I just want to lend my local voice on what the president said on Agriculture. I do not know who are the people advising the President. They are NOT sincere on Agriculture related issues and policies advisory service to the president. I wish PBAT can ask them this question, "What can 2000 Tractors contribute to the nation in one year"
His boastings TO BRING IN 2000 tractors to the country is like a father of 100 saying He left the children in the house with a tin milk of uncooked rice and the next one week, he is sure they will not be hungry.
Several policy statements without any magnitude and directions, the State of emergency he declared July 2023 on Agriculture was just a mere play. I postulated that chicken will be all time high and the minimum wage will not be able to buy a live turkey for Christmas in 2024, Has it not comes to past?.
February 2025 is seriously approaching and pepper will show us another pepper till middle of june 2025. Just because we are not doing the right thing. Hunger is a daily phenomenon, so planting of crops MUST be a daily activity too BECAUSE we do not need rain to cultivate crops. We ONLY need water which is aboudant in all states of the federations. Take for instance, 74% of the entire land in Ogun state is Arable land. That means we have 1.2million hectares of land in the state that can be use to grow crops . The 2000 tractor PBAT is promising to bring to Nigeria will not cultivate more than 800,000 hectares in one year IF all of these are drafted to Ogun state alone with full implement and 4,000 personnel( 1 tractor driver and motor boy ).
What will that do to Zamfara that is bigger than the entire south south or to Kogi that is bigger than the entire south east or to Niger state that is bigger than ( Ogun,Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo put together)
If PBAT is having so much to battle with, how about the state governors especially those of the southern parts of the country who are bless with several natural resources for food production.
It is a sad thing that no single governor in Ogun state has ever visited, collaborate or network with federal university of Agriculture in Abeokuta ( The leading university of Agriculture in Africa) since the Universe was established over 30 years till date. FUNAAB cannot grow crops or rear animals in commercial quantities because the mandate is to teach, extend innovation and do research. Several thousands of skilled young men and women had been produced by the university and several innovative templates for smart and sustainable agriculture is in their domain, yet the state government is not looking at that INSTITUTION for possible collaboration.
In Abeokuta, if 100,000 families buys a chicken at N10,000/ family for Christmas, that is N1 billion naira only. Thank God for the abundance of poultry farms in the state, else. the money will have fly out of the state economic to other state just like we lost N10billion naira from Abeokuta alone during the last ileya (Sallah) in money used to buy rams at N100,000 per ram per family that slaughtered ram during the 2024 ileya festival alone. It is carelessness and poor attitude to allow such huge sum of money to be exiting the economy every year without thinking of how to minimise the exit in the nearest future.
Same scenario plays every day in frozen fish.
If 100,000 families buy 1 piece of shawa at N1k per family per week , that is N100m too that fly out of Abeokuta on Shawa alone every week . Can we see WHY WE ARE HUNGRY NOW?.
Those who are in the corridors of power and those formulating policies at state and federal levels better goes back to drawing boards and promptly redesign the pathway to ensure food availablity and its sustainability. Any policy they are formulating that is neglecting family as the unit to drive it to implementation will continue to fail. Unless we empower our family, we will continue to go down in poverty. If a million families are targeted to get out of poverty in a year, in five years, we will be having a significant improvement in standard of living. The health institutions are already overstretched despite several inadequacies, more out of school children and youth related crime should be expected in 2025 especially because the total value of this year 2024 budget in dollar far outweighs the value of the 2025 budget by over $10 billion dollars. Borrowing to meet the needs of the budget and its attending interest will be a daily tormentor on the households in the country.
There are still time to promptly arrest the situation, there are available resources to rescue the economy, do we have the patriotic will and the attendance committment to ensure we do the right thing in the interest of the nation?.
May the lord saves the already bless Nigeria from loosing all its blessings Amen.
If anyone needs FREE advisory services for next year Agric- Biz planning , the door is open from today 24th Dec till 31st of Dec 2024 only.
Merry Christmas to us all.
Farmer Ayopo SOMEFUN
07065854881
Abeokuta.
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