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By Livinus Nnebedum
There is a need for prudent and complete overhaul of all agricultural activities and programmes in Nigeria. In other words, an agricultural revolution in Nigeria is necessary. Revolution is going on in the farms where the retired Army Generals, civil servants, the elites or bourgeoisie, the politicians, etc are now searching for the “green gold” in the soil. Since independence, there have been many agrarian revolutionary changes in Nigerian agriculture.
In Eastern Nigeria in the sixties, we had the farm settlement scheme. Cash crops, mainly oil palm were established and huge foreign exchange was earned when Nigeria used to be the largest producer of oil palm products in the world market. There was a real revolution in the 1960’s and Nigerians actually went back to the land. The programme was better described as “Back to Land Revolution.”
In 1976 the then Military Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo introduced Operation Feed the Nation (OFN). These were revolutionary changes for the betterment of Nigeria agriculture. Nigeria is one of the largest producers of cassava in the world, thanks to research efforts of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), National Root Crop Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike and ADP-assisted Ministries of Agriculture (MOA), the farmers, and of course the government. But more is still being expected from them.
What happened to our oil palm industry? Malaysia is now one of the largest producers of oil palm products in the world. Malaysia collected the oil palm seed from Nigeria in 1960’s when Nigeria used to be the largest producer of oil palm produce.
We have had many programmes in agriculture in Nigeria, but most of them have become moribund. We had the National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAFPP) 1971/72, the River Basin Development Authorities (1978) and the Green Revolution in the 1980s. The Directorate For Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) in 1986, and the National Agricultural Land Development Agency (NALDA) 1991.
It is recalled that in 1980’s, the then President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari launched the Green Revolution programme by tilling the ground at State House Ribadu Road Lagos while wearing his expensive attire “Babanriga.”
Other related programmes or agencies in agriculture include: Root-Tuber Expansion Programme (RTEP), Since 2002; Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (1977); Rural Banking Scheme (1977), which later became the Community Bank initiative in 1990 and informed the present day microfinance banks; the Peoples Bank (1987); Nigeria Agricultural & Cooperative Bank (NACB), which has been transformed into the Bank of Agriculture (BOA).
In recent times, we have had programmes like the FADAMA Development Programme (1993) and National Programme for Food Security (NPFS) in 1998). ADP since 1975 has not gone moribund many years after its establishment, thanks to the efforts of the Federal and State governments as well as the World Bank and the effort of all ADP staff across the country. It should be recalled that most ADP’s were established in 1983, though the history of ADP in Nigeria dates back to 1975.
Although revolutionary changes have taken place in agriculture, there are a lot of drawbacks. More efforts are still needed. Programme and policy implementation must be honestly and effectively followed. Agriculture in Nigeria is still dependent on human muscle as its primary source of power and the result is low production. With enough capital investment in agriculture, good and honest implementation of all the beautiful programmes, effective prevention and control of vagaries of weather, pests/diseases etc., agriculture would contribute to lifting up our depressed economy with special blessings from God.
Agricultural revolution in Nigeria should commence with serious farming to fight famine, hunger and abject poverty at the grassroots. There is a need for self-sufficiency in food production, in other words, food security and stomach security for the over 230 million Nigerians should be pursued for. Complete revolution in agriculture is required so as to ensure adequate food supplies in terms of quantity, quality and safety of food, optimizing stability of supplies, and securing sustainable access to available supplies by all who need them. It is good to note that there is green gold in our soils. Only those who are ready to soil their hands in the farm can be able to dig-out the precious green gold.
Real farming revolution can make many Nigerians billionaires, but not overnight unlike other fast-yielding business ventures. Farming as a business is a prestigious and lucrative occupation that is production-oriented but it requires a huge capital application plus a long time before profit is made. It is the only patience businessmen who have foreseen the hidden “green gold” in the farms are farming for now to fish-out the green gold from the soil.
•Livinus Nnebedum, an expert in Agricultural Extension & Communication, former Director in the Anambra State Agricultural Development Programmes writes from Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, Anambra State.
