These, undoubtedly, are trying times for our beloved nation. At a time when our armed forces are almost successfully getting rid of the nuisance of Boko Haram insurgence, another monster in the name Fulani herdsmen reared its ugly head to complicate the security situation in the country. Hardly had the furore caused by the dastardly acts of Fulani herdsmen across the country settled down than a group that called itself the Niger Delta Avengers, NDA began another gory adventure that has, once more, thrown the Niger Delta region, and by implication the country, into a further needless frenzy. Within a spate of two weeks, NDA has blown up vital oil installations in the Niger Delta thereby compounding the nation’s economic woes and security challenges.
While it is glaring that our beloved fatherland is facing serious security threats; it is, however, in the economic aspect that the country is presently contending with a much more dreadful menace. It is no longer news that the nation’s economy is currently experiencing a downward trend. The current fall in global prices of crude oil, a major source of revenue for the country, has serious implications for the country’s economy. Part of the evidence that the economic slide is biting so hard is the fact that monthly revenue that is usually shared by the three tiers of government has sharply declined. Unconfirmed reports have it that some states got as low as N150 million as monthly allocation from the federal purse last April. And these are states that used to get as much as N6 billion a few while ago. Consequently, many of the states owe their workers arrears of salary and are unable to perform other statutory obligations.
For the generality of our compatriots, however, the real signal that our dear nation is passing through a season of deep rooted economic dilemma is amply reflected in current irrepressible upsurge in the price of food items. Naturally, such unusual rise always comes with serious repercussion on the budgets of most homes. The reason for this is quite obvious. Food consumption is a daily necessity that every home cannot do without. With the current increase in fuel price, it is not unusual for the average car owner to leave his car at home and journey through public busses. But, food consumption is such an integral part of our daily routine, especially for married couples that it is so hard to jettison.
This position is readily authenticated by a Yoruba proverb that says: “Once hunger is out of the equation, the pang of poverty is conquered”. From the way things currently stand, however, the pang of poverty might not be easily conquered in view of the astronomical increase in the price of food items. Ironically, the most affected of all food items are tomatoes and pepper, two of the most indispensable items needed to keep the kitchen going in most homes.
Currently, at the kitchen departments of nearly all homes, the most trending gist, for now, is the exorbitant price of tomatoes and pepper. The common gist, among women, now centres on the high cost of tomatoes and pepper. Accordingly and, perhaps, unsurprisingly, managers of the all important kitchen department in most homes are already agitating for a corresponding increment in the monthly fund allocated for housekeeping.
Of late, the common tendency is to ascribe increase in the price of any item to the dwindling fortune of naira against the dollar. But then, could there be any connection between rise in tomatoes’ price and the potency of dollar against naira? Typically, the response should be none since the two items are locally produced. The question then is: Why is tomato and, its ‘nephew’, pepper, gradually getting out of the reach of ordinary folks?
One theory that actually came up in the process of trying to unearth this mystery is the Dangote connection. The mainstay of this theory, which, of course, has not been sufficiently proven, is that one of Dangote’s firms is responsible for the recent surge, especially in the price of tomatoes. The gist is that the firm which is basically involved in the production of tomato paste is mopping up every available tomato across town in order to meet up with production target.
According to a recent revelation by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, Nigeria has two processing plants for tomato paste, Erisco and Dangote, and their capacities are huge. Their entrance into the scene is actually a good development for tomato farmers and the country’s economy as our annual import bill on tomato paste is about $400m. A recent disclosure by Audu Ogbeh that six states are currently hit by a pest called the Tomato Leaf Miner or Tuta absoluta, commonly referred to as ‘Tomato Ebola’, could also be responsible for the tomatoes quandary as the pest is responsible for the massive destruction of tomato in farmlands. It is, however, cheering to note that government is already doing something to tackle this problem.
Now, the main issue of this discourse is that the current tomatoes and pepper status is an indication of the unlimited opportunities that abound in the agriculture sector. It shows that there is a huge market for agricultural produce in the country. Therefore, there is a need to recreate a modernized professional and commercial farming sector, supported by improved infrastructure and research into high performance seeds and livestock. To encourage the teeming army of un-employed youths in the country to take to agriculture, government should make access to loans meant for agriculture easier while large scale farming powered by mechanized infrastructures should be the central goal.
Equally, local food production needs to be encouraged by making inputs available, giving farmers access to more farm land, providing micro credit at subsidized cost, supporting adequate processing and storage, providing market facilities, and discouraging import of produce with local substitutes through tariffs. It is also important that a significant portion of the country’s annual budget be set aside for the development of the sector. This can be achieved if government reduces its expenses on ventures that are grossly un-productive (such as new jeeps for legislators).
Now that all tiers of governments are groaning under severe economic burden is the exact time for us to pay sufficient attention to the agriculture sector as it offers unlimited opportunities for food security as well as job and wealth creation that could accelerate our quest for economic and industrial growth. The nation of Israel is not as fortunate as we are in this perspective. Yet, it is renowned for her rich agro-economy. We could draw lessons from China which bounced back from a great famine that took millions of lives between 1958 and 1961 to become the world numero uno in food production. Now that tomatoes and pepper are getting out of the reach of common man is, indeed, the right time to pay attention to agriculture. God bless Nigeria.
Tayo Ogunbiyi
