PRESIDENT MOHAMMADU BUHARI: ARE YOU REALLY A FARMER?

From all indications, the route to Nigeria's economic liberation is agriculture not oil, judging by the present
economic quagmire that has bedevilled us as a Nation and the continued persistence of global crush of the
Brent crude price leading to eye boggling debt on our government from federal to state and just recently,
local government.
No doubt, the multiplier effect of abysmal governmental approach to governance is written all over the
faces of our people. Many homes have been left cash-less as a result of failure of government to pay
salaries and many bread winners have been turned jobless. Small business owners have gone broke and
big business owners have turned loan defaulters. Every where in Nigeria, many families are crying and
many institutions especially private institutions are at the vague of folding up. There is wide spread
gnashing of teeth on the pain of the failure of our government.
Whilst we are all in this government's wrong turn together, the states government all over the federation
and the local government have not being empathetic on business men and women, including on the
ordinary citizens as some state government have turned raiding of innocent citizens into form of IGR even
though it is unconstitutional, sending so many innocent adult, boys and girls to jail, every day.
Daily, federal, states and local government institutions and agencies bring ridiculous bills along side all
other paid and contractual institutions/establishment of the government, turning blind eyes on the plight of
the people and pretending not to be aware of the present economic situation. Daily, the federal government
is prouding itself of making several arrests of corrupt people and a clamp down on several cartel without
asking itself why the situation is like that. So many problems in the Country but the simple question is: why
are we here? The answer is not far fetched from the neglect of agriculture and lack of proper planning and
policy implementation.
Over the years from pre colonial era(1840- 1959) to post colonial era- (1960-1966), Military era(1966-1979),
short democracy(1979-1983) to rejuvenated Military era(1985-1999) and post Military era(1999-
2011-2015), the very recent, we have had beautiful and sound agricultural policies and programs such as
NEEDs, SEEDS, New Agric development policy and programs, 7-points agenda and Agric transformation
agenda being the very recent and promising. At the same time, we have had so many failed policies and
programs on agriculture due to political greed, selfishness and lack of political will and foresight with
misplaced priorities and deceit.
Most times, new policies are always being an offshoot of the old policies without any achievement of food
self sufficiency and/ or industrial transformation in the country or development of the rural dwellers, yet we
proud ourselves as giant of Africa with so many inconsistencies in our policy framework leading to almost
comatose agricultural sector.
In all, if I'm not wrong, no form of policy or programs bothering on agriculture has ever being put in place
by PMB even though he claims to be a farmer.
Mr President sir, as a reminder, though you had a short dwell in power in the 80s, this time, if you can't
come up with any agricultural blue print, please don't destroy the ATA( Agricultural Transformation
Agenda). Work on it and check for grey areas and the need for improvement.
With focus and commitment on agriculture and our energy renewed towards better agricultural policy
implementation and evaluation, encouragement of back to the land with incentives such as soft loans,
subsidy and availability of sound research and extension programs through a nexus and synergy with our
various agric and research institutions, I believe that sooner than later, we would bounce back as an
agrarian Nation.
A stitch in time saves nine.
Akande Akin Sanyaolu. www.boldanagro.com