Farming is our factory in Benue – AFAN chairman

Comrade Aondongu Saaku is the chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Benue State. In this interview, he spoke on the association’s plan for farmers in the 2019 season, as well as challenges facing them in the state. What plan does the AFAN have for farmers in Benue State this season? Actually, […]

Comrade Aondongu Saaku is the chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Benue State. In this interview, he spoke on the association’s plan for farmers in the 2019 season, as well as challenges facing them in the state.

What plan does the AFAN have for farmers in Benue State this season?

Actually, we have aggregated over 2,218 farmers for ginger, which they may be doing in the University of Agriculture, Makurdi.

We have 300 hectares of land for  maize farmers in the University of Agriculture. We have 540 rice farmers in Guma. Also in Guma, at Agasha area, we have up to 400 farmers doing that. We have over 1,700 people farming rice in Gwer West alone. I have aggregated 4,500 farmers for soyabeans production in Obi and Oju. I have also aggregated 530 farmers for soya- bean production in Tarkaa. In that area somebody is talking of Ruga.

In all, we have over 6,000 farmers that are going in for soyabeans. I have not even talked of Ushongo. We have very many who are doing that in Gboko.

Gboko alone has over 5,000 farmers going in for soyabeans. And there are people who have not even gotten enough land to do it, let alone  Federal Government’s Ruga project.

If the Federal Government wills, they can starve Benue from cow meat, we will not be bothered. I want you to know that my parents did not taste Fulani cattle, they called it agundu or hunched animal. They said the meat was not even good for them. We started eating it because of schools (school feeding) when contractors started buying it. It is just like the ice fish; when it came first we were not ready to eat it, but while mingling with people, along the line, we started eating it.

In Benue we have our animals.For example, in Tiv land we have the pigs, which we are even using for marriages. So there is no big deal about that; we are not interested in Ruga.

The state government recently flagged off fertilizer distribution and sale. How accessible has the products been to farmers in Benue State?

If you enter the next door here you will see seedlings. The Benue State Government has been doing everything possible to promote agriculture. As you know, over 90 per cent of the state live on farming, and out of this figure, 70 or 75 per cent are peasant farmers.

There is no way farmers can do well without those inputs. And it is worth commending that even in the face of paucity of funds, the state government has ensured that farmers in the state have seed, fertilizers and chemicals from different companies that are now partnering with it and the AFAN to promote agriculture in the state. We know that farming is our factory, we have no other one.

What is your take on the many tractors secured by the government a long time ago but yet to be commissioned for use?

On the tractors, the contractors made some situations really difficult. They brought the tractors but did not bring the other inputs that will make them functional. Government has been waiting for those parts, such as ridgers,  harrows,  ploughers and planters.

I am aware that government has been constantly disturbing the people to make sure that they bring those inputs so that the tractors will be commissioned. Already, they have worked out modalities for the distribution of the tractors, and farmers are going to get the chunk of it.