A legal icon, Aare Afe Babalola, has called on the government at all levels to support farmers with secure environments, viable seedlings, and farm equipment to ensure food security and sufficiency in Nigeria.
The founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) urged all Nigerians, irrespective of their economic status, to embrace farming to produce what they eat.
The elder statesman spoke in Ado-Ekiti at the weekend during his investiture as the 2024 African Man of the Year in Food Security, an award he received for the second time in the last ten years from the Initiative for Green Sustainability.
He said, “What the government needs to do for farmers is to ensure their security while on the farm and provide viable crops and farm equipment that can be hired. The wealthiest men in America today, in Canada, in Germany, are not lawyers, politicians, or farmers.
“What caused problems for us in this country today is that we do not produce, and yet we eat, and those who do not work should not be entitled to food. I understand that is what the Bible says. We don’t want to go to the farm, and without the farm, you can’t produce what you will eat. So when I started this university, agriculture was my number one priority, and we made it compulsory, and there were some incentives for the students.
“My joy is to see my people being comfortable, living in peace, going to the farm either night or day and coming back safely, without that, this country can’t make it, I repeat, without returning to agriculture, we can’t as a nation”.
Harping on mechanized farming, Babalola urged the Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, to buy and dedicate agricultural equipment to each of the state’s 16 local government areas for farmers to access.
He stated that the university farm and the Industrial Park have added value to agricultural raw materials, and their produce is sold throughout Nigeria and overseas.
“The main purpose is to earn foreign currency, preserve farm produce, and prevent it from rotting away on the farm and in the market. We believe these innovations are part of why we are given this second award,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Smaranda Olarinde, said that beyond the university gate and Ekiti State, Aare Babalola has become a national voice on food sufficiency.
Olarinde called for mechanised farming, advocating for the revival of farm settlements, and investing personally in many thousands of sustainable cultivation projects.
