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Nigerians are HUNGRY not because they do not have enough arable and productive lands to farm. Not because they do not have enough farmers to farm the land. Not because they don’t have enough good wheather to back up their crops from planting to harvesting.
According to the World Bank in 2020, the total population of Nigeria was 213 million. But the active farmers were about
24.5% of Nigeria’s working age. The total U.S. population in 2020 was around 331 million but the total percentage of farmers was 0.62% of the working age compared to Nigerian farmers of 24.5%. Yet, while American farmers of 0.62% can feed the whole world, Nigeria farmers of 24.5% of working age cannot feed just Nigerians. But
we can feel West Africa, all things being equal.
Time was in Nigeria when farmers were free to go and come from their farms at any time of the day for any type of job from cultivation, planting, and harvesting. And without any threats to life and limbs. Those days are gone, ended about a decade ago. A very a vicious political isms and
schisms were introduced by some people who were hungry for power. To them, power must change hands was their slogan.
To the ruling party, it’s time was over. They have to go. So many devices were orchestrated, including lies, blackmail, press conferences, organized protests and demonstrations against government policies, and recruitment of terrorist groups. All to make the government very unpopular and choke it out of power. A former southwest governor later confessed participation in this scheme which he mischievously described as “polities”.
Wittingly and unwittingly they hijacked Boko Haram which is a religious group, but became radicalized beyond its scope and politicized without their intention. The presidential election between Jonathan and Buhari was in the corner. When it came, it was because President Jonathan conceded defeat to Buhari that Boko Haram became jobless in Nigeria. After the election, the blood of the monkeys did not flow on the streets. Yet, after Buhari was inaugurated, he opened Nigerian borders and invited Fulani outside Nigeria into Nigeria and granted them automatic citizenship to back his new regime. The invaders soon became jobless and the devil quickly found jobs for their idle hands.
This was how miscreants, charlatans, herdsmen, kidnappers, and the first set of enemies of farmers and other Nigerians surfaced in Nigeria, nationwide. This makes the difference between the cultured, disciplined, and devoted Fulani who are the descendants of Usman Dan Fodio who have been living in our midst rearing and selling their cows and their wives and daughters selling “WARA” and cohabitating very peacefully with the villagers for more than one hundred years. That was before the new Fulani were imported without any social, political, economic and ancestral links with Usman Da Fodio.
In all those years, there were no kidnapping for ransom, killings of farmers and destruction of farmsteads. Even the Hausa/Fulani have been living together for centuries. Now, with the importation of non-Nigerian Fulani, both Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo, and other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria have fallen victim to these criminal invaders brought into Nigeria, without jobs. No ethnicity is left out without attack. They have to eat and their sponsors have no use for them again. But as a way to fend for themselves, they turned to all sorts of crimes for living all over Nigeria.
Their first job was kidnapping for ransom where they made millions of Naira with which they bought cows and AK-47s for rearing their cows. The herdsmen vandalized farms, killed and seized lands in parts of Northern region from farmers. They destroyed and killed uncompromising farmers in other parts of the country. This is the short story of how hunger came to Nigeria as farmers could not farm again.
In Nigeria today, how many farmers can live and farm like the farmers of a decade ago? Maybe less than 10% of the farmers in Nigeria. This is because the invaders have become herdsmen, bandits, kidnappers, and other terrorists have spread all over the surrounding towns, villages, hamlets, and farms. For instance, recently, I watched almost in tears when some herdsmen armed with AK-47 rifles commanded a farmer on his farm to cut down his grown corn to feed about a hundred cows. He dare not obey or resist. Suddenly, in Nigeria, AK-47 has replaced the rod of a Shepherds, and the Governments are too helpless to take action.
Recently two traditional rulers in Ikole Local Government in Ekiti were killed by kidnappers while one luckily escaped after returning from a local security meeting. This is just one horrible example of kidnapping for ransom in Ekiti State. To some, they still kill while collecting the ransom. Nigeria and Nigerians have never witnessed this unwholesome and ferocious bloodletting in their history. These insecurities in Nigeria are so embarrassingly prevalent that other sane countries like the USA and UK are always warning their citizens about no-go areas in Nigeria.
The herders and kidnappers fired the first shot against the food supply from the farms during the time of Buhari. The second bullet was fired by Tinubu when he removed the fuel subsidies during his inauguration. On the second day, the price of petrol and diesel which are used to transport food all over the country rose astronomically. Because of this misplaced policy, the prices of farm produce rose immediately and uncontrollably still.
Quickly, another bullet was fired at the food prices, when Tinubu led the ECOWAS team to close five Nigerian northern state boarders with Niger Republic, which supplied a great proportion of food items which are subsequently transported to other parts of Nigeria, especially the Southern States.
The millions of displaced persons in the North East most of who were farmers are a great loss to the national food supply and responsible for increased prices and scarcity of food items.
This is a double tragedy in that the Government will have to buy food to feed those in the displaced camps when they cannot farm or produce. The big elephant in the room causing food crises in Nigeria today is our Central Bank which has lost control of its National Currency to the control of the American dollar. All the prices of market items are governed by the almighty dollar. The prices of yam, tomatoes, peppers, fruits, and vegetables are all determined by the exchange rate of one dollar to one naira. Quite a disappointing fact is that every single cause of increased food prices in Nigeria should ordinarily be under the control of the Nigerian government and not any other country’s government for that matter.
There is no guessing that President Mohammed Buhari handed over to President Bola Tinubu a very sick economy and government. But as a leader of the ruling party during Buhari’s presidency, Tinubu knew the temperature and language of the economy. Yet, Tinubu said EMILOKAN. Good or bad it was his turn and he got it. Mr. President Sir, you can’t keep yourself under the waters and be shouting that it is cold. Simply, you are very much aware that the economy was too bad before you contested the election, and got sworn in. One year later, no excuse for you that you inherited a bad economy.
Comparatively, Tinubu inherited a better economy. For instance, the Nigerian Debt Management Office says Nigerian debt today is more than N121.67 trillion or $91.6 billion as of March 2024. The federal government owes 90% of this while the states owed just 10%. This is far more than the national debt Buhari handed over.
Unfortunately, this debt keeps rising because we spend more than we earn. The probability that we will ever get out of this debt is almost zero unless we grow up and become an adult, know our ways, and know what money to spend and what not to spend. In short, stop being childish as a country. A man at 64 years old but being called a child means his brain is not developed beyond the brain of a six-year-old. That is the best analogy for Nigeria at 64 years old. Very Sad.
The New York Times recently characterized Nigeria’s current Economy as the worst in decades. But a defender of the government in an indirect admission of the facts as stated by the American News Paper, stated that the government inherited a bad economy as a way of justifying the worst economy in decades. If you inherited a bad economy, do you have to make it worse and worse? No, not at all. For the 64 years of Nigeria’s flag independence, life has never been as hard and tough in getting basic life needs as food and security. Even in the Animal Farm, Food and Security were guaranteed but not in Nigeria of today.
The food inflation rate when Tinubu took over from Buhari was 24.82 but rose to 40.66% in May 2024 under Tinubu. The worst was in the homes where it costs 320.67% more to buy 1kg of tomatoes. Translate into Naira and Kobo, 1kg of Tomatoes after Tinubu took over was sold for N547.28 but after one year in office, became N2,302.26. This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This is a direct attack on the common man who doesn’t make money like our politicians. The food inflation under Tinubu’s governance of Nigerians has been the worst, without help, succor, or comfort. This is what has changed EMILOKAN to EBI NPA WA OOO. Is it the fault of Mr. President, I don’t think so. It’s the problem of Nigeria.
Did Tinubu just folded his hands as the president? No. The president has shared billions if not Trillions of Naira to cushion the economic hard rock in the face of inflation. Tinubu’s economic grave error was the conduit pipes that distributed the palliatives. It happened especially during COVID-19 when Bihari’s government used many bridges to nowhere to ferry Trillions of Naira across the country in the name of palliative. Nothing said and done since. But for his experience in politics and with people, I never knew that Tinunbu would ride on the same bridge to nowhere.
Simply, it is like sending a rat food through a cat and expecting a safe delivery for the rat. I remember at least billions of Naira have gone to the states of the federation, and who felt the impact? A more direct intervention should have been adopted. Why did the governments, not each import foods and flood the markets like Obasanjo did during his in regime 2004?
The Naira came to being as Nigeria’s official currency on January 1, 1973, during the regime of General Yakuku Gowon, the Officer and Gentleman. The 1 USD was just N0.68. That was 1 Dollar less than 1 Naira. But ironically the same 1 USD is today over N1,500. Is it not funny that Nigeria is currently subsidizing the Naira and not the petroleum products? That is a sign that our economy is in a comma and needs a very serious life supports.
Let’s fast forward to the Fourth Republic as headed by President Olusegun Obasanjo who took over in May 29, 1999 a foreign exchange rate of $1 to N21.89. He handed over to President Musa
Yar’adua’s government
an exchange rate of
$1 = N125 in 2007, the highest exchange rate so far then. Then, our suffering had just started. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan took over a foreign exchange rate of $1 = N148.21-N154.8 in 2010. He handed over an exchange rate of
$1 = N199 in May 2015 to President Buhari who after 8 years in power handed over to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu an exchange rate of 1 USD = N445.4 in May 2023. BAT has just increased our national and personal suffering.
Tinubunomics did not learn from the pitfalls of the IBB Structural Adjustment Program (SAP). Tinubu’s Interventions Unification Policy Regime (IUPR) has shared the same or similar objective to restructure and diversify the economy to reduce the dependency on oil exports. Mr. President Sir, your economic policy may end up suffering the fate of IBB’s SAP, which accelerated the fall of Naira against the Dollar.
I won’t join the prophets of Doom. But great care must be taken to stabilize the Naira before December 31, 2024, so that the
1 USD would not be exchanged for N2,000. Tinubu took over on May 29, 2023 with an exchange rate of
1 USD to N445.47 on May 29, 2023. After the announcement of his unification program, $ 1 rose to N589.45 and kept marching on to over $1 to over N1,300 in June, 2023 and still marching on.
Formerly, the Tinubu government has devalued the Naira in a bid to attract foreign investors. But how will any foreign investors think of investing in an economy and a country with many countrywide insecurities, unstable and unpredictable currency, or foreign exchange rates? That idea seems naive to me. Much more so, when the majority of working-age Nigerians are looking for shelter elsewhere. This is called JAPA.
Therefore, there may be no solution to our problems until insurgency, kidnapping, herdsmen, unemployment, unmitigated inflation, and a reasonable and stable rate of exchange, along with N100 per liter for petrol and about N80 per liter for diesel are established in Nigeria. All these, may take farmers back to the farms and food to the markets and tables in our homes. Then and only then can our suffering be reduced or abated.
Mr. President, someone quoted you as saying that you don’t owe your Presidency to anybody, no Cabal. Fine. The only thing you need, therefore, is a political will. Just with one Executive Order, you can solve the problems of Nigeria in one evening broadcast to remove insecurity, and reduce large, and too expensive Governments, at the Federal and State levels. Flooding the Nigerian markets with local and imported food items as temporary measures. This was what General Olusegun Obasanjo did in 1999 -2007 when he imported food, rice, wheat, and sugar. Later in 2004, his National Special Program On Food Security (NSPFS) was to increase food production and reduce import dependence.
But Buhari in 2015 took a very protectionist action in that he banned food importation of rice, wheat, and maize with border closures, and then our sufferings had just begun. He encourages local production and self-sufficiency. But the territories have started to breed, thriving all over his country terrorists destroying farms in the North. But later extended to all the country.
You can turn things around Mr. President Sir. You must be ready and willing to step on many toes but your name will be left in Gold. Go ahead and you will have the majority of Nigerians with you but not when we are hungry Sir.
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