Recently, the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN), a trade union and cartel that controls the movement of staple food items from Northern Nigeria to other parts of the country embarked on a protest which led to a deliberate blockade of the movement of food items down South.
This incident which lasted for a few days was akin to the starvation tactics that the Nigerian government unleashed on Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War, a development that eventually favoured Nigeria.
Expectedly, the recent food blockade created panic in South East Nigeria due to its over-dependence in the North for staple food supplies. As the protest lasted, most food items were in short supply in the region, a development which led to almost 50 per cent price increase of such food items as beans, tomatoes, onions, pepper, yam, wheat and beef.
However, a major fallout of the incidence is the exposure of the lip-service paid to agriculture by successive administrations in the South East, especially Abia, Imo and Enugu States where the state governments patronise portfolio farmers instead of investing in peasants.
Nigerians rely on proceeds from agriculture for their daily living and the sector has always been the base of the economy. Analysts are of the view that agriculture will continue to play a dominant role in the growth of the nation in the foreseeable future as the sector employs no fewer than two-thirds of the adult population.
Furthermore, it is believed that the landmark successes recorded in the Old Eastern Region by the then Premier, Dr Michael Okpara stemmed from his conviction that agriculture is the most important route to economic development and increased welfare.
Okpara, a strong advocate of ‘pragmatic socialism’, with the help of his Minister of Agriculture, Mr P. N. Okeke-Ojiudu, set up six farm settlements covering 61,775 acres at Ohaji (Imo State), Igbariam (Anambra State), Erei (Cross River) Boki (Rivers State), Ulonna South and Ulonna North (Abia State), and Uzo Uwani in Enugu State.
According to an article by University of Calgary Press, with 1,070 settlers in 1966, about 7,829.05 acres were planted with various cash crops, including oil palm, rubber, and citrus fruit. The settlers were required to cultivate food crops such as yams, cocoyams, and maize on their compound plots for their own subsistence.
“Equipped with modern facilities including maternity homes, schools, and modern farming equipment, these plantations represented the most ambitious of the government’s agricultural development programmes and its attempt to create “modern,” self-supporting farming households,” it stated.
Okpara built the first indigenous institution of higher learning, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Eastern Television Station and some roads in the region with revenue from these agricultural engagements. No wonder the then Eastern Region was touted as the fastest growing economy in the world as a result of the agricultural revolution in the area.
Also, a former governor of Enugu State, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo corroborated this when he said: “In Adani, Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, Michael Okpara did 30, 000 hectares of farm settlement, the biggest of such in Africa then and called it the Adarice. He got the Israelites to irrigate it and it had the capacity to feed the region and enough for export. We did not depend on other zones for food.”
Sadly, this first rice farm in Nigeria as well as other farm settlements built by Okpara in the region are rotting away and no administration has shown interest in revitalising them in spite of their economic viability.
Also, the first irrigation farm built by the Nwodo administration in Ette community in Igboeze North Local Government Area of Enugu State is now covered by bushes and inhabited by herdsmen. The villagers, reportedly, cannot even go there any more for fear of the herders.
It should be noted that no other state government in the region has shown ‘seriousness’ in agriculture with the exception of Ebonyi State and probably, Anambra State and the situation has degenerated to the now over-reliance on the North for food supplies. However, the efforts of successive administrations in Ebonyi State which have culminated in the production of the best Nigerian rice is commendable and need to be emulated by other state governments in the region.
Agronomists and researchers are of the view that the South East region in general and Enugu State in particular with its arable land and more favourable weather condition can become the food basket of Nigeria if only the state governors will march their words with actions instead of occupying their minds on how to annex parcels of land for personal projects.
Conclusively, the recent blockade of food items to the South needs to be a wake-up call to the governors of the South East and should culminate in the introduction of genuine policies that will revamp the agricultural sector, encourage mechanised farming, create jobs and ensure food availability and security.
Finally, granted that the South East region do not boast of the same size of land as the North, but it has a more favourable weather condition and should even be producing more food than the North and in few years should be able to attain food sufficiency as well as enjoy exponential increase in revenue ifthe state governors can create an ideal agricultural economy by reviving the farm settlements, building additional ones and providing other ancillary support to peasants.
