The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has officially approved the withdrawal of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso from the regional bloc.
The decision, taken by the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, marks a significant shift in the geopolitical landscape of West Africa.
Disclosing this decision at the end of the 66th Ordinary Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Alieu Touray, said the three countries will formally cease to be members of ECOWAS on January 29, 2025, in accordance with Article 91 of the revised ECOWAS treaty.
Following their notifications to withdraw, the regional bloc outlined a transitional period from January 29 to July 29, 2025, keeping its doors open for the countries to reconsider their decision.
Acknowledging the diplomatic efforts led by Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé, and ECOWAS Chairman Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the bloc emphasized its commitment to fostering dialogue.
He further said the Authority has extended the mandates of Presidents Gnassingbé and Faye to continue mediation efforts throughout the transition period.
He said ECOWAS, during the transitional phase, will focus on preparing for the separation.
ECOWAS also tasked its Commission President with initiating withdrawal formalities after January 29, 2025, and developing a contingency plan to address political and economic relations with the departing nations.
Additionally, the ECOWAS Council of Ministers will convene an extraordinary session in mid-2025 to finalize separation modalities and the contingency plan.
“The part of the communique I’ll be reading relates to the decision of the Republic of Mali, the Republic of Niger, and Burkina Faso, to withdraw from ECOWAS.
“After deliberations, their excellencies, members of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, commend the exemplary diplomatic engagement of His Excellency, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, President of the Republic of Senegal, and His Excellency Faure Gnassingbé, President of the Togolese Republic, and the diplomatic efforts of the Chairman of Authority, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and other individual member states towards these three countries.
“The authority takes note of the notification by Burkina Faso, the Republic of Mali and the Republic of Niger of their decision to withdraw from ECOWAS. The Authority acknowledges that by the provisions of Article 91 of the revised ECOWAS treaty, the three countries will officially cease to be members of ECOWAS from 29 January 2025.
“The Authority decides to set the period from 29 January 2025 to 29 July 2025, as a transitional period and to keep ECOWAS doors open to the three countries during the transition period.
“In this regard, the Authority extends the mandate of President Gnassingbé of Togo and President Faye of Senegal to continue their mediation role up to the end of the transition period to bring the three member countries back to ECOWAS.
“Without prejudice for the spirit of the opening, the Authority directs the President of the Commission to launch withdrawal formalities after the deadline of 29th January 2025 and to draw up a contingency plan covering various areas.
“The Authority directs the Council of Ministers to convene an extraordinary session during the second quarter of 2025 to consider and adopt both separation modalities and the contingency plan covering political and economic relations between ECOWAS and the Republic of Niger, the Republic of Mali and Burkina Faso”, Touray said.
In January 2024, the three countries of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria announced their decision to withdraw from ECOWAS.
They accused the regional bloc of deviating from its foundational ideals and succumbing to external influences, particularly criticising the imposition of sanctions aimed at reversing their respective coups.
This decision followed a series of military takeovers: Mali in 2020 and 2021, Burkina Faso in 2022, and Niger in 2023, each leading to suspensions from ECOWAS and strained relations with the organisation.
A 18 year old man, Fatiyah Abdulhakeem has been arrested for stabbing a retired Permanent Secretary in the Niger state Ministry of Works, Architect Adamu Jagaba to death.
Abdulhakeem who claimed to be the car painter of the victim stabbed the victim several times on the neck and head, he also hit the victim multiple times with a stapler in the office and made away with his Toyota Camry vehicle with Reg. No. MNA 61 AE at a block industry located along Eastern by-pass in Minna.
The suspect who is currently in police net said that he met up with the victim at his block industry located at the eastern Bye-pass to discuss how he will change the bumper of the vehicle of the victim.
He said that he carried out the act after the discussion saying, “I deliberately stabbed the deceased severally on the head and neck. I also hit him multiple times with a stapler in the office and made away with his Toyota Camry vehicle”.
Abdulhakeem said that he got information from some of the workers of the deceased which helped him in carrying out the crime.
The Niger state Police Command confirmed the arrest of the suspect in a press statement made available to Journalists in Minna.
“On 7th December, 2024 at about 3pm, a report of an incident of culpable homicide was made at Tudun-Wada Div, that at about 11.30am, a yet-to-be-identified person(s) trespassed to a block industry located along Eastern Bye-pass, Minna attacked and stabbed one Adamu Jagaba on the head and made away with his vehicle.
“The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he gave up the ghost and was confirmed dead. The police operatives of the Div visited the scene and commenced investigation into the unfortunate incident.
“Fortunately, on the local circulation of the vehicle details to all police points and formation within the State, on the same date at about 7pm, the Police Crack Squad of the Command intercepted the vehicle along Bosso Estate road, Minna with the suspect, named; Fatiyah Abdulhakeem aged 18yrs of Tayi Village via Bosso Minna.
“During interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime. He said he has other gang members he does such heinous acts with, as he mentioned their names for investigation.”
The police states that effort is ongoing to apprehend the members adding that the suspect will be charged to court for prosecution immediately after investigation.
Air strikes by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) jets have killed several terrorists in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
The strikes also destroyed notorious bandits’ leader Mallam Saleh, armoury, and residents in the area.
NAF’s spokesman, Air Commodore Olusola Akinboyewa, who announced this in a statement on Monday, November 18, said the bandits were killed in an operation conducted on Saturday, November 16.
He said Saleh was a loyalist of Dogo Gide, another notorious terrorist in the area.
According to Akinboyewa, Saleh’s reign of terror had plagued vulnerable communities in Shiroro, with attacks, abductions, and extortion leaving a trail of fear.
“However, the Air Component of Operation FANSAN YAMMA had been tracking his movements, gathering crucial intel to dismantle his operations,” Akinboyewa said.
“As NAF aircraft swooped in, terrorists on motorcycles were spotted in the target area. With swift and precise action, the NAF assets unleashed devastating strikes, obliterating the weapons cache and dealing a crushing blow to the terrorists.
“A secondary explosion confirmed the destruction of the munitions, crippling Saleh’s capabilities,” he added.
Two women in Wayam community of Sabon-Gari in Rafi local government area of Niger state have been killed for rejecting the sexual advances of terrorists who invaded their community.
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, also saw eight others killed by the terrorists while several houses and food stuff were burnt down.
It was learnt that the incident occurred in the early hours when the residents of the community were preparing for the day.
The terrorists reportedly rode into the community on motorcycles shooting into the air while some came down from the motorcycles to ransack the houses and burnt them.
Five of the residents were killed on the spot, including the two women who rejected to be raped. They were beheaded and their heads taken away by the terrorists while five others died of bullet shots after the attack.
Sources from the community said that the survivors have left the community over the fear of another attack while those who were killed have been buried..
Attacks by terrorists have been ongoing along the Wushishi-Tegina-Kontagora road in the last one week after the denial of the military of the occupancy of terrorists in the military training camp in Kontagora.
The Commissioner for Homeland Security, Rtd. Brigadier General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed said the state government was aware of the attacks adding that the security agencies have been mobilized and they are on top of the situation.
The French nuclear company Orano will halt urban mining at Niger’s Arlit mine as of October 31, citing the deteriorating financial position of its local subsidiary Somaïr, in which Orano holds a 63.4% stake with the remaining portion controlled by Niger’s state-owned company, Sopamin. Recently, Nigerien authorities indicated their intent to review regulations governing mineral resource extraction by foreign companies to increase the national economic benefit from the country’s resources.
Historically, Orano (formerly Areva) has operated uranium mines in Niger for more than 50 years, supplying around a quarter of Europe’s uranium for nuclear power plants. While these African mines contributed substantial revenue to the French economy, the economies of Niger and other Sahel countries saw minimal benefit. However, the regional landscape has recently shifted, particularly with the rise of military governments in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, which have voiced the need to re-evaluate agreements with former colonial powers, especially with regards to mining contracts.
In June 2024, Niger’s authorities announced a decision to return the Imouraren uranium deposit to state ownership, revoking Orano’s license for its development. Niger’s leadership emphasized that the country should no longer serve as a “cash cow” for France, with resource revenues instead benefiting the Nigerien economy.
Niger supplies 4.7% of the world’s uranium, playing a significant role in Europe’s nuclear energy supply. These developments highlight a growing trend among African countries to establish tighter control over the extraction and sale of their natural resources, which could impact economic and political relations across the region. Niger’s approach to revising mining regulations sets an example for other Sahel countries, which may also seek to channel regional wealth into the development of their economies.
Niger State Government has vowed not to have any dealing with middlemen who act as go-betweens for farmers in the State, declaring its determination to relate with only genuine farmers.
According to the government, previous dealings with middlemen have not given the State the real result it aimed for as they realised that they had not had the buy-ins of the real farmers at the grassroots although it has mechanised some lands across the state.
This was the stand of the government during the flag-off of the town hall meetings with stakeholders across the three senatorial zones of the state.
The Executive Director of Niger Foods and Logistics Limited, Patience Koku, disclosed the challenges the organisation and government had with farmers in the last dry season farming and how some farmers connived to defraud the state government.
“We started working with farmers since the last dry season and the challenges we experienced were farmer’s dishonesty. We worked through a farmer association, and we realized that we did not get to the real farmers at the grassroots, and that was why we were not able to get farmers’ buy-in.
“Even when we have mechanized a lot of farmlands, we could not get the farmers at the grassroots to farm on those lands because there were go-betweens who were standing in-between the farmers and us and we later found out that these go-betweens were not a group that was a representative of the farmers.”
Koku said that the previous experience led to the stakeholders meeting in the zones where community leaders, religious leaders, traditional leaders, verified farmers associations and the local government would be involved in identifying the real farmers who would benefit from the state government’s agricultural interventions.
“As a PPP organisation, we are collaborating with the state government to drive the Governor’s vision of agricultural development. These interventions will not be like any other project. These town hall meetings are meant to address the challenges we faced the previous time. Now we are registering only the grassroot farmers who are the real farmers that we will give farm inputs to.
“We have learnt from our past mistakes and we do not want anyone to be a go-between between us and the farmers. We are going directly to the grassroots farmers to guide them on how they can benefit from these interventions”, she stated.
Commissioner of Agriculture, Musa Bawa Bosso, said that the present administration is implementing various agricultural development initiatives aimed at making the State food self-sufficient, adding that the townhall meetings are meant to create awareness for the grassroots farmers to understand the various agricultural initiatives of the state government and how they can benefit from it.
He said that the meeting was specifically targeted at the utilization of the state’s potential for dry season farming to increase food production during the 2024/2025 dry season farming period, adding that the crops earmarked for support are rice, maize and vegetables.
“We are doing it this way so that there won’t be failure and so that the real farmers will get it. We have heard concerns from several farmers from the grassroots on how they are not benefiting from these interventions and we are here to make the process right this period. Every farmer who is willing and provides adequate information will be carried along.
” One thing the farmers at the grassroots need to learn is that these interventions are loan facilities and are not free, but it is based on what a farmer needs. We expect the farmers to cooperate with the system we have brought so that we can all get results.”
Bosso explained that the local government is being involved in this process, unlike previously when they were not involved, adding that this would strengthen the process and let the farmers know that the government mean real business.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Mathew Ahmed, disclosed that involving the local government Chairmen, local government directors of agriculture, the traditional and religious leaders, and local associations is the best way to reach out to the grassroots.
He said that the method being adopted now would build confidence and trust between the government and the farmers as confidence and trust between these two have been eroded for a long time and it is time to restore it.
Ahmed further disclosed that each farmer is expected to have access to four bags of NPK, 50 kg of high-quality seeds, two bags of Urea, insecticides and herbicides stating that because it is demand-driven, all farmers don’t need to take it all as they are required to take what they need in their various farms.
Some of the community leaders who attended the stakeholders meeting commended the effort of the state government saying that the government has listened to the cries of the grassroot farmers.
Mrs Hanna Joseph, a rice farmer in Gurara local government, said that they usually buy agriculture inputs with their money and have never had access to the state government intervention, adding that she and members of her association would work to ensure that they qualify for the loan facility as it would boost their productivity.
The stakeholders meeting was also held in Wushishi and Bida local government areas to cover the Niger North and Niger South senatorial zones.
Every year, the Niger State Government promises smallholder farmers a lifeline: subsidised agricultural inputs and machinery worth millions of naira. Yet, despite the grand declarations and elaborate plans, these subsidies rarely reach the farmers who need them most. What happens after the ceremonial flag-offs? Do the intended beneficiaries, especially those in remote communities, actually get the crucial inputs? JUSTINA ASISHANA visited several rural communities and spoke to smallholder women farmers about their experiences with government subsidies.
We have put in place structures and machinery for distribution. We have made it a policy that only 10 bags can be sold to an individual. Bank details and BVN of individuals will be taken into consideration and we have invited the EFCC, ICPC, and also the police to make sure that this is done right. We are bringing subsidies in agriculture and it must be sustained. EFCC, ICPC and CID will oversee the sale of fertilizers to farmers.”
Those were the words of Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, stated at the flag-off of the 2023 wet season sales and distribution of fertilizers as well as other agricultural inputs to farmers in Minna on July 10, 2023. There, however, appears to be a gulf between promises and reality with respect to equitable distribution of fertilizer to farmers in the state.
Bilikisu Suleiman, a rice and soyabeans farmer in Wushishi Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State has been into farming for the past eight years. She was hopeful after hearing the governor’s promises. However, her optimism was short-lived because neither she nor other women benefitted from the subsidised inputs.
“This happens every year. We will hear that the government is giving out inputs, but at the end of the day, we do not see or get it.
“But this time, we felt things would change since the governor mentioned EFCC and ICPC, but it remained the same.
“We went to the distribution centre which is the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) office but were not given any input.
“It came as a surprise to us because they asked us to submit our names but we did not even know who to meet when the distribution began.
“So, we ended up looking at those who came to collect the subsidised produce and thinking of how our members will benefit.
In Gbako LGA, the Coordinator of the Smallholder Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria (SWOFON), Felicia Maaji, who farms beans, groundnut, millet, rice and potatoes, said that the lack of access to subsidised inputs forces farmers to rely on outdated and inefficient methods, including using of hoes for tilling, heaping and planting and cutlass or hoes for weeding.
Due to the inability to get fertilisers, their lands, according to Maaji, have been losing fertility while several crops are being lost to insects and pests because the farmers have no pesticide to stop an infestation.
“Every year, we re-cultivate our lands which are fast losing their fertility because we do not have fertilizers.
“There is no access to government-subsidised fertilizers and no money to buy from the retailers who sell at the stores.
“Chemicals like herbicides and pesticides are too expensive for us. Even now, we are having a shortage of lands because the lands are losing their fertility. They do not produce much like before, and since there is no fertilizer to put in, the yield is low.”
Speaking about benefiting from government-subsidised inputs, the coordinator said they do not hear about it nor have they received it at any time.
“We do not even hear about it, not to talk of receiving. If they are bringing these inputs, it means they do not bring it out in the open for people to benefit. Or maybe they share it among themselves.
“But here in the Gubata community, the farmers have not benefited from any of these subsidies.”
Mary Musa, a maize, melon and sweet potatoes farmer from Gusadin Community in Gbako LGA, recalled better times when fertilizers were affordable, pointing out that since last year, due to the increase in the price, she could no longer buy fertilizer for her farm.
She said: “When fertilizer was cheap, I could buy up to five to ten bags for my farm and spray the needed quantity of herbicides and pesticides.
“Before, I bought a bag of fertilizer at the rate of between N20,000 and N22,000. But now, it costs between N35,000 and N42,000 per bag.
“Sometimes, I have to buy per measure because buying in bags is very expensive for me now.”
Majority of the smallholder women who spoke to our reporter mentioned various ways they tried to improve the yields of their farms.
Linda Kosu, a rice and millet farmer in Gusadin community in Gbako said that she and others resorted to using refuse as fertilizer on their farms in the absence of fertilizer.
“We use refuse on our farms to improve the fertility of the soil. That is what is called organic manure. That is how we manage it.
“But we do not get enough to cover the whole land where we farm because there is not much refuse and it is what everyone packs to their farms.
“So sometimes, we cultivate half of the farms or only farm in the area the manure covers.”
Fatima Mohammed, a rice farmer in Doko community, Lapai LGA said she uses rice and maize dusk and cow dung popularly called manure to fertilize her land and crops. “I would not say it is good or not, but it is better than not putting anything at all in the farm after we plant,” she said.
Political farmers hijack subsidies
Several smallholder farmers revealed a troubling trend: ‘political farmers,’ well-connected individuals who exploit the system, securing large quantities of subsidised inputs meant for genuine farmers, leaving the real farmers with nothing.
Ramatu Mohammed Kontagora, SWOFON Coordinator in Kontagora, shared her frustration especially as she was present at the flag-off ceremony held in Minna and she had to rush back to Kontagora to inform her members that they were bringing the inputs to the local government area.
“But in the end, we still did not get anything. They said they were bringing it down to Kontagora and we should go to the ADP office in Kontagora. But on getting there, we got nothing because it has already been shared among politicians. We did not get even one bag.
“The problem is that you cannot access it if you don’t have access to those people, those politicians. There is no way you can get it.
“Yes, the fertilizers and chemicals got to Kontagora but the real farmers did not get it. They will tell you that they were given allocations, and when these officials come, they give the allocation to the politicians, which they share among their own people.
“Once you are not their people, you will not get it. At the end of the whole thing, the people who get it will resell it to the real farmers, which is us.
“Although it is still less than the one sold in the market, it is higher than the subsidized price. Like if they got it for N20,000 from the politicians, they will sell it at N30,000 or N35,000 while the market price is between N40,000 to N45,000.”
Saadatu Gambo from the Nasara Women Farmers Cooperative in Wushishi echoed these sentiments. She noted that real farmers often have to purchase subsidised inputs from those who received them through connections rather than need.
“Because they have ‘long legs’ (connection), they get these inputs. We on our part use our own money to buy from the market or from those who were given subsidised inputs.
“They sell it to us because they are not real farmers and they do not need it. What they only need is the money they would gain from selling it,” Gambo said.
Despite government efforts to streamline the distribution of subsidised inputs, the system seems to be failing. Many smallholder farmers, especially women, feel sidelined and disenfranchised.
Felicia Umaru from Lavun Local Government Area expressed her exasperation that despite being told to submit names to the local government secretariat, which they had done several times, they still did not benefit when the inputs were brought in.
She said: “Those of us in Kutigi here, especially women farmers, have not benefited from the subsidized inputs.
“Yes, the government is bringing it out, and yes, they are asking us to submit names, which we do, but sometimes before it reaches the grassroots, when it enters the hands of the politicians, we hardly get it.
“Even when we submit names, we do not know when these items are distributed or even when they are brought into town.
“We usually feel that everything begins and ends in Minna. If everyone who is a farmer says they did not get it, then who did they give it to?
“Also, look at the local government secretariat close to us here. If they are sharing something like that, some of our people will be aware and inform us.
“So everybody cannot be lying that they did not get it”, she stated.
Felicia Maaji, the SWOFON Coordinator in Gbako said they often meet the traditional leaders in their various communities accusing them of hijacking the process and not letting them have access to the fertilizer, but these leaders claim they do not know when they share it.
“We do not benefit here at all. I know because I am in contact with almost all the women farmers in this local government.
“We do not even hear about it without seeing or receiving it. If they are bringing them, that means they do not bring it out to distribute to the real farmers, and if they do bring it out, that means they share it among their own people but I and other women buy our inputs with our own money.”
How dilapidated and non-functional ADP offices lead to non-accountability of fertilizers
The reporter learnt that most of the fertiizer shared at the state capital was supposed to be distributed from the ADP offices across the states where farmers could get it via information from Extension workers. However, this has failed to get to those who really need it because several of the ADP offices across the state were in state of collapse and there were not enough extension workers to give the information to the farmers in the rural areas.
Several of the farmers spoken to acknowledged that in the past there were agricultural extension officers who helped them a lot with farming techniques and adequate information. But this is no longer the case as several of them do not know who the extension workers are or how they can get to them.
SWOFON Coordinator in Lavun said that no extension officer had been in contact with her or any of her members saying that all they do is from the knowledge they gained from their relatives and from the training they got from development partners who come once in a while to the local government.
The warehouse in Wushishi has collapsed while the farmhouse which should be staff quarters for the extension officers is dilapidated.
In Zungeru, the office structure is collapsed with some skeletal building standing, and the Zonal office in Kontagora is dilapidated with several remnants of office furniture. In Rijau, there was only a pillar showcasing that an office was there.
The women asked that if the offices and warehouses are dilapidated, where would the fertilizers and other input sent in from the state capital be stored?
“That is why we told you that we do not know how to get these inputs. Even before we hear about it, it is finished. In most cases, we do not even know when it is distributed because we do not know who to meet or where to go,” said Fatima Mohammed in Lapai.
The reporter tried to locate some of the extension officers in these local government areas but she could not locate any because the women who were interviewed said they did not know any and efforts to reach out to relatives and friends to connect them to one or two met a brick wall.
The agricultural extension service is the most important public service institution with the widest range of responsibilities for agricultural and rural development.
Extension officers provide advice and information to assist farmers in making decisions and generally enable them to take action.
Although farmers already have a lot of knowledge about their environment and their farming system, extension can bring them other knowledge and information which they do not have.
The transfer of knowledge and skills to farmers and their families is an important extension activity.
The African Seed Access Index (TASAI) 2020 Report rated Nigeria as one of the African countries with the lowest ratio of agricultural extension workers to farmers in Africa. The report assumed a baseline of one extension officer to 7500 farmers.
“The lower this ratio, the better access farmers have to expert information and advice on how to access and use improved seed and other relevant agricultural technologies,” the report said.
The only good building in the ADP office in Kontagora was shut when the reporter visited, while the agric desk officer at the local government secretariat was not on seat.
However, the reporter met the cashier of the local government secretariat, Mohammed Ibrahim Bello, who said that the inputs are not given directly to the secretariat but to the ADP office.
Bello said: “In the past, that was about eight years ago, these inputs were given to the local government which handles everything and knows how to share them but now, they do not and we have heard complaints that several people do not benefit from it.
“It would be great if this is reversed back to the way it was before. They give it to the local government Chairman who shares it with the real farmers through the desk officer of agriculture.
“Now, from Minna, they take it to the ADP and from the ADP, they share it, not minding whether you are a farmer or not. They give some people preference and ask others to join the queue day after day.
“Most people do not get at all even after staying in the queue for days.”
At the community level, the community leaders also denied knowing when these inputs are shared, saying that they did not hear about when the distribution would be made.
When the reporter paid a visit to Alhaji Muhammad Kudu Ibrahim, the Ezanuwa Kutigi, a traditional ruler, he was with his council of chiefs and they all said they had not received any type of government-subsidised agricultural inputs in the domain.
One of the chiefs, Alhaji Jiya Lemu, said: “We have not been receiving it. We haven’t even seen the place they share it talk less of receiving it.
“The interventions we get mostly are from FADAMA and IFAD which we know are government based. But they have their own focus areas. But anyone from the state government directly, we haven’t seen that.”
Ezanuwa Kutigi said: “You have heard them all. If they have been given, at least, our people would inform them and they would inform me.
“Such things cannot be going on in my community and I would not know. If they say they bring it to the local government area, where do they take it? Who do they give it to? We also need to know.”
The village Head of Gubata in Gbako Local Government Area said that the common problem with farmers is access to fertilizers and other inputs and expressed sadness that they do not receive the government-subsidised inputs.
“Sometimes we do not hear about the subsidised agricultural inputs and sometimes we hear about them. But by the time we send our people to go and access it, they would have distributed it.
“We also found out that most of those who receive it resell it. We have sent people to these places several times but those they meet at the ward level will direct them to individuals who have received it but want to resell it so they buy from them.
“These agricultural inputs are usually given to people who do not need it, but because they are in politics or they have friends who are politicians, they have that opportunity. Power is in their hands.
“Last two years, I went to the Edozhigi ward when we were informed of availability, but with my status and efforts, at the end of the day, I could not get any.
“What we sometimes do is that because Bida is a bit far from here, we gather money from anyone interested in buying fertilizer and other inputs and one person would go to Bida to buy them.
“It is much less expensive to buy in Bida than the retailers in our community.”
Niger State SWOFON Coordinator, Mrs Grace Disa, says it is not all the ADP offices across the state that are functioning, adding that though there are extension officers who offer extension services, they are not able to reach the majority of the women in the rural areas.
“Most of my members have not benefitted from extension services. The majority of them do not even know any extension officer or agent and they do their farming activities the way they can.”
Grassroots solutions suggested
Many farmers and community leaders believe that empowering local leaders to distribute inputs would be more effective. The Ezanuwa Kutigi recommended that the government should give directives that the subsidized agricultural inputs be given to the community leaders who will in turn call the leaders of the farmers and give it to them for onward distribution to their members who are fellow farmers.
John Gana, the Village Head of Gusadin in Gbako Local Government Area, suggested that the government should leverage the trust and proximity of community leaders if the government really wants the real farmers to benefit from its interventions.
“We know our people and are close to them so, we know each and every one of them especially those who are farmers. If the inputs come through us, we can ensure they reach the real farmers,” he proposed.
“What they are doing currently is making it go through the hands of the politicians, which makes it hard to get to the farmers.
“We had a meeting with the District Head where we laid out our complaint.
“Even if it is to take the inputs to the Emirs who would give it to us for onward distribution to our people in the community, it will help a lot.”
Elizabeth Saba from Gbako agreed, emphasising the role of cooperatives. “Most farmers are in cooperatives. If the government worked with our leaders, we could distribute the inputs efficiently.
“If they can locate our leaders with the fertilizer, we will get it without any stress or struggle,” she said.
Felicial Umaru in Lavun also stated the same.
She said: “Take the example of SWOFON, we are in every local government area and we have members almost all women farmers are members of SWOFON.
“Once the people at the top ask us to submit names, they should deal with the coordinators directly as it is through these coordinators that these inputs will get to the farmers at the grassroots.
“But if they do not do this, it will still be zero. The farmers at the grassroots will not benefit from these government interventions.
“Whenever the government wants to help the people, they should follow the right channel, find the leaders in the communities and groups so that these interventions will get to the real farmers.”
We’re aware of political farmers, ready for them – Government
The Managing Director of the Niger State Agricultural Mechanization Development Agency (NAMDA), Muhammad Ali Baba, acknowledged that the government is conscious of the issue of ‘political farmers’ and assured that measures are being put in place to eliminate this problem and they do not scuttle the initiative put in place for the real farmers to benefit.
“Political farmers come from where the government is. But in this new dispensation, it would not be business as usual.
“The programme we have in place would require that any beneficiary submit its cluster, ward and local government area and we will ask our extension workers to verify them through the village and district heads.
‘In this new programme we intend to start, the village heads and community leaders will be part of the verification process as they will have to vouch for and verify the farmers.
“We are conscious of the challenge and every effort is being made to mitigate it.
“We will also reinvigorate our extension workers to ensure that they begin working again as they will be the ones who will identify the farmers and ensure that every farmer at the grassroots benefits from the initiatives.”
When the reporter asked about measures taken to prevent the extension workers from compromising the process, the MD said there would be checks and balances to ensure that there is no compromise by the extension workers, “any worker that plays funny with this task will be risking his or her work. It is their job and their life and I do not think they will want to risk it.
“As the extension workers would be demanding transparency and commitment from the farmers, so also would we be demanding commitment and transparency from them.”
On the ADP offices across the state, the Executive Director of Operations in NAMDA, Rilwan Jibril, said that the ADP offices had been neglected by the previous government while the Extension Officers are either aged or retired adding that the current administration is working to revive the ADP offices and employ young men and women across the local government areas as extension officers.
“We are currently recruiting youths for the Agricultural Extension Volunteer scheme where three youths per ward would fill the vacuum of ageing and retiring extension workers.
“The government has also set up a committee to go around the local government areas to assess and look at ways of resuscitating the warehouses and offices of ADP across the state
Diversion stories untrue, says Perm Sec
Despite these assurances, the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Mathew Ahmed, dismissed reports of diversion of the inputs distributed so far by Mohammed Umar Bago’s administration, citing the ministry’s implementation and monitoring committees.
“I want to assure you that there is no diversion of those inputs to the best of my knowledge, because the ministry staff, the store officer and security officers are all involved and will be there at the distribution centre.
“Each beneficiary will have to identify themselves before they are given the input and reports. The issue of diversion is just news that is flying, but you cannot really pin it and say this is true.
“As a ministry, we set up an implementation committee that monitors the input distribution and we also limit the number of bags or quantity that each farmer would access so that it can go around.
“The truth of the matter is that we cannot provide input on subsidies for all the farmers so we are looking at basically smallholder farmers benefiting, farmers that have one hectare and below so that it would be able to go round.
“People who are complaining about this may be those who have like five hectares so if you have five hectares, you are no longer a smallholder farmer.
“Those who are considered are the smallholder farmers, only those with one hectare can access the inputs so that other farmers will be able to key in and benefit from the subsidy.”
On the smallholder farmers not getting the information for the distribution of the inputs, Ahmed highlighted the state’s communication efforts to inform farmers about distribution schedules.
He said: “The news is always on air. We do jingles, we make announcements, it is on the social media and it is everywhere.
“It is not true for people to say they are not aware of when the inputs are distributed at the local level.
“The information is also on the radio and because we are conscious of the fact that some people may not be able to watch television due to non-access to electricity and are in the village but they can access radio, and social media, so we ensure that the information is there. The information is not only passed in English, we pass it in other Indigenous languages like Hausa, Nupe, and Gbagi so that people can understand that this is the ongoing activity.”
The Permanent Secretary said that farmers are discouraged from selling or diverting the inputs when they get access to it but lamented that everyone has a mind of their own, “you can only give someone advice after you leave, we cannot monitor the to their houses. But we try to monitor their various farms to ensure that it is used in their farms. Even with that, they are just samples of the farmers but we ensure that any farmer that is caught will not benefit from subsequent input distribution. These are the things we have put in place.”
He further disclosed that the sales of the inputs by the farmers is of concern to the government which is why in the new agricultural initiative of the state government, farmers who benefit from the input distribution would be paid N50,000 monthly to quell the temptation of them to sell the inputs they will be given.
“Our current Niger food arrangement with farmers which will commence soon, we are going to give the farmers minimum wage. This is because when we give a farmer fertilizer, herbicide and at the end of the day, the farmer does not have access to funds, there is this temptation to sell a bag out of the bags of fertilizer he was given or one litre of herbicides he was given so that he would have money with him. What Niger Food is trying to do is that with the input distribution to smallholder farmers, every month, they will be given N50,000 to cushion the effect of cash within the smallholder farmers.”
What next in 2024?
Despite government assurances, the stark reality for many smallholder farmers in Niger State is a continuous struggle for access to essential agricultural inputs. As the new administration promises reforms and stricter measures, it remains to be seen whether these efforts will finally address the systemic issues and ensure that the true beneficiaries receive the much-needed support.
For now, farmers like Bilikisu, Felicia and Mary continue to grapple with uncertainty, hoping for a day when the government’s promises translate into tangible support for their fields and futures.
For real progress, the government must heed the voices of the farmers and community leaders, ensuring transparency and accountability in the distribution process. Only then can the vision of sustainable agricultural support truly reach the grassroots.
This report was made possible with support from the International Budget Partnership (IBP) under the ICIR Strengthening Public Accountability for Results and Knowledge (SPARK 2) Project.
Cholera outbreaks have killed 20 persons in Lagos and Niger states in the past week.
In Lagos, a couple died on Sunday at the Isolo General Hospital, after contracting the disease.
Mr. Emeto and his wife, Augustina, their daughter and a neighbour were allegedly rushed to the Accident and Emergency Unit of the hospital in the wee hours of Sunday.
Besides the couple, another man and a three-year-old were said to have died aslo in Isolo area of Lagos, making four deaths.
It was gathered that the victims started stooling, vomiting and exhibiting other symptoms after eating African salad, popularly called Abacha.
The Nation reported yesterday that hospitals on Ago Palace Way in Okota, Isolo, and environs were overfilled with cholera patients, an upsurge that started since October 9.
A three-year-old died at the weekend in one of the hospitals on Ago Palace Way; a mother and her three children were also brought in unconscious to another private facility.
All the cases, sources said, were traceable to the consumption of the staple at Cele Bus Stop in the area.
Checks by our correspondent indicated that the Abacha seller at the bus stop had also been a contact point whenever there was a cholera outbreak in the state.
Abacha is a local delicacy made from fermented cassava and garnished with other ingredients like oil bean seeds, palm oil, potash, and garden eggs. However, there have been concerns about the hygiene condition during its preparation and at the point of sale.
The deaths of the Emetos, who were described as devoted Catholics, rattled fellow parishioners at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Isolo.
The residents have been advised to steer clear of the staple.
One of the voice notes shared by a man, identified simply as Romanus, confirmed the couple’s death.
He said: “Around 1 a.m (on Sunday), we got a call that we lost one of our brothers (Emeto). The report was that his wife and daughter were vomiting and stooling and he took them to the hospital.
“On getting to the hospital, he also started to stool and vomit. It was discovered that they ate Abacha on Saturday (said to have been) bought from a woman at Cele Bus Stop. The man died first and the body has been taken to the village.
“The daughter was treated.”
Another church member, who announced Mrs. Emeto’s death on Monday, said a neighbour who joined Mrs. Emeto in eating the staple also started to stool and vomit.
In Niger State, 16 persons have died out of the 165 recorded cases across the state, representing nine per cent mortality rate.
The Commissioner for Primary Healthcare, Dr. Dangana Ibrahim, announced the deaths in Minna, the state capital.
The commissioner said 145 patients had been treated and discharged from various hospitals.
“To prevent further spread, contingency measures have been implemented, including the distribution of essential medical supplies to affected areas and health facilities,” he said.
Ibrahim listed affected local government areas as Paiko, Gurara, Suleja, Bosso, and Katcha, saying the disease surveillance system had been activated.
The commissioner also said the government had begun active contact tracing and case management in all affected communities.
Also, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, attributed poor hygiene to cholera outbreaks.
Speaking at the Global Hand-washing Day in Abuja, the minister emphasised that inadequate sanitation and hand-washing habits put public health at serious risk.
He said: “Hand-washing with soap remains the first line of defence against outbreaks and reducing the spread of waterborne diseases.”
The minister called for accelerated investment in hygiene infrastructure in homes, schools, and public spaces to close existing gaps.
According to him, better hygiene practices are essential to improving health outcomes, reducing school absenteeism, and boosting productivity.
Governors Dauda Lawal (Zamfara); Francis Nwifuru(Ebonyi); Umar Mohammed Bago(Niger) and Uba Sani (Kaduna) have been honoured at the just concluded Democracy Heroes Award Africa in Abuja.
Also recognised at the award ceremony were former Senate President Bukola Saraki; member representing Ikeja federal constituency of Lagos Hon. James Faleke and member representing Bichi Federal constituency, Hon. Abubakar Kabir Abubakar Bichi.
Others were Hon. Dachung Musa Bagos; the national chairman Accord Party, Prof. Chris Imumolen, the Executive Secretary National Lottery Commission, Tosin Adeoju and host of others.
It was part of events to mark the country’s 64th Independence Anniversary.
The award also recognised entrepreneurs, business and entertainers whose contributions have helped in entrenching stability through job creation, youth empowerment and poverty alleviation measures.
Democracy Hero’s Award is hosted by Face of Democracy Nigeria (FDN)
Speaking shortly after receiving his award, Lawal, said it was worth celebrating that democracy is getting gradually institutionalised.
He expressed hope that years to come will usher in multiple indices of growth both for democracy and good governance.
The Project Director FDN, Olufunsho Ajagbonna aka Fajag while expressing satisfaction with the success of the award programme, said such recognition was to encourage those who are making significant contributions towards good governance and nation-building.
He congratulated the award winners and encouraged them to continue placing their names on national history by their meaningful contributions towards national development.
The event hosted by Bigmo of Wazobia FM and Dorkong featured electrifying performances from cultural troupes.
