Nigerians to Tinubu: Palliatives not solution to food shortage

Nigerians have said the distribution of palliatives by the federal government was not the solution to the food shortage facing the country.

They urged President Bola Tinubu to declare an emergency in food security, introduce a national food policy, and tackle insecurity caused by herders, which had forced farmers in different states of the country, especially in southern Nigeria, to abandon farming, reports Saturday Vanguard.

Misplaced priority– Adima, political activist

A political activist, Mr Blessing Adima, who spoke to our correspondent in Delta State, said “Buying grains and rice for distribution to Nigerians is a misplaced priority. It goes to show that the federal government itself does not care about food production and doesn’t know how to tackle the problems that we are facing in Nigeria today.

“Fulani herdsmen have chased farmers from their farmlands and now, we import the rice that Benue State alone could have produced for Nigeria, and we also import the rice that southern Kaduna, Zamfara, Ebonyi and Taraba could have made for Nigeria. The federal government does not know what to do. The money they are spending to import rice could have been used to tackle insecurity, banditry, terrorism and herdsmen menace and the problem would be solved.

“You are talking about the Ministry of Livestock; Nigeria is not one of the greatest exporters of cow meat and milk and the top 10 countries do not practice this kind of archaic open grazing system; it is ranching that they resort to. Let us come to the South, if they are importing rice, will they import garri from China too? Agricultural produce is scarce. When Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s administration introduced its agriculture revolution, we saw how he addressed it.

“Today, fertilizer is not what the peasant farmer can afford and the government is not thinking in that direction. We want to see insecurity tackled in the rural areas, and let farmers go to their farms. We want to see tractors, fertilizers and farm implements distributed to the farmers.

“That is what will solve the food crisis, palliatives will not cure hunger, rather they will increase hunger because the people who should have gone to farms are in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. How will food be produced when 30 percent, if not 40 percent are in IDP camps? The government should tackle the problem of insecurity.”

Encourage farmers to return to the farm – Akene, development consultant

A development consultant, Furoebi Akene, stated, “All efforts should be made for the farmers to return to their farms. Beyond that, how honest and patriotic are the people entrusted with the distribution of the rice to ensure they get to the targeted beneficiaries? The same dubious and fraudulent characters will play out.”

Palliatives offer temporal relief- Idi, Ndokwa youth leader

The Secretary of the Ndokwa National Youth Movement, NNYM, Comrade Presley Idi, said: “For us, we believe that the pathway to solving the food crisis bedeviling Nigeria right now is to ensure a secured environment for our farmers. Without providing the needed security for farmers to return to their farms, we will continue to experience food shortages. “Not only are palliatives like the distribution of rice and other food items temporary solutions, but it will always be difficult for the items to get to those who truly need them because of the high level of corruption amongst the political elite.

“We reiterate the only way to solve the current food crisis is to provide better security, once this is done and our farmers are back to their farms, the prices of food items will come crashing down.”

Govt not addressing the problem – Wills, legal practitioner

A legal practitioner in Bayelsa State, Iniruo Wills, said, “Extravaganza is not governance, and public spectacle is no strategy. Whenever the government decides to start rational governance, food and other crises will start to subside. That is if it is not too late by then.”

Palliatives not sustainable – Ekerefe, ex-IYC spokesperson

Ex-spokesman of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Ebilade Ekerefe, asserted, “Sharing billions of trailer loads of rice and distributing money as palliatives is not the solution to our food security crisis in the country. Even if it is a temporary stopgap, it must be noted that the items and monies do not even get to the end users in most cases.

“Corrupt government officials at the federal, state, and local government levels divert and resell the items to market vendors and make huge profits. This is the reality and it is not good. Instead of distributing food items and money as palliatives, which corrupt government officials usually divert, the federal government should urgently declare an emergency in food security.

“The government should introduce a holistic national policy to address this challenge before it gets out of control. We know the problems that led to the high cost of living in the country.

“Inflation and fuel hikes are some of the major causes. Insecurity, bad roads and lack of incentives provided by the government to farmers to become more productive and efficient is another.

“Therefore, it is a whole gamut of issues and the government must be sincere enough to address the challenges holistically rather than just providing palliatives that are not sustainable and efficient. They should act now. The country is currently nose-diving and it affects all sectors of the economy. Hunger and starvation are pervasive and Nigerians are dying daily. It has not been this bad in our country.”

No clear policy direction – Rukevwe, educationist

A Warri, Delta state-based educationist, Mrs. Edna Rukevwe, said, “It has become clear that President Tinubu did not prepare for economic reactions to his removal of subsidy on petroleum. So no clear policy direction. Throwing money and food at the problem of hunger in the country is not a solution.

“The government should work out modalities to redress insecurity so that farmers can return to the farms. Also provide fertilizers and allow tax-free importation of farm tools into the country. The government should also acquire farming tractors for the local government areas. The tractors should cultivate farmlands for farmers across the country and be monitored by the local government councils.

“The government should drop propaganda and focus on real governance. The condition that Nigeria is now, is not the time for propaganda. The All Progressives Congress (APC) is a party that thrives in propaganda, but sadly, this is not the time for such. The people are wary of the government’s lies.

Tackle farmers’ insecurity, distribution of palliatives alone can’t stop hunger—AFAN

Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, representing South East in the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, Chief Israel Amanze, also argued that: “distribution of palliatives and trucks of food items to Nigerians is only a temporary measure and not a permanent one to address food insecurity in the country. The government missed it a long time ago. The way it’s going is not how to take Nigeria out of hunger. They promised to support farmers with inputs and the rainy season farming for Southern Nigeria is almost over.

“Distribution of palliatives can only bring down the cost of food for a few months but it is not a lasting solution. They should first address the insecurity that drove away farmers from the farm. The government should subsidize fertilizer and farm inputs. In this way, they will encourage farmers to go back to farm.”

Saviour Akpan, Executive Director, of COMPPART Foundation for Justice and Peacebuilding, said: “Instead of donating trucks of food to the citizens, the government should subsidize and make available to the citizens organic seedlings and fertilizers. This will encourage self-reliance as production will be based on two folds namely Subsistence and Commercial production. “The citizens should also be educated on the danger of living a wasteful life which includes purchasing commodities not based on their needs but according to their want which contributes to inflation and scarcity.

“Furthermore, the Land Use Act of 1978 should be amended to make land more and readily available for all agricultural purposes without hindrances.”

Ogunbiyi Olajunwo, a rights lawyer based in Uyo said: “The federal government doesn’t have its priorities right. The first thing the current administration should have done immediately it came to power was to open the borders. Nothing was hindering us from importing food. We are not self-sufficient in food production. We are not even at war with our neighbours, so why are we closing the borders to food coming in? “It’s common sense that the government opens the borders for food to come in. And they need to reduce tariffs on essential goods, not just rice and wheat.

“They need to reduce it so that food can come and reduce the burden on Nigerians. The hardship Nigerians are facing is not natural, it is man made. “The government needs a clear plan to tackle insecurity that has not allowed the farmers to go to the farms. And they need to stop giving those stupid subsidies and palliatives. “Even with fertilizers, the federal government needs to stop it, those are not solutions. There is a need for purposeful investment into food chains. Same way they look for investors to come and farm our oil and gas, that’s how we need investors to develop agriculture.

“Ten mega farms can feed this nation. It is about capacity, not the number of people struggling to farm. We need to move away from this crude, subsistence farming and move into real mechanised farming. That is how we can feed ourselves, not by sharing food or giving fertilisers that can’t even reach the common man. Some of the farmers they give fertiliser sell it. It goes back to those who are rich and they commit it to some other personal purpose.”

In Jos, Plateau State, an Executive of Small-Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria, SWOFON, Mrs. Mary Afan said, “Women should be encouraged to continue to put food on the table of every household. When we talk about food security, people look at big farms but what you find in the markets are what the small-holder farmers produce. The big farms target exports or industrial use.

“Smallholder farmers produce vegetables, grains, tubers, and others. But when the government wants to support, you hardly see the smallholder farmers benefit. It is either the political farmers that will get it and resell it because they don’t have farms or it is the big farmers that would benefit. That is why we are facing food insecurity; small farms are neglected, the real farmers don’t get the needed support. Insecurity is also stopping women from going to the farms because some of them are raped and killed in the farms, so people are afraid.”

Another resident, Jamila Benzies-Buyengum said, “People should be encouraged to go back to the farms, and implements should be subsidized and made available. When the government at all levels do these, food will be available. Farming has evolved, the capacity of citizens should be built to engage in farming dynamically at homes using sacks and these will improve the availability of food.”

On his part, Adamu Musa noted that, “More youths should be trained and modern farming tools deployed to enable them to go to the farms. This will reduce insecurity, and promote food production and food availability.”

To Daniel Dazang, “The grassroots dwellers should be actively involved and supported to produce food. When they have enough to eat, the leftovers will be taken to the market and others will buy them. The government giving out palliative measures is not sustainable and by the way, how many people have access to the palliatives? The best thing is to engage the people in farming and this will be possible when insecurity is curbed and farm inputs are provided by the governments at all levels.”