President Bola Tinubu has maintained that his administration is reforming the economy notwithstanding the attendant excruciating pain. What do you make of Mr President’s assurances?
I want to use this medium to thank Almighty Allah and people of Nigeria, particularly Kwara State and my federal constituency for the opportunity given to us to serve at the National Assembly. Nigeria is marking 63 years of her independence. During the colonial era, a lot of things took place, and not at the instance of we governing ourselves. We were under the rulership of the white people. So, we have freedom to govern ourselves about 63 years ago now. Looking at the economic situation in the country, and with the independence anniversary speech of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it is kind of rekindling the hope that it is going to be good for us in this country, particularly for the youths, who formed the large segment of the society. They are the people that will benefit from the current struggles of the present administration.
If you look at the previous Republics up to where we are now, there are a lot of things that happened. People always see Nigeria as a country that is grappling with the issue of corruption here and there. That corruption, if you look at it critically, it can be traced back to the colonial period. It is one of the tendencies of colonial masters for them to take away our resources. But with this present administration, we are aware that going the way it used to be where our resources are being taken away under the guise of subsidy (on fuel), it should be removed forever. That is what brought about subsidy removal on premium motor spirit. It is a scenario where a few people sat on the economy of this country in the name of oil importation and took away our resources. This government is saying no!
And for government to remove this kind of thing (subsidy), it will surely cause pain that people will have to bear, particularly some of us from the rural areas, who don’t know much about what is called subsidy.
It is left for us as federal legislators to reassure our people that what Mr President is doing is in the right direction. People should exercise patience, it is just for a little time. The suffering that people are undergoing today, soonest, it will be overtaken by happiness if we are able to get it right, and the resources will be utilized the way we want. But the issue is not only on subsidy. One is thankful that information dissemination has been made easy now. Somebody from my area can see something and put it on social media handles and the information will get to you unlike before that we must read newspapers before we can get information. The media should help this government to let the society know about the ongoing reforms. Nigeria has come of age and we supposed to have had these reforms.
Organised labour threatened to shutdown the nation if its demands on post-subsidy removal palliatives for workers are not met. Don’t you think such industrial action would have adverse effects on the economy?
Labour is actually right on its demands. I am a farmer. Factors of production are high. The prices of farm inputs including fertilizer and chemicals are high. And farming is the only basic way that Nigeria can talk about food security. Because of this, somebody has to say something. We need labour to tell us the impact of government policies on the people. In every democracy, if there is no constructive criticism, it will not move. We need labour to talk. But they should do it in two ways. They should weigh the baby and the bath water. They threatened to shutdown the economy like power. If they decide to shutdown power for one hour, for instance, how are we going to do? Some people who are somewhere and not even benefitting from government circle, will loose and they will continue to loose money. So, we appeal to them (labour) to give this government time, and let us think. Even from the National Assembly, we heard from the speaker’s speech too recently where he said labour should allow the National Assembly to intervene on this matter. The issue of wages can’t be achieved without having the input of the House Committee on Appropriation. No nation can spend its resources without appropriation, particularly when we are in a democracy. So, they (labour) should allow 2024 budget to come in where their issues will be addressed, and we at the National Assembly will now support that position coupled with what is happening in the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). This commission is key in talking about wages and other things. Workers should also be advised that schools, both public and private, just resumed. The students there are our children. They will also suffer in the event that the strike is not called off. They should please relax the strike threat. All of us understand. Because majority of us in the National Assembly are workers. In one way or the other, we have worked somewhere. So, we know what it takes about wages. The economy of this country is being determined by what people earn. For instance, if you are from my area, if salary is paid today, the whole market will know they have paid salary upon the little number of people, who are employed to work in the local government area. All these are determinant factors. But for them to just shutdown the economy, it will affect the plan that Mr President has for this country. So, we call on the leaders of the organised labour to look into this matter. It is just for awhile. It is going to be good. Their demands will be considered and captured in the 2024 budget.
Que: With the rising cost of food items and as a farmer, what are the potentials that you think government should prioritise in agriculture to ensure food sufficiency in the country?
Ans: If you look at the economic depression of 1930s when the prices of goods and services were very high, the services were in the hands of private sector. What the government did was to come in, subsidised and supported certain things, which in turn, boosted the economy. As we go on fuel subsidy removal, petrol should be sold by the factors of demand and supply so that we see product available for us to buy. Government should look at the other aspect, which is agriculture by bringing subsidy removed from fuel to agriculture. I am not saying somebody should go and import bags of fertiliser at the rate of N20,000 and they should come and sell at the rate of N5000. That is not what I am saying. There are things that government do, like tax, custom duties and other things that determine the importation of chemicals and others they put together to form fertiliser and herbicide. All those duties payable should either be removed or relaxed so that we can boost the economy.
Another way, government’s fertiliser plant should come up where NPK will be sold at a particular price and it must be followed to the letter and used by the farmers. Doing this, prices of food items will come down. And government can now come with Price Control Board. Because if you didn’t give, why will you control me, particularly food items? If the government had supported the farmers with farm inputs and others, it can now regulate how much they sell farm produce. In this country, we produce more of farm produce but we do get it right at the finishing point. I mean value chains. Like now, I produce paddy rice and I sell to you. If I have my way, I should complete the value chain. But I produce paddy at Shonga (Edu local government area of Kwara), it is milled in Ilorin and sold in Lagos. Can you control the price? No, you can’t. If paddy is produced at Shonga, it should be processed at Shonga and sold there. Anybody who come from Ilorin, for instance, will just come and carry bags of rice. The expenses incurred in the course of moving the paddy from where it is produced to another place, add another cost. So, government should look at this kind of thing. If you studied the developed nations such as Japan, Israel and America, people that are into farming there, there are methods of farming. Government needs to encourage us these days. On irrigation, if I have my way where my people and I can farm three times in a year, the prices of food items will come down. But we only farm in a season. See the population of people that are looking for things to eat like rice. I was discussing with one of my partners in the aspect of production. He was giving an example that from Shonga where I come from, a white commerical farmer made a pond where he pumps water for about 16 hectares to aid his all year round farming. If our farmers should have that type of opportunity, then food items we buy in the market will become cheap. I’m appealing to the government that let there be subsidy or duty removals on farming, be it tractors, fertilizer and others. Coming to where we are farming, we should have access to irrigation system where one can farm twice in a year. With that, prices of goods and services will come down. Recently, I met with some Israelites who are coming to the country very soon to teach us technology about irrigation. If you talk about best irrigation in the world, you go to Israel. When we get it right, we farm three times (in a year). It is the market and our people. The price will force itself to come down. But if you farm one crop season and it is not sufficient, things become scarce. If you look at what happened during President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime, a lot of people invested in rice mill everywhere simply because large number of people including smallholder farmers were producing rice. They were doing it with the support of government during Anchor Borrowers Programme of the federal government and others. But today, those interventions are no more. That is why there is no much of those items in the market, be it maize, beans and other commodities. So, these kinds of interventions, government just have to do it. Well, we are growing, and I believe we will get there. If everybody knows about farming and we have them in our backyards, prices of goods will come down.
Que: Would you support the calls from a section of Nigerians that Mr President should open the borders to enable food items come into the country to tame the rising cost of food?
Ans: Even if they open the borders today, it is trash food items that they will bring in for you. Nobody will sell his of her food to you again. Since war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, everybody is controlling what it has. All those food items that you think they should open borders for you to buy them have been kept for years and they used them to feed animals. Research has shown that since we started consuming what we produce, diabetes, hypertension and other diseases have reduced. If government should open the borders, people like us will not eat those food items, because our health matters a lot. The rice we produced this year, it will not last for three hours in the store, they will consume it. That is why we are looking fresh. Compare it to what we used to eat in the past. When you eat them, in the next one hour or so, you will be feeling hungry again. These are food items brought out from the store purposely to feed animals. So, if you say government should open the borders, you are saying that they should open diseases for you. It is not because I am a farmer. I have observed it. I once worked in the health sector for 17 years. I know about diabetes, hypertension and others alike. So, let us say no to border reopening. Let us encourage the consumption of what we produce. And let me cast your mind back. You remember what happened during COVID-19. We don’t know what is going to happen in the future. Had it been we decided not to go back to farm in Nigeria, I don’t know where we will be in this country today. Since that time, I got to know what former President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Donald Trump of America were saying that we should go back and develop our economy. And had it been we depended on food importation, with what happened during COVID-19, Nigeria will be one of the countries that would have its adverse effects. People will stay at home with no food to eat. It is exciting that the federal government had declared a state of emergency on food security. If we have to get it right, it is for the government to continue to support smallholder farmers. They will put in money but our GDP will grow. If you look at what happened during President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure, they put in place billions of naira to support farmers as a loan on anchor borrower schemes. At that time, the Nigeria GDP was high, because people produced locally, they saved the country of forex (foreign exchange) for importation and made our economy to stable. And that is why people like us have an opportunity to go the National Assembly to represent the same farmers who are into this. Federal government should support smallholder farmers so that tomorrow, they will become commerical farmers. When the farmers are supported, the cost of production will reduce and thereafter the government can Re- introduce price control for farm produce to make food items available to all Nigerians at minimal cost.
