“State Government To Key Into Restoration Of Food Security”- Association

All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), has called on all state governments, especially those in the Northern part of the country to key into the drive for the restoration of food security in order to ensure the attainment of sustainable National Food Security in the country.

Arch Kabir Ibrahim, National President of AFAN made the call in a statement made available to the media while stating that insecurity is the foremost threat factor to the attainment of food security in Nigeria.

He said that the state governments in the North should work jointly and collectively to ensure the restoration of normalcy or else the whole country might go hungry.

Ibrahim advised that all efforts by all the state governments in the North to stem insecurity should coalesce under one umbrella to be called; Northern Nigeria Security Initiative (NNSI) under the chairmanship of the chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum assisted by a team headed by a Director General who knows what to do.

“Each of the 19 States, including the FCT, should contribute one billion naira each sustainably to a common pool thereby pulling a large resource base at the end of December, 2022.”

He also advised that the CBN should intervene with the sum of one trillion naira within the same period, adding that a critical mass of 2,000 young able-bodied youth to be paid an honorarium of 20,000 monthly from each of the 19 Northern states and probably FCT should be recruited to form a ‘vigilante group’ to keep the peace among their recalcitrant peers but through ‘non-kinetic’ means.

Speaking further, he said that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) should partner with each of the 19 state governments and FCT to proactively fight drug use and trafficking by impounding and destroying identified drug peddling enclaves or dens of drug dealers as well as abusers.

“All the forests which now apparently provide safe-haven to bandits and marauders should be combed, defoliated and in some cases sectorially bulldozed as well as immediately converted into cultivable as well as irrigable land forthwith.”

“Regular town hall meetings in all villages and hamlets under the direct supervision of our revered traditional rulers should be convened contiguously all over the North with a view to sensitising everybody to the impending disaster facing the possible continued existence of the entire North and the whole country at large.”

He stated that these suggestions and many more should be promptly pursued to mitigate the current tide of insecurity before the exit of the Buhari administration so as to avert the total collapse of our food system and the whole country.

He, however, stated that it had been nearly 15 years since Boko Haram began rearing its head in the North East first as a religious movement and later a full scale pressure group against the entire establishment.

“In other parts of the North, especially, the North West and North Central where most of our agricultural production takes place, banditry and kidnappings are rampant so much so that the farmers are discouraged from readily accessing their farms.”

“This has resulted in a reduction of sustainable food sufficiency thereby impeding the attainment of food security in spite of the several intervention programs such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrower Program, National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) integrated farm settlements, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) efforts and several other programs by the Buhari administration.”

“Agriculture essentially takes place in the states and is on the concurrent list with the Federal Government spearheading the creation of an enabling environment through giving policy direction and encouraging stakeholder buy-in.”

“With these realities it is very clear that the states have a very important role in bringing about food security to Nigeria but only if the security of life and property is guaranteed or assured.”

Ibrahim further stated that though the states are not directly in charge of National security and the direct management of the security apparatus comprising the Police, Army and Civil Defence as well as several other institutions but the State Governors of the various States are the Chief security officers in their various states that if they jointly and collectively pursue the issue of insecurity more impact will be made.

Nigerian Tribune