Food crisis: Doubts as Tinubu moves to ramp up supply nationwide

• The Problem Is Affordability Of Commodities Not Availability, Says Oladunni
• Seeks Conducive Environment For Farmers To Operate
• Govt At All Levels Must Harmonise Efforts In Agric Sector – Oba Thompson
• Don’t Allow Current Hardship Destroy Gains Of Democracy, Hayab Appeals To Nigerians

As the Federal Government continues to throw various solutions at the food crisis in the country occasioned by its twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and floating of the naira, there are indications that its interventions may yield little harvest.

This is even as it was gathered yesterday that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, was in the final stages of releasing 42,000 metric tonnes of assorted food commodities to support the vulnerable population across the country.

The Guardian learnt that the grains, in seven locations of strategic reserve, were being bagged for onward delivery to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who made the disclosure in a statement, explained that the need to bag the grains caused the delay as the bags were freshly ordered by the government.

“Nigerians will not need to pay for the  grain bags, as they are  free. This  will be complemented by the 60,000 metric tonnes of milled rice to be purchased by the Federal Government from the Mega Rice Millers,” Onanuga said.

He quoted the Minister of Agriculture, Senator  Abubakar Kyari, as disclosing that already, with the announcement of the impending releases of food commodities from the Strategic Reserve, there was a noticeable reduction in commodity prices across major grains markets in the country.

The statement further said: “The Federal Government is also ramping up food production by boosting Dry Season Farming under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP) Project .

“The First Phase of the Dry Season Farming was launched in November, 2023. “It focuses on the cultivation of wheat across 15 wheat-producing states, covering 118,657 hectares and involving 107,429 farmers.

“The fields are green now and harvest will commence in a matter of weeks.

“There are fantastic reports of growth of wheat from Jigawa State, which is now targeting harvest from about 50,000 hectares, 10,000 hectares more than initially allotted under the programme.

“Phase Two of the Dry Season Farming will commence soon, across all 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It will cover rice, maize and cassava.

“For rice, the target is 250,000 hectares involving 500,000 farmers with the expected output of one million metric tons of paddy rice.

“For maize, we are cultivating 55,000 hectares with 110,000 farmers thereby adding 165,000 metric tons to national maize production while for cassava, we are doing 35,000 hectares with 70,000 farmers to produce 525,000 metric tons of cassava.

“The NAGS-AP Project offers a 50 per cent subsidy. However, the Federal Government is providing additional support for Phase two, which will bring aggregate subsidy to about 93 per cent  to farmers cultivating the crops.

“Also various governors are showing strong support to further enhance the subsidy.

“Additionally, solar-powered water pumps for irrigation, provided by the Federal Government, are being deployed to aid the upcoming phase of the programme.”

However, the Executive Director, Agricultural Management and Rural Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State, Dr. Olufemi Oladunni, said there was nothing the policies and interventions of the government can achieve if there is no conducive environment for such.

“All these policies are good, but they cannot work. They cannot work if the right environment is not there; policies are meant to work where the environment is conducive to work. Even if you say you want to distribute food today, some people won’t allow it to work.

“If you say let us give people food, you will see that some people will corner it and those who need it will not be able to get it,” he said. Oladunni disclosed that there were lots of backdoors causing hardship, especially the current food crisis, in the country.

He added: “There are lots of things making life extremely difficult for Nigerians, while the insincerity of many citizens is worsening it. When the problem has gone beyond economic principle, then you begin to wonder what else you can do.

“What we are experiencing is not food shortage per se, it is about food affordability. If you get to the market, I don’t think you will say there’s no food in the market, but it’s beyond the reach of Nigerians. I don’t want to say common people; everybody has been turned to common people with this current situation.

“The food is there but there is no money to buy it. If you want to talk about food shortage, it means you carry your money in your hand, you get to the market and there is no food to buy; but now you don’t even have money to buy.

“So, the most important thing is not about supplying grains, because it’s not all about that; it’s about making it affordable to people,” he said.

Oladunni urged the Federal Government to take extra steps to shore up the value of the naira, saying: “They must find a solution to the value, I mean increasing it. If you increase the minimum wage today, the price would move along the minimum wage and you end up creating more inflation into the system because the value of naira will not change if you don’t change it no matter the minimum wage you are given.

“God forbid the situation of Venezuela. My son carried Venezuelan currency from Venezuela one day. He told me in those days the denomination can be used to buy a car in Venezuela, but today you cannot use the same denomination to buy a bottle of water.

“We are also not producing enough because farmers cannot access their farms due to insecurity. If you want to go to farm now as a practicing farmer, there’s a lot of fear in you. You will be working on the farm with fear; definitely there won’t be any concentration. Another thing I observed is that only a few Nigerians want Nigeria to be better. Majority are pulling it down,” he noted.

On his part, the Founder, International Cocoa Diplomacy (ICD), HRM Oba Dokun Thompson, the Oloni of Eti-Oni, Osun State, who described the steps as a welcome development, said agriculture and agribusiness can address a lot of the country’s development needs, urging the local, state and federal governments to collaborate and harmonise efforts in the sector and also in other sectors of the economy.

His words: “Now that food security is a major issue, the country is once again given another opportunity to recalibrate policies and direct them at achieving the necessary impact, which will ultimately create jobs and the Federal Government is now taking the right lead in ensuring there is increased production and also access to the food in terms of reduced cost. It will help address the security issues faced by several communities.

“The government has actually gone ahead to balance the exorbitant food prices by first releasing some grains from the national reserves. Calling on the state governments to now address the issues is also a secondary step that should further address the unnecessary profiteering. This is part of the collaborative efforts that are needed among the three tiers of government.”

The monarch stressed that poultry and fish farming agro ventures are inexpensive to start or roll out, but added that there was a need to put some incentives in place to encourage the youth to get involved.

“We have the manpower to run and manage these projects. It will also help address the rural to urban drift.

“In all of these, social services and certain physical infrastructure are required to make the efforts realisable. Farming must also have a corresponding development programme going alongside. It will not only help address food security, but also unemployment issues will be greatly reduced, while the general security of communities will also ultimately improve,” the monarch stated.

Meanwhile, former Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State, the Rev. Joseph Hayab, has tasked the Federal Government not to allow the current hardship and downturn in the economy to destroy the gains of democracy in Nigeria. Hayab lamented over the level of hardship among Nigerians, which has resulted in a series of protests against the government lately.

“We observe with deep concern the rising number of protests in different parts of the country recording citizens’ grievances on the high cost of goods and services every day, attributed to the rising exchange rate following the plunging purchasing power of the naira. Undeniably, the hike in prices of commodities means that most Nigerians do not find things easy.

“We appeal to Nigerians to seek other ways such as peaceful public advocacy to register the grievances of the citizenry on the biting economic suffering in the country. Violence has never done any good in the history of man on the planet Earth.

“Accordingly, Nigerians should not allow anyone, group or organisation to instigate them to embark on street protests due to the high cost of living because some bad elements may hijack the protest to destroy the gains the nation must have made over the years, thereby compounding the current suffering and impacting the future,” he said. He urged traditional, religious, political leaders and other stakeholders to come together to proffer solutions to the nation’s economic woes.

“While it is correct to say that most Nigerians, if not all, in one way or the other, feel the impact of the present economic challenges heightened by insecurity and misery, Nigerians must at the same time be guided in the way the predicament is handled so that we do not cause grave setbacks for ourselves as a result.

“It is time for religious leaders, traditional rulers, stakeholders, aged and young Nigerians, with the political class to be united in finding solutions through constructive advice on the way forward for our country and not allow ourselves to destroy the gains of democracy built over the years,” he said.

Hayab noted that any form of protest through which government buildings, establishments or any infrastructure are destroyed would certainly do Nigerians no good.

“As a result, Nigerians need to join hands to rethink the best way out of the present dilemma. The reason is that due to the hunger and anger in the land, genuine protest can easily be seized by hoodlums and selfish groups to cause enormous havoc on innocent citizens.

“Let us be reminded that poverty knows no ethnic group, faith, regional or political leanings; that is why suffering affects all. As such, Nigerians need to come together to find solutions to the situation,” he added.

Stressing that the current economic quagmire in Nigeria pre-dates the Tinubu administration, Hayab who is also the Country Director of Global Peace Foundation in Nigeria (GPFN), explained that “the blame for the present economic challenges cannot simply be heaped on the present administration.”

He continued: “Consequently, the current economic depression calls us to reflect deeply and honestly acknowledge where we got it wrong for us to create a better tomorrow for generations yet unborn to gain from our collective response.

“Just as the saying divided we fall, united we stand, Nigerians need not allow the present hardship to divide us and deny us the blessings that the Almighty has in stock for our country. It is time that the best comes out of us to overcome every challenge as we remain a strong and united nation able to face any problem for the overall progress and development of the nation.

“Biblically, it was during a trying time that King Pharaoh of Egypt got to know about Joseph, who was brought out of prison to offer a desirable solution to the impending drought that was to befall Egypt.

“Just like the Egypt of old, Nigeria is blessed with many people like Joseph with wisdom and good knowledge of how to tackle our current situation. Our leaders at the federal, state and local council levels should be humble enough to put aside politics and invite every good hand that can add value to our struggle to overcome the present economic downturn.”