Afe Babalola wins 2024 African Man of the Year in Food Security
From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The proprietor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) and renowned farmer, Chief Afe Babalola(SAN), has been nominated as the winner of the 2024 African Man of the Year in Food Security.
Babalola who disclosed this at a press conference in Ado-Ekiti, capital of Ekiti State, said the award was courtesy of the Global Food Security Committee of the Initiative For Green Sustainability.
At the conference, the legal giant lamented the state of the agricultural sector in the country and appealed to the federal government to revive all the moribund farm settlements in various parts of the country.
The Senior Advocate who emphasized the need for a overhaul of the agricultural sector called on the government to ensure that farmers do not only produce food crops but also cash crops, saying this will ensure the revival of the cocoa in the West, Rubber and Palm oil in Edo and Delta States and the Groundnut Pyramids of the North in those days.
The renowned farmer urged the federal government to ensure that allocations to local governments go to them directly and not through their respective state governors.
Babalola admonished local governments to assemble farm implements which they will hire to farmers at subsidized rates and produce seedlings they can sell to farmers at low prices.
“Government should revive the old farm settlements by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the former Western Region and extend it to other states in the country.
“As part of my resolve to encourage agriculture, I reduced school fees of students studying agriculture by 50 per cent in our university. In addition, I give seed money of N250,000 to every graduate in agriculture from Afe Babalola University.
“At the state level, I have in the last ten years been organizing the annual agric festival in Ado-Ekiti called ABAEX (Afe Babalola Agric Expo) with the best overall farmer in the state going home with two million naira.
“The best three farmers in each of the 16 local government councils in the state go home with one million naira among themselves”
Babalola added that his philosophy is that ideas rule the world, saying it is only those who can translate their ideas into actions that can successfully change the world.
“It is because of my ability to translate my ideas in agriculture and food security into action that has won me this award.”
He expressed his heartfelt appreciation to the Global Food Security Committee of the Initiative For Green Sustainability for promoting interest in agriculture and for emphasizing the importance of food security.
Commenting on the population,of people in the world, the elder statesman noted that the world population is increasing at a geometric rate. Yet, land remains static and man on planet earth must eat, adding that failure to eat will lead to death, underscoring the place and importance of agriculture in human existence across all cultures.