NEC and Nigeria’s food crisis

THE National Economic Council (NEC) meeting on Monday took time to delve into the problems of agriculture and hunger in the country. NEC is a meeting of state governors, minister of national planning, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor and the vice president who chairs it. It was one of those few days when you feel happy that your rulers remember you. In this country, governors and the governed share very few things in common; while hunger is the most pervading problem of the majority of the people, the politicians, especially those in public offices, are constantly overfed with plenty leftovers. So, while the people scavenge to eat, the ruler thinks of how to perpetuate himself in office, in most cases, without the approval of the governed.

For almost one year that the present government has been in power, the NEC had busied itself with how to share excess crude oil money between the federal and state governments. Not that they did not discuss excess crude money again last Monday, but that the council spared some time to think on the issue of hunger in the land was gladdening. Otherwise, it would have been excess crude account all the way and the people hardly get to see what is done with the billions that are shared from the excess crude money.

Imo State governor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, led two of his colleagues to brief the press on the outcome of the NEC meeting. The statistics they released, though brief, was startling. According to them, Nigeria has 76 million hectares of arable land for farming, has benevolence of weather but spends about $2.8 billion importing food. Even at that, 65 per cent of our citizens don’t have access to the right mix of food. Therefore, they are not secured in terms of food and growth and their ability to learn Mathematics is stunted. This is not good for a country like Nigeria.

“Another issue was that of subsidy on agriculture machinery, fertiliser and essential services and a key element was that we should try and ensure that such subsidy is targeted at and reaches those who are actually engaged in the production of food so as to enhance our productivity level.

“If we truly want to be competitive in the international market, we have to shift emphasis from subsistence to commercial farming. The Ministry of Agriculture is mandated by the NEC to produce a report card on the various presidential initiatives. A comprehensive study will be presented to the governors since they have key role in driving the overall programme in increasing food productivity by this sector,” they said.

Well, let us forget about penetrating international market with our produce. I think the most critical problem is to feed ourselves first. But at the root of the problem of food insecurity is crude oil, oil boom and the reckless way the money is spent. Before the boom, in the 1970s, hunger never ravaged Nigerians the way it does now. It was the oil boom that created a super rich class of contractors and middlemen who do very little production and yet have wealth that overwhelmed the peasant farmers in the village.

The moment farmers realised that doing contract and supply to government was more lucrative that tilling the soil, parents encouraged their children to leave for the cities to grasp part of the oil wealth. In one case, profit made from just one supply to government ministry was able to buy off the farm produce of an entire village. So, everybody migrated to the city and farming took the back stage.

There is no doubt that if farming yields as much returns as contracts/supplies, nobody needs to be begged to go and farm. Whatever policy the NEC and, indeed, the government plans should be built on adequate returns on investments for those engaged in agriculture.