Governor Adams Oshiomhole
Edo State Government recently organised a
one-day agricultural summit where stakeholders brainstormed on ways of
turning the state into an agro-industrial hub aimed at boosting food
production and employment generation. Adibe Emenyonu, who covered the summit, presents the various views, comments, and outcome
The importance of agriculture in nation building cannot be
over-emphasised. This is because of its essence in the provision of food
and source of raw materials for industries.
In recognition of this fact, Governor Adams Oshiomhole decided to
gather experts in the field of farming to brainstorm on the possible
ways of increasing food supply and at the same time use it to create
employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth.
Welcoming participants, Edo State Commissioner for Agriculture and
Natural Resources, Hon Abdul Oroh, said the state government was
determined to fight poverty through agriculture. Oroh, who noted that
Edo State future depends on agriculture, said the state government has
assessed the challenges of agriculture from different perspectives in
order to achieve its big dream.
According to the commissioner, “Edo government had invited expects and
other service providers to detect areas to where the farmers are lacking
and to make necessary improvement. Edo government is putting all
machineries to ensure agriculture has come to stay as real business”
Costly Importation
Delivering a keynote address, Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, said it was regrettable that Nigeria
spent N1.3trillion on the importation of rice, wheat sugar and fish.
He disclosed that Nigeria consumes five million metric tonnes of rice
annually and warned that the country’s continuous dependence on imported
rice for consumption may cost her about $150bn by 2050 if steps were
not taken to raise rice production.
Adesina, who promised to make a difference from his predecessors, noted
that his job is not to be a minister for importation of food but
unlocking the country’s potentials. He pointed out that no nation can
claim to be independent unless it can feed itself.
As according to him, “the rise in population is a corresponding demand
for food. Because we are committed to repositioning agriculture to drive
the economy, the ministry will distribute the new cocoa hybrid free of
charge to all the cocoa producing state across the country.
“We want to restore the lost glory in the world trade of cocoa by
making sure that these new cocoa hybrid are distributed to all cocoa
producing states to replace the old varieties.” He said.
Akinwunmi noted that the summit was in tandem with the FG plan to
reposition agriculture to drive the economy, and lauded Edo State for
being the second largest producer of palm oil, and the sixth producer of
cassava and cocoa in the country.
To this end, he disclosed that plans were underway to build a
large-scale cassava processing plant capable of producing 240 metric
tonnes per day and explained that local production of cassava floor
would save the country N248 billion spent on the importation of the
item.
Policy Inconsistency
Declaring the summit open, Governor Adams Oshiomhole said unless there
was a complete shift on FG’s inconsistency policy on agriculture, all
that is said will amount to mere rhetoric.
He said for his administration to accomplish the goal it set for itself
as regards agriculture, farmers in the state and other genuine investor
in agriculture would be offered free land in the state as well as
provide basic infrastructure.
Oshiomhole called for continued subsidy on agriculture as a means of
protecting farmers in the country, and added that there must be an
interventionist policy for the country to meet its agriculture plans in
the areas of job creation, food sufficiency and serve as alternatives to
oil.
According to him, it is too early to applaud FG agriculture policies
because previous good agric policies ended without food on the table. He
therefore called for a nationwide protest if need be, to stop the
federal government from granting waivers for the importation of
vegetable oil, rice importation and other food that could be produced
locally.
He told participants that his administration placed emphasis on
agriculture as an alternative to oil, for job creation and the need to
be the country’s largest food producer, adding that areas of crop
concentration for his administration included rubber, rice, cassava,
palm produce and cocoa.
“The reason why foreign and local investors hesitate to invest in the
country is because of the inconsistencies in policies. How do we sustain
this beautiful vision that tomorrow it is not turned-over? We must
begin to interrogate our leaders and hold them to the policies they
enumerate.
“If we can prohibit the importation of chocolate and with this, we will
pass a strong message to the manufacturers if they want Nigerians to
eat chocolate, they must set up the company here”, the governor
declared.
Oshiomhole while appreciate the minister for all that he has plan to do
for Edo State promised to complement the efforts, said “We have opened
up a number of rural communities so that our farmers can get their
produce to the city centres”.
Power Conundrum
Another matter that arose as far as adequate food production in Nigeria
was concerned was the issue of power generation. In his presentation,
chairman of Dansa Foods, Alhaji Sanni Dangote, urged the FG to provide
adequate power if its slogan on paradigm shift must work. He said there
were local investors who have the capacity to turn things around in
agriculture, but they were being hindered by lack of power.
He advocated that government should tighten its noose on the ban
importation of chickens and raised the alarm that foreign farmers are
lobbying for a lift in the ban on chicken importation because they have
good storage facilities due to steady power supply. “It is very
important that we keep the ban on chicken importation strong”, he
stressed.
Adequate funding of the sector was another critical issue raised by
Dangote. He however assured that farmers in Nigeria were ready to find
the money to operate so long as government was willing to provide the
infrastructure and a level playing field for them to operate in
“I just pray to God to help all of us because it is an issue everybody
has been talking about for the last 15 years and nobody has been able to
act either federal of state. I hope this time there will be a change
and there will be a positive result. What we need is action, not talk or
summit.”
Nevertheless, he disclosed that his company is partnering with the Edo
State Government in apple, pineapple and rice production adding that
between N5 billion to N8 billion is expected to be invested in the
sector.
Agro-industrialisation Agenda
UNIDO Representative and Director Regional offices, Dr. Patrick
Kormawa, who spoke on ‘Agribusiness option for Edo State’ said
Agro-industrialisation must be the centre of any transformation agenda
for the agriculture sector in order to achieve meaningful impact on jobs
and food security in the country.
He said UNIDO believe that agro-industry and agro-business will play a
key role in the prosperity of Nigeria, pointing out that it cannot
happen by chance but through investment and sustained political will
over the years.
His words: “We need to invest in productivity enhancing technology.
States must have strategic commodity to invest in. We need to link
agriculture to industry if we want to transform the industry.
“Banks need to increase their knowledge in the agribusiness sector and
investment opportunity in the agribusiness. Government must provide
necessary infrastructure and conducive environment. Specifically
government should create proper infrastructure as well as develop
research and development facility that are linked to industry”, he
added.
Agric Hub
Managing Director Notore Chemical Industries, Mr. Onajite Okoloko, said
Nigeria faced a major catastrophe if it cannot create an agricultural
hub in Edo State. He said the country should take advantage of the
opportunity offered by the Edo State Government if it wants to feed the
country.
According to him, “There are six million hectares of arable land, three
vegetation belts and 1500 to 3000 millimetres of rainfall. Edo seats on
a strategic location of the country where it is a gateway to the East,
West and the North. Abundant natural gas for making fertilisers exists
here.
“There is access to waterways for exportation of finish product. If we
can’t create an agricultural hub in Edo State to begin to contribute to
feeding the nation and exporting food products then we are actually at
the beginning of a major catastrophe,” he added.
Highlight of the event was the signing of Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) on access to fertiliser, cassava transformation between Edo State
Government and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
Speaking at the ceremony, Governor Oshiomhole, who signed on behalf of
Edo State, expressed delight on the vision of the FG for the
agricultural sector. The governor said, “I want to appreciate all that
you plan to do for Edo State and we are going to complement your
efforts. We are ready to provide land free of charge if it is based on
agriculture.
Also speaking, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr.
Akinwurini Adesina, who signed on behalf of the FG, said the central
government was poised to use agriculture to drive the economy.
“Nigeria has 8 million hectares of land with only 10 per cent
cultivated optimally. About 110 million youths will be in the labour
market by 2020,” he said, adding that “we have human capital to turn
around the agric sector significantly”.
The minister assured listeners when he said “We must change a lot of
things. We must realise that agric is big business and we must
professionalise it. The federal government will no longer engage in the
procurement and distribution of fertiliser”.
He announced that two integrated industrial rice mills have been
approved for Edo State, adding that new fiscal intervention have been
put in place by the FG to protect the farmers.
Reconstruction of the body of Ichthyostega
