A note to Whom Will Be or Will Remain President and Governors in 2011:
Here is what I will do on AGRICULTURE...
I will use it to create millions of jobs - permanent and high quality jobs. I will use it to anchor the health of Nigerians. I will use it to guarantee food security in the whole of West Africa. I will use it to revive, sustain and transform Nigeria's industrial revolution. I will use it to earn foreign exchange big time. I will use it to displace oil & gas as the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.
Here is how I will PROCEED...
I will create rural infrastructure and power supply - to retain and attract quality manpower upcountry and in the wetlands. I will produce local fertilizers - organic and inorganic. I will bring in equipment manufacturers cum assembly plants and fund local fabricators. I will create millennium farm settlements and marketing boards. I will deploy 60% of NYSC members to the Agricultural Sector every year. I will equip, fund and deploy the armed forces to unity farms; and Army Engineers to help construct rural infrastructure and housing. I will fund and utilize R&D. I will join the CBN in providing long term and accessible credit to all genuine farmers and agribusinesses. I will bring in Chinese, Israeli, Indian, Thai, Malaysian and Brazilian experts and investors to counterpart our own well-resourced operators. I will gun for 80% homeland utilization of all our produce within 5 years. Finally, I will protect Nigerian AGRICULTURE, whatever it takes!
Who will be president? Will you do this for us, please?
Who will be governors? Can you folks rise up to the plate, please?
The twist in all this is how long these low-hanging fruits have been begging to be plucked!
We wait and watch.
Showing posts with label Agri-Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Agri-Business. Show all posts
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Sunday, February 11, 2007
"Fruit-Security" in Africa
Every time I watch TV or travel abroad, I have always wondered about how fruits play such an important role in nutrition and wellness yet we, in fertile Africa, remain largely undernourished!
Indeed, lots of African women and children are malnourished! Where are all the agric budgets, all the foreign loans, all the development aid & grants, all the FAO help, all the IFAD funding, etc. etc. etc.??? Gone with the winds to....you know where!
We in Nigeria, for example, can certainly produce a large chunk of the needed fruits on our own continent, and still profitably export to the world. But just come around and see the huge waste in the form of post-harvest losses in our largely subsistent farming environment! It is really such a shame that after EIGHT years of both democracy and unprecedented oil & gas revenues, no one has paid due attention to this mess. Nigerians are hungry at both personal and family levels. Big pity. Poverty in the midst of plenty! This must change. From this year. Yes.
I am not now complaining anymore. No use. What I propagate is a massive intervention in the area of Fruit-Security for our citizens, our compatriots on the continent, and the huge market abroad. I ask all who can farm to do so now. And I invite the local governments to ignore both their state as well as the federal governments in the question of agro-allied business, and just work with their own residents! Attract them, cajole them, coax them, command them, reward them: do what it takes. And do it fast. Very fast.
I'm teaming up with some development colleagues to see how we can learn from, and bring in, partners from successful Asian and East European countries. After the April elections, we will reach out to Local Government Chairmen nationwide (and there are 774 of them!) to pursue a Citizens' Compact in this regard. If a mere 30% of them play ball, we're in business! Good and timely business. In time, others and the moribund private sector will join the train.
Enough is finally enough!
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Indeed, lots of African women and children are malnourished! Where are all the agric budgets, all the foreign loans, all the development aid & grants, all the FAO help, all the IFAD funding, etc. etc. etc.??? Gone with the winds to....you know where!
We in Nigeria, for example, can certainly produce a large chunk of the needed fruits on our own continent, and still profitably export to the world. But just come around and see the huge waste in the form of post-harvest losses in our largely subsistent farming environment! It is really such a shame that after EIGHT years of both democracy and unprecedented oil & gas revenues, no one has paid due attention to this mess. Nigerians are hungry at both personal and family levels. Big pity. Poverty in the midst of plenty! This must change. From this year. Yes.
I am not now complaining anymore. No use. What I propagate is a massive intervention in the area of Fruit-Security for our citizens, our compatriots on the continent, and the huge market abroad. I ask all who can farm to do so now. And I invite the local governments to ignore both their state as well as the federal governments in the question of agro-allied business, and just work with their own residents! Attract them, cajole them, coax them, command them, reward them: do what it takes. And do it fast. Very fast.
I'm teaming up with some development colleagues to see how we can learn from, and bring in, partners from successful Asian and East European countries. After the April elections, we will reach out to Local Government Chairmen nationwide (and there are 774 of them!) to pursue a Citizens' Compact in this regard. If a mere 30% of them play ball, we're in business! Good and timely business. In time, others and the moribund private sector will join the train.
Enough is finally enough!
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