Democracy and food nationalism

In a ‘’democracy’’ each vote is arithmetically equal in value and status in deciding who gets elected to representative roles either as an executive or a legislator. All the people in a country each ingest food whose nutrient contents have equal bio-chemical value for sustaining life in each individual in a country regardless of age. […]

 In a ‘’democracy’’ each vote is arithmetically equal in value and status in deciding who gets elected to representative roles either as an executive or a legislator. All the people in a country each ingest food whose nutrient contents have equal bio-chemical value for sustaining life in each individual in a country regardless of age. While food is at the root of democracy by sustaining life in those who vote, ‘’liberal democracy’’, in practice, does not commit itself to guaranteeing food for all people in a country.  Only Communist Democracy has promised to ensure food for all.
The matter of some forms of democracy excluding sections of the people from access to food underlines calls for ‘’rural development’’. The word ‘’rural’’ is associated with the ‘’countryside’’ which in most African countries may mean where 70 to 80 per cent of people work to produce to eat their food, and trade surpluses with neighbouring communities. Some policy makers and intellectuals reject the right of ‘’rural dwellers’’ to think; invent tools; produce pharmaceutical drugs for health needs; and manage changes in weather to guide successful agricultural practices. A former ASUU president, the late Mahmud Tukur, and Ahmed Modibbo Mohammed, have documented calculated measures by British colonial officials to disrupt food production; create massive famine; and destroy textile as well as metal-based industrial activities across Northern Nigeria. The claim that Nigeria was self-sufficient in food production before the oil boom hit Nigeria, hide this record of brutal economic and social war. 
What the oil boom may have done was to prevent the similar level of high intellectual social engineering in favour of taking wealth to rural Nigeria. Having not been voted for, military rulers (from 1966 -1979 and 1984-1999) failed to relate with rural communities. They did not use the bulk of foot soldiers as agents for re-engineering rural Nigeria towards re-development. Rural beverage and textile production, based on using local crops and some of the cotton produced for colonial export trade, was not seized by the military to drive rural food and textile industries. In Kano City, for example, military rulers failed to use groundnut pyramids and dye-pits textiles for pushing back urban consumption of imported ‘’minerals’’ and textiles.  Channelling ‘’Udoji Awards’’ of Gowon’s government into financing internal traditional footwear and agro- industrial growth did not fire the imagination of unelected soldiers professionally isolated from, and traditionally hostile to, rural communities.
 Post-colonial and post-military ‘’democracies’’ based on elections rigged against candidates thrown up by and legitimate with rural voters, have failed to correct errors of military elites and their civilian allies. There have, however, been promising moments. In 1994, for example, the military ruler of Kaduna State hosted a ‘’Not In Our Character Conference’’ at which beverages based on local agricultural products were displayed, including: ‘’kunun zaki’’ and bottled ‘’plantain wine’’.
 In 2007, Jigawa State pioneered a ‘’Talakawa Summit’’ which promised a prospect for rural groups drawn from all parts of the State to map out the integration of their genius and productive initiatives into a roadmap for development. The project was vulnerable to being hijacked by elites. Elsewhere, representative democracy has led legislators in local, state and federal legislatures to struggle for re-election by delivering healthcare, roads, small and medium scale financial support for agro-processing industries by rural communities. 
These legislators throw funds into foreign economies by importing motorcycles, automobiles, and consumer items which do not promote local productive skills and processes. Investments in the food sector through promoting the production of beverages like ‘’ZOBO’’, cucumber, water melon, carrot juices or palm wine -  to compete with tinned and often obesity-inducing products-  groundnut-cakes; fruits tsamiya and giginya, soya  milk and cakes;  diverse bean products from diverse types of beans, etc tend to receive little promotion. The rural food sector of economic nationalism is treated as lacking media appeal as campaign advertisements.
 Representative democracy has since 1999 continued to surrender moments of high political symbolism to military-type rituals: mainly match-past acrobatics. Celebrations of ‘’Democracy Day’’, ‘’Independence Day’’, ‘’Africa Day’’ have not been used for ‘’Food Fairs’’ at local, state and federal levels.  Peasant and large-scale farmers have not received funds by local, state and federal governments to specifically plant cereal, root crops, vegetables, mushrooms, wild fruits, medicinal herbs and flowers peculiar to their ecologies. Women are not given funds to purchase and process diverse local products for Food Fairs at all levels. Local councillors, state assembly members and member of the National Assembly are yet to actively animate these moments of dramatic food nationalism.
 Spanish producers of oranges have invented a ritual in which crowds would line the streets to throw rotten oranges at groups travelling in open trucks. Rotten oranges are ensured a market. American producers of turkey birds are ensured a national market in family meals on several national holidays, including Christmas Day. In Jamaica, dance parties are halted at the stroke of midnight for guests to eat BROWN BEANS. Scots love huge sausages. In their own fashion Benue, Ekiti and Ondo states should host competition in eating tall roasted Taraba yam with a whole roasted Sokoto goat in ten minutes. Such gigantic drama would link food to an economic nationalism that takes national budgets and incomes to small rural producers.