Feeding from hand to mouth in land of plenty

It is no longer news that the discovery of oil in Olobiri, present day Bayelsa State in 1958, made Nigeria divert her dependence on Agriculture for survival to oil. Over 58 years after then, a good number of the sons and daughters of Nigeria are still feeding from hand to mouth; singing the sorrowful song […]

It is no longer news that the discovery of oil in Olobiri, present day Bayelsa State in 1958, made Nigeria divert her dependence on Agriculture for survival to oil.

Over 58 years after then, a good number of the sons and daughters of Nigeria are still feeding from hand to mouth; singing the sorrowful song of abject poverty in a land ‘blessed’ with solid minerals and human resources, rich soil flowing with milk, honey and oil.

History would testify that the oil which appeared to have stolen the country’s first love (agriculture), has also snatched away thousands of lives and destroyed property worth millions and even billions of naira due to illegal and nefarious activities of vandals.

Wild fire erupting from vandalized oil pipelines coupled with oil leaks in most cases, have not only set human lives ablaze but also polluted water bodies which serve as sources of potable water for man and a home for the aquatic.

It is however pitiable to note that these vandals who risk their lives trying to make quick money are young and energetic men who could have helped to engineer bumper harvests for both local consumption and export promotion. Instead, they have become idle minds turned into the devil’s workshop.

Although different administrations in recent times have not disputed arguments by economic analysts that divorcing of agriculture to marry oil was a grave mistake, no fruitful efforts seem to have been made to correct that anomaly as oil still remains the mainstay of the nation’s economy.

Whether forcefully or willingly, Military and civilian rules have been tasted. Yet, the people are still very much hungry for a radical positive change.

Interestingly, before the election of Mohammed Buhari as President in 2015, the expectations of the masses were very high which might not be unconnected with their dying faith in the PDP which, as it were, was the ruling party. Many of them even felt the ‘Change’ slogan of the APC political party, to which Buhari belongs, meant enough food and water overnight. But with the current unpalatable economic condition experienced, the hopes of such persons may have been dashed.

It is on record that from 2015 till date, the cost of living has remarkably gone high while the standard of living of the people has relatively become low. Food commodities at market places are begging consumers for patronage owing to their unfriendly prices.

At some point, tomatoes and other ingredients were hard to find, signaling the level of neglect that agriculture has been suffering over the years. The costs of virtually all agricultural products and by-products, if not all, have dramatically increased and our dear 5 naira note is struggling to have a value in the family of the Nigerian currency.

In a piece titled “Recession and Nigeria’s Hope for Survival”, Nelson & Adekoya (2016) observe that “key findings indicate that Nigeria invests its lowest percentage of budget to agriculture among sampled African countries and the provision for 2016 is a paltry 1.5% of the overall budget.”

This clearly suggests the quality of attention given by government to agriculture and the needless love or lust (as the case may be) for importation of foreign products rather than the encouragement of production locally.

“Agricultural productivity is low in terms of yield per hectare production of cereals, meat, milk, and vegetables. Nigeria’s fertilizer use per hectare is also one of the lowest in Africa”.

The authors maintained that despite the above, agriculture contributes more to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and job creation in the country.

There might however be light at the end of the tunnel in 2017 provided agriculture is recognized as a key driver of economic growth and given adequate budgetary allocation and supervision rather than being paid lip service by those at the helm of affairs.

In simple language, other sectors of the Nigerian economy will flourish if the young and the young at heart, whether in School or out of School, are well-motivated to nourish the country’s original love – agriculture.

Olusola Michael Olusegun, Abuja.