government Area of Bauchi State for growing cash crops.

    “These include soya beans, groundnuts, wheat, rice, sorghums, cowpeas with a model of planting and harvesting three  cycles in a year.

    “The Madaki business model is based on being an anchor/aggregator of small holder farmers (Anchor Borrowers Programme) principally designed to empower communities and create wealth for rural farmers as well as activate company owned farming which will drive further, both productivity and profitability.”

  • Ogun farmers lose N100m fishes to flood, rainstorm

    Ogun fish farmers, 55 of them, have lost over N100m worth of live fishes to a devastating flood which swept them away following a two – day torrential rainfall.

    The cluster – cat fish farms located at Idagba area of Ayetoro in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State and housing about 110 ponds were submerged at the weekend when the overflowing Idagba river emptied into them.

    It was learnt that the river which incidentally was their source of water supply, the reason the farms were sited near, experienced overflow with the heavy down pour.

    The Nation gathered that some of the villagers had a luck day as they defied the heavy downpour and followed the Idagba river course to catch swarms of fishes being washed down its path.

    A witness told The Nation that a basin of table -size cat fishes were sold as cheap as N4000:00 in Ayetoro area by some youths who made fortune out of the farmers’ misfortune.

    One of the farmers, Mr David Adeniyi, a retired banker who operates a fish farm in conjunction with his wife, said the flood swept away his seven active fish ponds, lamenting that he has lost over five million naira to devastating rainstorm.

    Also affected is 76 year – old Pa. Akanni Olateju, who claimed he personally lost six million naira worth of fishes to the flood and appealed to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to come to their help.

    According Olateju, majority of the affected fish farmers invested in fish farm business with loans.

  • Cattle and citizens

    This article had appeared on this page before. It is being republished as an acknowledgement of change in policy response to what has become a national crisis spawned by conflicts between nomadic pastoralists and farmers. The recent decision of the federal government to establish ranches in 10 states of the federation marks a major change from obsession with grazing zones  to ranching, a model that represents global best practice in meat and milk production.

    Tim Marshall in a recent book, Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To Know About Global Politics has a conclusion that could have been written specifically in relation to politics of cattle production in today’s Nigeria: “As the twenty-first century progresses, the geographical factors that have helped determine our history will mostly continue to determine our future…. Of course, geography does not dictate the course of all events. Great ideas and great leaders are part of the push and pull of history. But they must all operate within the confines of geography.” This quote, like the rest of the book, has lessons for the whole world and more immediately for Nigeria that is under serious stress of coming to terms with nature in a century more empowered by science and technology to cope with the constraints of geography.

    Desertification may be a remote cause of the problem between herdsmen and farmers in states below the Sahel belt in the northern part of Nigeria, but desertification is not peculiar to Nigeria. About 900 million people in the five continents live in zones that are threatened by desertification. But most countries adopt new techniques to cope with such challenges of geography. Nigeria must find ways to acquire such knowledge to save itself from creating easy solutions that may create similar or worse problems in the future for its citizens and its cattle.

    Indiscriminate cattle grazing has not always been a problem in the country. Those who were born before independence would know that up to the 1970s when the Sahel had not moved down as radically as it has in the last twenty years, it was unheard of that herdsmen harassed farmers in the South and largely in the middle-belt. One immediate cause of herdsmen/farmers clash is the fear of Fulani herdsmen to accept the unworkability of the old system of roaming with cattle across states as well as the fear of adopting new modes of cattle raising. Just as many Nigerians are mourning with Benue State over recent killing of men, women, and even children allegedly by herdsmen, the officers of Fulani socio-cultural organisation, Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (GAFDAN) are insisting that it is only annulment of Benue State’s Anti-Open Grazing Law that can prevent violence. The Organisation’s Secretary General, Alhaji Saleh Bayeri, indirectly holds the government responsible for the recent tragedy in Benue: “Naturally, the government should know that the Fulani that keep multiplying in human population and their animals should know that they need a space to occupy and carry out their legitimate business.”

    Bayeri’s call for a space for herdsmen to occupy and carry out legitimate business raises two issues that the federal government must address fast. One is demand for a space for herdsmen and the second is what type of space and why. The interest of GAFDAN seems to be in favour of the pre-colonial mode of cattle farming: nomadism and roaming. The second problem concerns government’s readiness to intervene intelligently and equitably in the clash of interests between animal and plant farmers in different parts of the country.

    So far, it appears that the federal government’s latest intervention is to create “cattle colonies.” The Agriculture Minister, Audu Ogbeh, has attempted to distinguish between cattle ranch and colony: “Ranching is more of an individual venture for those who want to invest, but cattle colony is bigger in scope and size. … Cattle colony is not using Fulani herdsmen to colonize any state. It is going to be done in partnerships with state governments that would like to volunteer land for it. Federal government will fund the project and those wishing to benefit from it will pay some fees.”

    The distinction between cattle ranch and colony befuddles the federal government’s policy on this urgent matter of economic restructuring. How big must a ranch become to qualify for a colony? Is the federal government planning late in the ethos of market economy to run cattle farms or colonies in partnership with states or individuals? Why would the federal government feel comfortable with privatising telecommunication, electricity, banking, fertilizer, and even education while calling for restoration of government/private partnership in cattle business? Is the federal government now ready to return to a mixed economy mode it had stopped since establishment of Bureau of Public Enterprise? FG’s decision to pay for space to serve as colonies and charge cattle farmers “some fees” smacks of special subsidy to cattle farming? Is this policy going to be extended to other forms of farming, especially farmers in non-cattle producing states of the federation? What is the extent of involvement of the National Assembly in formulation of this policy so far?

    With or without climate change, the world is changing in geographical terms and is likely to continue to change. Undoubtedly, science and technology are now deployed to assist humanity to cope with constraints of geography. The federal government needs to get more scientific techniques from global best practices in cattle farming. Given the recent tragedy in Benue, policy wonks cannot afford to go to sleep. But while they are doing necessary comparative studies on raising cattle in states vulnerable to desert encroachment, the government should pay immediate attention to investigation that can lead to prosecution and punishment of those who had given Nigeria the worst name possible in international relations: a country practicing genocide.  Policymakers need to benefit from two Nigerian proverbs. The Igbo proverb says roughly in English “life is like a dance, you need to follow the dance in order to enjoy it.” The Yoruba version says, “it is the contemporary dog that is used to chase the contemporary rabbit.” Both proverbs promote adaptability to new modes and methods. The challenge for the ministries of agriculture and the environment is how to fight desertification frontally and how to adopt new ways to produce cattle.

    If herdsmen were children of upper or middle-class men and women in our country, they would have cried foul for being hired to nurse cattle for the rich at great risk to their being. If the country had created an educational system akin to what exists in Kaduna today—free and compulsory basic education for all—it would have been impossible for current owners of cattle to find herdsmen to follow cows across the country.  Such difficulty must come to cattle owners if part of the goals of national development and integration include ensuring equality and equity. Having herdsmen in the 21st century should be discouraged; potential herdsmen should be in school like the children of owners of the cattle they are hired to herd. Young herdsmen who after receiving Basic Education choose to become cattle farmers should be given opportunities to own ranch, even if they need to take loan guaranteed by government to buy land for ranching.

    The media is already celebrating creation of ranches in 10 states as symptomatic of radical change from government’s earlier preoccupation with establishment of Grazing Zones to adoption of ranching as the hallmark of modern animal farming. Undoubtedly, this is a noticeable change. However, citizens require further explanations on there are further explanations on philosophy and method behind selecting the states to be provided with ranches. How does selecting each state to house some of the 94 ranches fit into the agricultural and land management of the ‘lucky’ states to benefit from about N180 billion? Has the federal government acquired sites for ranches for government use and later for transfer to private cattle farmers? What steps are taken to ensure that federal government’s acquisition or purchase of land that is constitutionally under the jurisdiction of states does not derogate from the power of the state to manage state resources on behalf of citizens in a federation? While the nation justifiably celebrates the priority of ranch over grazing, citizens are likely to get a clearer picture of the new  policy, as more details of the policy emerge. (Not in the original essay)

  • Our Girls; Farmers: ‘Too Young To Die’

    It is now four years+ since our Chibok Girls were viciously kidnapped on April 15, 2014. However we await the release of the remaining Chibok girls and the Dapchi girl-child, 15 year-old, Leah Sharibu.

    Mr President, the truckloads of Nigerian needless dead should pass Aso Rock en route burial during the conviviality of the weekly Federal Executive Council meetings so as to get full government attention.  Even in the face of the wicked and wanton murder of three Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) men and officers along with evil killing of nine farmers they were supposed to protect, we are suspiciously dumfounded by the inactivity of the combined uniformed services. Our Inspector General of Police (IGP) was on television declaring that the response would be taken against in two whole bloody weeks ignoring the word ‘Rapid’.

    What happened to the ‘First 24-48 hours’ in crime detection? And will the herder terrorists not kill and destroy more according to the timetable and go on break in two weeks? Sadly when the security council met, the only solution articulated by the Minister of Defence was that Nigeria should ‘abandon the Anti-Grazing Bill, AGB’. Was it a truly national meeting – fair to the victims? Was any victim there to speak? Who wrote the security reports considered? But sadly and dangerously for Nigeria the defence minister demonstrated a failure in the basic ‘Logic of Problem Solving’. The problem was the wanton rampaging murder of thousands and destruction of thousands of farms and occupation of villages and farmlands with absent significant impact of the federal government. The solution creatively created out of victimization by the victims is the AGB, a reaction to disarming of potential victim communities by the authorities leaving then sitting ducks.

    So how can withdrawing the well-thought out solution, AGB, solve the problem? Rather it will explode murderously. The minister is advised that the AntiGrazing Bill must remain. My personal solutions include a boycott of beef as I cannot eat ‘blood beef’ provided by the murder of anyone – farmer, his family or herder. Other solutions available are forcing the cow owners to pay for cow and herders’ food and drink en route the market just like other produce owners, fattening the cows on ranches of the owner’s states and shipping them by trailer or maybe trains in one or two days nationwide. This is a needless war that should never have happened in Nigeria, compounding suspicions of territorial ambitions.

    President Buhari, we, the living Nigerians nationwide, are mostly happy at the Not Too Young To Run Act. But Nigeria has already lost thousands of potential young political office holders cut down in the herders/ Gadhafi-spawned terrorist war. Therefore even more urgent than this law is a new bill you urgently need to introduce – the ‘Too Young To Die’ stating that all Nigerians are ‘Too Young To Die’ at the hands of terrorist herders, their cohorts, mercenary foreign bandits and in 2019 election wars. Buhari beyond the monetary imperative to be Mr Clean, there is the moral imperative to the president’s commitment to ‘make all Nigerians safe and secure’ for every group and profession including farmers.

    Our democratic heartbeat is out of control. Our democracy is on very expensive life support not giving value for money. It is not vibrant, life-giving, hope-raising but facing cardiac arrest, with an exorbitant cost for little returns. It is in urgent need of self or imposed restructuring from top to bottom. Can it cut away the greed and fat?  Starting with the National Assembly (NASS) and state assemblies, they need urgent surgery to cut 70% of personnel salaries and perks, introduce part-time sitting allowances, and even payments of salaries by the states which politicians represent. Is this overbloated re-numeration scheme why NASS acts like a despicable bullying military unitary outfit? It makes a sordid political case study for political science students of contemporary politics as NASS shamelessly disregards public opinion or good leadership by ‘witch-hunting so-called dissident NASS members’ and any who question their ‘word’ or authority. Aruma Oteh of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) responding to the haranguing by NASS spearheaded in the sordid ‘Hembe Affair’ has long confirmed Jega’s assertion that most CEOs dread NASS visitation panels because of their interpretation of ‘oversight’. ‘Money for hand, back for ground’ is a phrase used in certain professions beginning with P. Why does NASS relish discrediting and vilifying its members with different or opposing opinions especially if articulated publicly? Where is its democracy, accommodation of different views: party, partisan and personal? Why are NASS ‘Minority Reports’ a declaration of war, considered anti-NASS and fit only for punishment of the ‘dissident perpetrators’. Is NASS an unregistered political party that it should present itself as a united front, its membership up in arms in self-protection and seemingly against the wishes of Nigerians to have a cheaper more effective single house parliament?

    A country that cannot complete its National Library since 2006 to be built in 22 months with a contract awarded to RCC at N8+billion, now an immoral N78b, says it all about political priorities in education.

    One announcement says Second Niger Bridge is 44% complete and another says some Bureau is hindering finishing the bridge. Who is lying?

    Mr President: Cholera in 2018? Nigeria loses 440 citizens to cholera. Every LGA gets N1b a year –but still no sanitation in schools, markets and motor parks!!

     

    • Uncover ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019 -SDG 16.

  • Crushing incessant herdsmen/farmers clashes

    Clashes between farmers and herdsmen have been recurring for almost forty years without concerted effort by the authorities to resolve them. By now there should have been constant researches on agriculture diversification and development. There should be deliberate education/advocacy by knowledgeable researchers and practitioners in crop farming and livestock production and husbandry, plus other stakeholders including those interested in peaceful resolution of issues that Nigeria contend with from time to time.

    Lip service to providing security for lives and properties and diversification of the economy from the mono product (oil) to a non renewable wasting asset. Indeed before the discovery of oil the regional governments harnessed the resource that abides in their areas; these were used to develop the regions. Oil boom has become oil doom. Quick money with little or no serious hard work has been a malaise bedevilling the nation.

    Undoubtedly, President Muhammadu Buhari administration has been overwhelmed by the problem of insecurity /terrorism in the Northeast as well as the herdsmen/farmers clashes. The sophisticated weapons used by Boko Haram/herdsmen suggests the subtle support of powerful interest groups, this was more or less confirmed by the leaders of Miyetti Allah who were alleged to have boasted some weeks ago that unless the anti-grazing law signed by Benue State governor was repealed, reprisal attacks will follow. It happened with over 70 people killed. Till today no one has been arrested. Are the Miyetti Allah leaders the proverbial sacred cows?

    The federal government had proposed the setting up of “grazing colonies” across the country to solve the problems, but the word “colony” reminds one of slavery in the pre-independence days.

    I suggest the Minister of Agriculture should convey a two-day conference comprising agric researchers in the university of agricultural/faculty of agriculture and agric research institutes, civil servants, veterinary services and animal husbandry, as well as politicians to find a lasting solution to this menace.

    Cattle ranching appears to be the best approach (sustainable) for developing agriculture sector through integrated farming as it is done worldwide in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States of America, Japan, Brazil, and so on. Cattle ranching involve confinement of production outfit thus managing the enterprises using international best practices approach.

     

    • By Godswill Daniel

    Lagos.

     

  • Farmers, herders in Kachia resolve to sustain peace

    Farmers and cattle herders in Kachia, Kachia Local Government area of Kaduna State have pledged to maintain peaceful coexistence amongst themselves.

    The resolution was reached on Tuesday at a meeting held under the auspices of Kachia All Tribes Association held in Kachia.

    Leader of the organising committee, Malam Yusuf Garba said the event, organised in partnership with Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, was to further strengthen ties between the farmers and herders.

    Garba said the meeting was against the backdrop of the approaching rains which marked the commencement of farming activities.

    “This meeting would promote mutual trust and understanding with a view to ensuring harmony among all communities in Kachia local government,” he said.

    Garba commended the participants for demonstrating resilience and willingness to sustain mutual understanding and tolerance among them.

    In a remark, the Administrator of the Local Council, Hajia Zulai Jaafaru said the council welcomed the initiative targeted at promoting peace in the area.

    Represented by Muhammad Tanko, the Secretary in the local government, Jaafaru urged the people to continue to be agents of peace for meaningful development.

    The traditional ruler of Agom Adara, Chief Maiwada Galadima, commended the people of the chiefdom for the peace being enjoyed and urged them to sustain it.

    Represented by Mr Moses Stephen, a Council member of the Chiefdom, Galadima enjoined the people to always monitor and report movements of people with questionable character in their midst to appropriate authorities.

    NAN

  • Farmers get one year each for theft, extortion

    An Upper Area Court in Kasuwan Nama, Jos, has sentenced three farmers, Suleiman Dahiru, Jafaru Musa and Tahiru Adam, to one year for theft, criminal conspiracy and extortion.

    The judge, Mr. Yahaya Mohammed, sentenced the accused after they had pleaded guilty to the three-count charge.

    He, however, gave them an option of N20,000 fine each.

    The prosecutor, Mr. A. Edwin, told the court that on January 7, Salisu Adams reported the case at Barkin-Ladi Police Station.

    He alleged that the accused attacked the complainant on his way from his village, snatched his red Boxer motorcycle and extorted N150,000 from him.

    Edwin added that the case was transferred from Barkin-Ladi Police Station to the State Criminal and Investigative Unit for further investigation on March 15.

    He said during police investigation, the accused confessed to have committed the crime.

    The prosecutor said the offences contravened sections 97, 287 and 292 of the Penal Code of Northern Nigeria.

  • From Rwanda: herdsmen vs farmers

    I am a member of Senior Course 26 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna.  I was for the course in 2006 and it was during the course that I met two very fine officers from Rwanda.  They were both Lieutenant-Colonels; and they were both Tutsis.  Both of them were battle-hardened and one of them had battle scars to show for it (lost one eye, lost many fingers).

    These two officers gave me a better understanding of the Rwandan conflict from a herdsmen/farmers perspective; and how it was resolved.  I believe we could draw lessons from them.  Below is a narrative of what they told me:

    1. Tutsis and Hutus are basically the same ethnic group.  They speak the same language and they belong to the same religion: Christianity.
    2. Traditionally, the terms Tutsi and Hutu were social classes: a class difference based on ownership of cows.  If you owned more than 10 cows, then you were a Tutsi; and if you owned less than 10, you were Hutu.
    3. Traditionally, you could move from being a Tutsi to a Hutu and vice versa, according to the increase or decrease of your cows. (Their colonial masters tried to tweak it but that is another story).
    4. Tutsis were only 15 per cent of the population, as of the time of the Rwandan conflict.
    5. The underlying factor/remote causes of the conflict, according to the officers, was the dwindling livestock; and a homeland status for the Tutsis. (Many of us know the other political, humanitarian and economic issues).
    6. A bitter conflict ensued and the Tutsis emerged victorious (if that is the correct terminology).  Paul Kegame, who is a Tutsi, became the president.

    Winning the peace

    The people of Rwanda decided to win the peace after the conflict through a “no victor, no vanquished “ arrangement, amongst other deliberate policies.

    This entailed addressing the root problems/causes of the conflict.  One of such problems was addressing the herdsmen (Tutsi)/farmers (Hutu) problem.

    It was agreed that the Tutsi were to be settled with their cows.  The government  would embrace a zero-grazing policy through a feedlot arrangement (not ranching) — feedlots are very small spaces that hold a high stocking density of livestock.  Many people do not realize that ranches occupy large spaces.  The ideal stocking density is two cows per hectare in open grazing.  A hectare is two football fields, side by side — 100 metres/100 metres or 1000 square metres).

    Steps taken

    The government embarked on land demarcation, infrastructure development and replacement of the Watutsi (the Tutsi cows, just like the White Fulani or Red Bororo), with more exotic cows like the Friesian Holstein, that had more milk yield per individual cow, at a ration of 1:3, or even, 1:4.  That meant that the Tutsis could have fewer cows with more yields. Incidentally, one of the officers was then the chairman of the Friesian Holstein Cattle Owners Association of Rwanda.

    The herdsmen (Tutsis) were then encouraged to exchange their Watutsi cows with the more exotic breeds; and to move their cows into feedlots where they could get additional government support/incentives from the government.

    Both groups agreed and the policy was implemented.  They eventually came to realize the importance of each group and their interdependence.  This created a new economy at the grassroots and it was a major contributory factor to peace in Rwanda.  I saw a similar arrangement in Ethiopia in 2010; and it was also working there.

    Rwanda has taught us that the problem of clashes between herdsmen and farmers could be solved/resolved to the benefit of all.  I believe that it could work in Nigeria, with careful planning and execution.

    Lesson learnt

    1. Herdsmen/farmers conflict could happen even amongst people of the same ethnicity and religion, for socio-economic reasons.  We should therefore avoid looking at the current challenges in Nigeria from an ethno-religious point of view.
    2. The settlement of herdsmen is a process and not an event that could happen overnight.  Governments should realize that it would take more than laws to address the challenges.  It would require careful planning by the government at all levels, building of infrastructure, development of a support mechanism, application of realistic  laws and organizing the people for mutual benefit.
    3. The challenges of clashes between herdsmen and farmers are not insurmountable. They could be solved/resolved to the benefit of all in Nigeria.

     

    • Col. Nass is a retired officer of the Nigerian Army and a veteran of the Sierra Leone conflict, where he served as one of the ECOMOG field commanders