At the last check, the global price for crude oil had tumbled from the over $100 per barrel a few months ago to an all time low of $28 per barrel. This dwindle has, in more ways than one, caused heartaches for many developing economies, whose livewire is tied to revenue from oil. Being one of such economies, Nigeria is now faced with the dire challenge of surviving the tumultuous onslaught on her already ailing economy with the future looking quite dour, if nothing drastic is done to cushion the effect. Already, the federal government is being put to task to seek alternative means of financing the economy. How well the government wriggles its way out of this situation would give us an inkling into the preparedness of this government to take us into newer times. I really hope and pray we are not disappointed.
It is interesting to note that the overall monthly earning from oil, in the case of Nigeria, is now put at a paltry sum of N369 billion as at last November, a sharp drop from its peak of N1.2 trillion in 2012. Put together, this figure translates into about one quarter of what was being shared as the distributable pool four years ago! Of course, you do not need to look too far to see the effect on the various states of the federation, as virtually all of them, except for a few states like Lagos, now struggle to meet up with their statutory obligations to pay workers and to provide the overhead cost of running government decently. Even for the states that struggle and manage to pay, not much is seen in terms of their core development of infrastructure, with several abandoned projects scattered all over states, and contractors being owed heavily. Now, if this is so in many states of the federation, what would once consider as happening to local government areas, the third tier of government?
It is indeed a terrible situation for the country. Anybody acknowledging anything less than this is only a clown who must be pitied. However, what I even find more disconcerting is that the woe we have found ourselves in is that which is definitely avoidable, particularly if the much touted option of diversifying the economy by past successive administrations had actually been implemented and not just merely talked about. To be sure, our problem is not espousing lofty ideas, but in finding leaders who are sufficiently strong-willed and focused to give life to such ideas by walking the talk.
Nigeria has long been acknowledged as a nation with immense potentials, not only in terms of its enormous population of nearly 170 million people, making it the seventh most populated country in the world and the most populous black nation, but also in terms of its many natural resources, which are yet to be largely developed as wholly and vibrant alternative streams of national revenue. Ours is a apt description of the Biblically character who is in honour but oblivious of it.
Take our potential in agriculture, for instance; why hasn’t Nigeria become a major food hub for the continent and even globally? The truth is that the assortment of climatic conditions unique to Nigeria, coupled with the richness of our soil types and water sources, and the high population density which though provide enormous potentials for crop, animal, fish, and tree production, have not been sufficiently explored for the greater good of the nation. If a major investment and focus had, for about two decades, consistently been channeled into the agricultural sector as we began to experience under the erstwhile administration of Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, as the minister of agriculture, now President of the African Development Bank, Nigeria definitely would have long been placed on the pedestal of greatness as we see in Malaysia and other vibrant emerging economies of the world.
Like it has been severally canvassed, the Malaysian experience deserves to be understudied by Nigeria. Agriculture is an important backbone of the Malaysian economy that produces agricultural produce in sufficient quantities, for both domestic consumption and as a earner of foreign exchange. Asides providing different levels of jobs for several of the country’s teeming population, the sector provides employment for the people in the rural areas, with 23 percent of the total export earnings coming through agriculture. Even though agriculture equally absorbs as much as about seventy percent of the workforce in Nigeria, the painful discovery is that these are largely illiterate subsistent farmers in the rural areas whose labours are bereft of mechanisation. Hence, what ordinarily could have turned out as an advantage to us is not. This is because rather than see agriculture as a business capable of permanently changing our national fortunes, we only see it as a way of life, or at best, a social service that must be done purely for its sake. Adesina, the AfDB chief, alluded to this recently. This is what other nations like Malaysia know that we have refused heeding to.
While I eagerly await the new minister of agriculture’s road map for the industry, I must commend the Osun state government for the current efforts being made to give life to the agriculture sector in the state. In truth, Osun state is one of the states that have been badly hit by the declining petro dollar, with salaries of workers not regularly paid, notwithstanding the sincerity of the Spartan governor, Ogbeni Aregbesola. However, rather than accept ‘fate’ and despair like many other governors are doing, the state of Osun is now ensuring that the agriculture sector is being rallied to salvage the uninspiring situation. Hence, the governor, working with investors and foreign partners, now pursues coordinated investment in agriculture which would transform the state into a major agriculture hub for the south western states. Taking advantage of its gargantuan agrarian potential hinged on the available of expansive arable land and most enabling climatic conditions, the state is harnessing its potentials. It appears that all hands are on deck to inspire and sustain an impending revolution in agriculture. I am indeed impressed that the state, through its flagship programme, Osun Rural Agriculture Enterprise (OREAP), is now trying to woo its teeming youth into agriculture by facilitating an agriculture academy where youths are not only empowered with requisite modern skills in both plant and livestock farming, but also supported with funds through cooperative societies. How far this succeeds is something we should observe keenly. Even though the Osun model is still far from being perfect, we must salute Ogbeni Aregbesola’s sagacity and encourage other states governors to begin to think along this same direction.
No longer can we afford to treat the nation’s Agricultural sector as a mere social service sector, as we’ve done in the past. This sector of the economy must never again be starved of requisite funding, other inputs, and best practices. It is too costly. We must now look deeper into the sector and inject fresh ideas that can usher in urgent turn around. The new minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, must show us what is possible with determination and diligent pursuit of progressive revolution. The ‘change’ mantra upon which the Buhari-led administration rode to power must now be practically expressed in agriculture urgently, at least. To this end, valuable lessons should not only be drawn from success stories of more developed economies of the world, but also, local examples of states that have realised that the only way to make the future more prosperous is to go ‘green’ and mobilise the citizens to toe the same path.
Femi Babatunde sent in this piece from Osogbo.
