By Polycarp Onwubiko
It is unfortunate that the
youths of Nigeria out of extreme exasperation embarked on what was described as
"#Endbadgovernace" in Nigeria. Their grouse could without doubts was
mainly abject lack of gainful employment which triggered youth restiveness cum
sundry antisocial activities.
Giving that almost all the
sectors of governance in Nigeria are performing below par, the country can
still bounce back to life by making what God graciously endowed her which is
vast natural resources with agriculture toping the list.
Giving that the country
operates federal system of government, sub national governments which are the
state and local governments are in a very good position to explore the vast
agricultural resources within their jurisdiction with substantial budgetary provisions
in agriculture. The state governments should recognize that time has come for a
paradigm shift from traditional method of farming to commercial farming
including the innovative regenerative agriculture futuristically being put in
place by Governor Soludo.
State governments should embark
on purchasing modern implements for
mechanized farming which go with quantum value chains that will
substantially make for exports to generate foreign exchange needed for
industrialization which has the potentiality for massive employments, wealth
creation and reduction of grinding poverty and penury.
The essence of the clamour for
the diversification of the economy is to remove the constitutional impediment
that prevent sub national governments from going the whole hog in exploring and
exploiting the natural and mineral resources within their jurisdiction which is
an effective solution to unemployment ravaging the country which constituted
the youths restiveness.
The fact is that if there is
serious commitment by the state governments to mechanized farming, the youths
will definitely realize that farming with the extensive researches that will
bring out enormous value chains will be a very profitable engagements. The
prevalence of trooping to foreign countries in search of means of livelihood
will stop because it is not all that rosy in those countries our youths are
blindly trooping into even as many die especially in the deserts and boat
tragedy.
Most importantly in exploring
the vast opportunities in farming is the serious about waging ferocious war
against the herdsmen rapine ravaging almost the entire landscape of the
country. Fact remains that unless the country is rid of the ravages being
caused by the itinerant herders, the efforts in investing in agriculture will
yield minimal dividends.
There is no gainsaying the fact
that making the most of agricultural resources is a sure route to drive a more
sustainable economic growth and development with quantum leap in the country's
GDP.
It will be futile to float some
of the past programmes to boost agricultural sector like "Anchor's
Borrowers and Trader-Moni which were marred by political expediency. In other
words, state governments which oversee the entire areas are strategically
placed to give agriculture the required boost as they control land of the
jurisdiction.
For the state governments to be
frontliners in giving agriculture the required boost, there is need to review
the statutory revenue allocation formula so that the state governments will
embark on massive road rehabilitation not only in the urban and semi urban
centers but in the hinterlands which are the bastion of agricultural resources
and exploitation.
The farm products definitely
need to be evacuated by good road network to the urban centres to boost the
income of farmers as an incentive to cultivate more areas. In addition to road
rehabilitation, the envisaged surplus farm products need storage facilities to
guard against wastage and subsequent loss of income.
Only the state governments have
the financial muscle to procure state of the art farm inputs, irrigation
facilities, employment of degree holders as agricultural extension officers and
emphasis on research and development for modified seeds and crop
multiplication, vast expanse of land for cash crop production with long life
span, incentive for agro-business venture, ranches, fertilizers, logistics and
storage facilities to prevent post-harvest losses and wastage, in addition to credit facilities to the
farmers.
It may be needless to emphasize
that the only option to prevent nationwide protests is a mechanized farming to
assure quantum food production to drive hunger and increase nutrition which is
a pathway to reduce maternal and child mortality and more importantly to
increase the standard of living and increase higher age limit.
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