Nigeria needs a policy on food crisis - Gov Saraki

Bukola SarakiRecently, Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State spoke with journalists on how Nigeria could manage the food crisis currently rocking the world, his government’s investment in agriculture, particularly food production, and what the state was doing on the Ilorin International Airport project. Yekini Jimoh was there.

What is your plan for sufficient food production in the state?
We are working towards the production of sufficient food which has been our major priority since the inception of this government. You can see what is happening right now, I think we are moving in the right direction. We are trying to make food products available in Kwara State and Nigeria at large. Over the last two and a half years, we have had arrangements on ground; activities are going on.

Apart from the economic advantages, what else are we expected to derive from your projects in this regard?
First, as they say, food is the backbone of economic growth. We spent more than $1 billion annually on importation of powder milk. By the time this project is completed and operation starts, we would gain a lot in terms of monetary conservation. Second, this project would generate employment for the teaming youth that are not employed. We would also have export capacity for raw milk, yoghurt and cheese. You can even look at the airport now; this has been an airport that had been inactive, but with this project on, it would become busy and would boost economic activities. The Custom would no longer seat in one place, you can see that they are busy performing their duties. In fact, the project has a multiplying effect on the economy.

What advantages would the local farmers derive from it?
What is going to happen is that with the bulk of the equipment the project received, they can also go into gross transformation with the local farmers in the dairy activities so that they can also improve their yield.

Your government started agriculture programme and you are moving to the next stage. Can you say your feelings to the people of Kwara State?
Today, I feel very delighted because we have started seeing the reality of the project we started about two and a half years ago. Many governments always base their priority on agriculture and agro-allied programmes. I am delighted that when we came on board, we promised the people of Kwara State substantial agricultural programme and we are able to provide it. When we started, a lot of people believed that the programme was a mere propaganda. What we are seeing here today is noting but a reality of the programme. We are happy because these programmes will go a long way in helping individuals, corporate organisations and the government.

What advice do you have for the people of the state on this programme?
Well, I advice the people of Kwara and non-indigenes who reside in the state to go into agriculture and explore the huge opportunities that are currently available. Most of the programmes were designed to assist farmers. For instance, if a farmer has 1,000 cattle, he would make a lot of money in terms of milk; he can also feed on it. In fact, it is a breakthrough in reforming the economy.

Kwara State government is trying to go into agricultural reformation. How would you advise the Federal Government so that President Yar’Adua would know what to do about the current food crisis?
We received letters from the minister of agriculture and the team of economic advisers to the president; they have been mandated to come to Kwara State to see for themselves what we are doing here in terms of agriculture. We have given them late May to come and visit Shonga Farm. The point we are making is that it has to be done with private sector partnership. This idea that government alone can do it is not alright. It is not easy because when we started, we were blackmailed from many quarters. People asked why we did not give the project to our farmers, but forgot that the farmers first had to gain the knowledge, the ability and the experience to do it. Government alone cannot do it, but if you have farmers that are acquainted with the technical knowledge, then, the government can come out to support them financially and otherwise.

I am happy that the Federal Government is doing that because the amount of money we have spent on the agricultural sector should be able to get us better results if we were able to get what we were doing right. I believe that this is why the Federal Government would be coming here to see what we are doing and based on that, we would be able to share ideas on how to move forward in the area of food production and security. But about what is happening in the world today, we must find a way to start self-sufficiency; we must produce our own milk in any form, for example. That is very important. Whatever it will cost us to do that, as a country, we must do it and effectively too, because we have to live our lives.

Kwara State has put in a lot of money in these projects. When do you think government would exit so that it would lie completely in the hands of the private sector?
Talking about how much money we have put in from the beginning, at a time, we had about 50 per cent equity in the project, now, we are down to 15 per cent and I know that by next year, the project would go public. By that time, we would have exited. That is the model and the issue is that by the time we sell 15 per cent, we would have made some profit.

What is your advice to other state governors on agriculture and food security?
Well, I think a lot of my colleagues are looking into this area. I know one or two in this zone (North Central) with whom I had already met. Nasarawa State is one of them. Plateau, Bauchi and Kebbi states have also shown interest. I think once we have a national policy in this direction, things would improve for the country. Initially, it was few people that showed interest, but now that there is a food crisis in the world, we must have a national emergency approach to the issue of food production.

Some of the people around Shonga and Ilorin claimed that the farm produce could hardly be seen in the local market. Is the produce only for export?
Most of the produce has been used to feed the cows and the poultry instead of getting them into the market. The whole project is a process and gradually, we would arrive at the market. By the time they start production of milk, yoghurt, cheese and chicken processing,you would see the products in the market. As I have said, agriculture is not a venture the benefits of which you can immediately see; its takes time. However, already, we have seen that definitely, we are moving in the right direction.

What are the developmental plans you have for the Ilorin International Airport being the port through which you receive your agricultural raw materials?
We have flight for every day. By next week, we would have flights coming in with cargo. We also have been having plans for Ilorin to be our alternative to Lagos in terms of cargo base. We have begun to see that. Where we are standing right now is a temporary place for the cargo. You can also see permanent site under construction and by the time it is completed, it will be the best and most modern cargo in this country. With this kind of investment, things would be better because there are a lot of goods going into the Northern part of the country which do not necessarily need to go to Lagos. Ilorin is closer to the Northern states and the goods can come to Ilorin and from here they would be transported to any part of the North. In that way, we can ensure security as people concentrate their economic values in all part of the country. With this, the country would have stability and economic balance in all parts. So, what we are trying to do is to ensure that the Ilorin Airport becomes the hub of this zone. This cargo is the first cargo that ever comes to Ilorin and very soon, more cargo would be coming to here for onward distribution of goods to all part of this country.