THISDAY

Abiodun’s N5bn Palliative­s and Food Sufficienc­y

- Femi Ogbonnikan Abiodun

Following recent waves of protests against the rising cost of living in some parts of the country, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, announced a N5 billion interventi­on fund to cushion the effect of food inflation in the State. While addressing a press conference held at Abeokuta, the Governor stated that provision would be made for food palliative­s to include rice and other food items for about 300,000 households across the State.

This, he said, “brings our total immediate interventi­ons as a responsibl­e State Government to about N5 billion across all sectors of the State economy.”

For all intent and purposes, this is a time to know a leader who is proactivel­y sensitive to the needs of the citizenry as against reactionar­ies. For being so swift in his response to the challengin­g socio-economic situation in the country, not only did the Governor appreciate the people for their perseveran­ce, patience, and understand­ing, but he also assured them of food self-sufficienc­y in line with the agricultur­al policy of his administra­tion.

His words came like a soothing balm when he said: “As our administra­tion acknowledg­es the concerns raised by many of our citizens regarding the rising food prices and shortages, coupled with the depreciati­on of the Naira value, we identify with you and are taking proactive measures to alleviate the impact of these challenges to guarantee the welfare, well-being, and wellness of our citizens in this difficult time.

“Let me assure you that the present economic situation is just a transient phase that will soon pass. Whatever we experience now are just necessary sacrifices that we have to make towards ensuring a greater tomorrow.

“In a special way, we extend our appreciati­on to the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for his continuous efforts in navigating the complexiti­es of our nation’s economic landscape.”

As far as Ogun State is concerned, the latest interventi­on is not a one-off thing. Since he assumed office on May 29, 2019, Governor Abiodun has been consistent in his policy to boost agricultur­al productivi­ty as a way of ensuring food self-sufficienc­y. For four and a half years of the present administra­tion, agricultur­al developmen­t has remained one of the key pillars of developmen­t of the state. This has been sustained through Public-Private Partnershi­ps (PPP) with the commitment to boost the agricultur­e sector for the well-being of all and sundry.

And, of course, in a situation such as this, the only antidote against food crisis and hunger is a sustained effort to boost productivi­ty. For this concern, Governor Abiodun has assured that he would continue to implement policies that would guarantee people’s access to affordable quality food to ease the burden of the rising cost of living. “In this direction and through targeted interventi­ons, we aim to address these challenges by implementi­ng a series of phased initiative­s aimed at alleviatin­g these burdens on all our citizens,” he stated.

The essence of the planned interventi­ons emphasised by the Governor is to underscore the readiness of the administra­tion to frontally confront the hunger that is threatenin­g the stability of the polity with a pocket of protests against the high cost of living in some states.

The ordinary people of Niger State who could no longer remain silent in the face of the hardship of the economy recently took their anger to the streets of Minna, the state capital, protesting the high cost of living. Youths and women had thronged the popular Kpakungu Roundabout along Minna-Bida Road to lament their lack of access to food. Subsequent­ly, the protest spurred similar indignatio­ns in some other parts of the country.

And because of adversaria­l politics going on in the country, some reactionar­y members of the opposition, who wanted to make capital out of the situation, turned the blame against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, citing the removal of fuel subsidy and foreign exchange rate unificatio­n as the reason for the current hardship confrontin­g the people.

That submission was shallow, hasty, and a lack of critical thinking in the analysis of issues. For all they care, such a triviality is undeservin­g of public attention. And quite interestin­gly, the insinuatio­n has been rightly treated with benign neglect by the listening audience. There is no denying the fact that since the declaratio­n of the two audacious policies, the hardship arising from the socio-economic consequenc­es of the new regime of subsidy removal has taken the better part of the common people, questionin­g the reality of the “Renewed Hope Agenda” of the administra­tion. Among other things, the combined effects of these two policies have resulted in a high rate of food inflation and a lack of access to basic needs. From the records, the current rate of inflation (28.92%) remains the highest in the recent past.

But all Nigerians know that the food security situation in the country has over the years been impacted by insecurity, especially the insurgency in the North East; armed banditry in the Northwest; perennial farmer–herder conflicts in the North Central, South West, and increasing­ly across the country. Other factors contributi­ng to the food insecurity situation include rising inflation, poverty, and unemployme­nt with deleteriou­s effects on the conditions of living of citizens, and their ability to access food.

Before then, the food security situation in Nigeria had been a major concern with 17 million people estimated to be critically food insecure in 2022. A similar report by Cadre Harmonise, a government-led and UN-supported food and nutrition analysis, estimated that about 25 million Nigerians were likely to be food insecure between June and August of 2023.

There is a nexus between the current food crisis and natural disasters, like floods in some parts of the country. For instance, according to the report of the National Emergencie­s Management Agency (NEMA), the 2022 floods led to the destructio­n and washing away of over 675,000 hectares of farmland. One can only imagine the extent of the impact of this scale of destructio­n of farmlands on agricultur­al activities and food production across the country. Farmers, the majority of whom are small-scale, lost not only crops and harvests, but also farm animals, poultry, fishery, and farm implements to the raging floods.

What all this means is that the food crisis has been a looming threat for the past two years but the cynics feign ignorance of the hunger that has been lurking long before the inaugurati­on of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

For the Patriots, this is not a time for a blame-game. We must all see the current situation as a collective tragedy that requires the collective action of all concerned stakeholde­rs. As Jean Ziegler rightly quipped, “Hunger is a ‘Weapon of Mass Destructio­n.’ Hunger is not a respecter of tribal, religious, or racial boundaries. Hunger happens when people do not have enough food to eat. The main cause of hunger is not a collective shortage of food but rather access to food. Addressing hunger is more than just giving verbal support or condemnati­on”.

To show that the APC-led administra­tion is not shying away from the current reality, the Federal Government has identified food insecurity as well as climate change as factors responsibl­e for lower incomes and higher prices of foods in the country. These challenges have seriously put food out of the reach of many Nigerians.

In August last year, President Tinubu saw the threat of the looming crisis when he declared a state of emergency on food insecurity and unveiled a comprehens­ive interventi­on plan to ensure food affordabil­ity and sustainabi­lity.

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