The return to productivity in farming which represented the bulk of economic activities in most North-eastern states, remains shrouded in a cloud of uncertainty as displaced farmers are not adequately empowered to return to their lands in resuming production, while fear and despair also hangs over many residents.
Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram insurgents which according to the Federal Government has been technically defeated, still sees tens of thousands of displaced farmers seeking refuge in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, unable to return to their land owing to insecurity.
Worse still, sources informed BusinessDay during a trip to Borno and Yobe states, that many returnees to areas said to have been liberated, are left handicapped as they lack inputs and tools to till the land.
“It will take at least two and half years for proper farming to start in Borno,” said a Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) commander in Maiduguri, on the condition of anonymity, from his experiences in working with other security agencies to curtail the insurgency,
“15 kilometres from Maiduguri, nobody can stay there, except for Kano road. If people cannot move with military escort, they can’t go the farm.
“Even two days ago, 25 kilometres from Maiduguri in Damboa axis was attacked,” he told BusinessDay correspondent.
Showing pictures on his phone where they had to clear out terrorists from a farm, he said, “How can the owner of that kind of land come to the farm?”
“If there is opportunity, people will farm,” he added.
Abdulkadir Jidda, chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Borno State Chapter, gave further perspectives, explaining that; since 2011 till date, there has been no serious farming activity anywhere (in Borno). Even in areas we say are fairly secure, they are not all that secure in the real sense of it. This is because the villages are not that secure, it is not easy to go there and all our farmers in the bush are already down. At a time, residents from 17 out of 27 local governments in the state were relocated to Maiduguri (as insurgents had overrun their homes).
“From here up to the North, East, to Baga, to the borders with Niger, Chad, and Cameroun, all these are no-go areas for anybody, let alone farmers who have to spend the whole day on the farm,” Jidda said.
In Yobe, the situation is said to be better than Borno, but still, there is fear. Buni Yadi in Gujba Local Government Area, reputed to be one of the most viable agricultural areas in the statewas overrun by Boko Haram insurgents at some point, and residents had to flee, but some have now returned.
Muhammad Lawan, a farmer in Buni Yadi, who told the BusinessDay correspondent they do not feel so much fear like before, however, also noted that “before, we had like 50 villages ahead of us but they no longer exist. The residents there were all farmers, but they are presently not there because of insecurity.”
Ali Modu, another farmer in Buni Yadi, also told BusinessDay “since we came back, it was last year I started to farm due to insecurity and fear. I used to get up to 100 bags of produce before the crisis, but last year, I only got 10 bags in all.
“Here, there is peace of mind but surrounding villages have fear in farming especially eastwards, there are places where farming cannot even be practiced,” Modu said.
Apart from insecurity, it has also been suggested that many returnees are not provided with inputs or implements to start working on their farms again.
Jidda, AFAN chairman in Borno, also said “What has me pained really is that the concern shown to farmers in our area is not adequate. Because, by this time, I was expecting the government should be conceiving and designing some arrangements to get farmers work under whatever conditions.”
Abba Gambo, a professor at the University of Maiduguri, and member of the El Kanemi Royal family who also spoke with BusinessDay, said, “when IDPs were being released to go back to Bama, my expectation as an agriculturalist, and as a citizen of the state, who has a governor that is also an agriculturalist was that government will give them starter packs to go back to the farms.
“Starter pack means some hybrid seeds, even the simple implements like hoe, cutlass, etc which are not even available in Bama. And don’t forget for seven years there hasn’t been farming in the whole of Borno state, and we have been depending on the largesse of people like Dangote, and others, but for how long will Dangote feed Borno people with rice?
“Since the governor has been to Bama several times, and has seen the level of destruction and is trying to rebuild the environment, we expected that as the IDPs were returning, they would be provided the necessary tools to return to productivity,” said Gambo
Lawan and Modu in Yobe, also expressed similar views on the lack of inputs and machinery, which they say currently limits their ability to scale up production, to where they were before the insurgency.
CALEB OJEWALE
