Niger Delta Region And NDDC’s Agricultural Initiatives

For many years, there exist a veiled agreement that one of the perverse and unintended consequences of the discovery of oil in Nigeria are that governments have almost completely abandoned agriculture in the mad quest for petrol dollars. The nation is a mono-economy, depending on the volatile fortunes of oil. Added to this governance failure is the further deterioration in agricultural fortunes caused by oil pollution. Thereby, oil pollution becomes an indirect violation of the right to life, even as it is a violation of the right to a safe and habitable environment.

In view of the above ecological challenge, many environmental analysts have in the past argued that It will be futile to hope that investment of inputs and skills into the sector will boost food supply in rural communities without first addressing adverse oil operation activities. Environmental regulations, they added, must be enforced in order to aid rural development. To others, the first step is for the government to recognize that destruction of agricultural prospects in rural communities through irresponsible oil operations is an indirect violation of the right to life and the right to a safe environment, and also a negation of the policy of economic diversification.

In fact, greater chunk of concerned Niger Deltans were of the view that the federal and state governments should take practical steps to empower communities to protect their environment through policies and legislations that obligate oil companies to apply best practices and grant communities the right to determine how and when oil operations are compatible with human conditions in the communities. They concluded.

In the face of all these conflicting arguments and inordinate postulations, Niger Delta youths waited patiently for a leadership that will offer a sustainable road map for inventing the agricultural sector in the region, to create employment and guarantee food security for the people of the region and beyond.

The above understanding fully explains the perception by stakeholder, as a right step taken in the right direction, the recent decision by Barrister Chiedu Ebie leadership of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), to move beyond rhetoric via its project HOPE’ initiative, and create youth employment opportunities, especially in agriculture through support to small-holder farmers in order to ensure operational growth while shifting from traditional to mechanized farming methods.

“The Niger Delta region because of the arable wetlands, rainfalls and other favourable ecological factors is in a better position to plant various crops and vegetables at least four times within a farming season. We are trying to move away from the oil economy and the sector which can accommodate our youths in large numbers is the agricultural sector.”

Essentially in my view, aside from confirming as true the age long believe that every leadership of an institution develops a culture of their own and the success or failure of such an institution is closely tied to that culture, there are glaring reasons that characterizes the present move Barrister Chiedu Ebie led board and management, to support job creation for the youth through agricultural initiatives in the region, as not only welcoming but loaded with leadership lessons for other public office holders in the country to internalize.

For a better understanding of where this piece is headed, youth in every society, says a study report, has the potential to stimulate economic growth, social progress and our national development. The strategic role of youths in the development of different societies of the world such as Cuba, Libya, China, Russia and Israel are obvious. Youth unemployment is potentially dangerous as it sends a wrong signal to all segments of the Nigerian Society.

Here in Nigeria, the story is not different as rate of youth unemployment is equally high, even at the period of economic normalcy i.e. the oil boom of the 1970s (6.2%); 1980s (9.8%) and the 1990s (11.5%). Youth unemployment therefore is not a recent phenomenon.

But if what happened in the 1980s/90s were a challenge of sorts, what is happening presently, going by the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), is a challenge.

Beyond the above sorry account of protracted youth unemployment in the country, there are also, vivid imageries of how successive government’s neglect of agricultural sector not only set the stage for the galloping unemployment situation but engineered poverty among Nigerians.

Take as an illustration, development professionals have in the past expressed concern that it is not right how state and federal governments of Nigeria created agencies that dole money to Nigerian youths with the aim of eradicating poverty, as such huge resources do not have economic value. They argued that considering the slow growing economy but scary unemployment levels in the country as at that time, such amount should have been invested in the agricultural sector or used to build industries and factories of production to assist in ending the economic life cycle of unemployment in the country.

Closely related to the above is the reality that in the past, managers of our nation’s economy in their attempt to disengage governance from public sector control of the economy only played into the waiting hands of the profiteers of goods and services to the detriment of the Nigerian people.

Others were of the view that less emphasis on university education should be done. Technical and Commercial colleges should be established and funded to produce graduates that are technically fit. The state they argued should engage in agriculture and owning business and manufacturing outfits like what was obtainable in the 1970s-1990s in Nigeria. Companies and factories wholly owned by state governments under a new management system should be built to absorb graduates and skilled workers. It is still possible to operate profitable businesses by the state government using the Indian/Lebanese system of business model.

To the rest, Cooperate organizations and entrepreneurs should engage in production of domestic and industrial goods. And a long term goal of exporting such goods to West/African markets should be brought into focus. Commercial farming into such specialized areas of dairy farming, essential fruits such as apple, etc. will help to reduce unemployment. And a long term goal of exporting such goods to West/African markets should be brought into focus.

For me, there are even more reasons that go beyond job creation, why the present NDDC agricultural initiative should be applauded.

Separate from the worrying awareness that by 2050, global consumption of food and energy is expected to double as the world’s population and incomes grow, while climate change is expected to have an adverse effect on both crop yields and the number of arable acres, we are in dire need of solution to this problem because unemployment has diverse implications.

Security wise, large unemployed youth population is a threat to the security of the few that are employed. Any transformation that does not have job creation at its main objective will not take us anywhere. An agricultural sector has that capacity to absorb the teaming unemployed youth in the country.

The second reason is that globally, there are dramatic shift from agriculture in preference for white collar jobs-a trend that urgently needs to be reversed.

Reports indicate that over the past century in the United State of America (USA), study has it that there exists a shift in the locations and occupations of urban consumers. In 1900, about 40% of the total population was employed on the farm, and 60% lived in rural areas. Today, the respective figures are only about 1% and 20%. Over the past half century, the number of farms has fallen by a factor of three. As a result, the ratio of urban eaters to rural farmers has markedly risen, giving the food consumer a more prominent role in shaping the food and farming system. The changing dynamic has also played a role in public calls to reform federal policy to focus more on the consumer implications of the food supply chain.

In a similar vein, averting malnutrition which constitutes a serious setback to socio-economic development of any nation is another reason why Nigeria must embrace agriculture-a vehicle for food security and sustainable socio economic sector.

More specifically, it was noted recently that in Nigeria, governments over the years have come to realize that sustainable growth is achievable only under an environment in which the generality of the people are exposed to balanced diet, not just food. This explains why agriculture production should receive heightened attention. In Nigeria, an estimated 2.5 million children under-five suffer from severe acute malnutrition (sam) annually, exposing nearly 420,000 children within that age bracket to early death from common childhood illness such as diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria.

To therefore, achieve this objective in agriculture in the region that will guarantee food security as well as bring about development that is sustainable, this piece holds the opinion that the Federal Government should assist NDDC provide the needed support-funding, technical know how and other specialized training and good road infrastructure to aid distribution of such food products and other economic products from advantaged to less advantaged areas. Evidence abounds that such towns/cities referred to as disadvantaged often always hold the domestic trade and market prices of such commodities.

Good means of transportation, as we know, will contribute to lower food prices through its impact on the operation of the market, increase the welfare of households and improve food security, increase trade, lead to lower prices and lower price dispersion, and offer farmers incentives to commercialize while leading to a reduction in price competition.

Jerome-Mario Utomi is the Programme Coordinator (Media and Public Policy), at Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), Lagos. He could be reached via [email protected]/08032725374 .