Unlike most sitting Governors in Nigeria chasing the shadows of infrastructural/urban renewal programs to the tilt at the expense of agricultural developmental initiatives that will guarantee massive employment and food etc., Abubakar is on the right track and on the side of the people. And with the political will, adequate funds, policy implementation/evaluation and effective organization such that has been brought to play in the state today, this Governor and his agricultural agenda will go places beyond his wildest imagination when his tenure expires in 2019.
By Igbotako Nowinta
There is no doubt that agriculture is like the proverbial magic wand that opens the flood gates of wealth and sustainable economic development of any government or country, only if it is placed on the priority scale of things.
Indeed, the wonderful benefits of agriculture cannot be overemphasized, as no country or state can really be said to be truly self-reliant without the unrestrained ability to adequately feed its citizens.
That is one of the reasons the United States and many European nations are given the appellation of ‘first world’ countries because of their ability to push their citizens beyond the rope of hunger, squalor and disease.
If agriculture really is that very important, one wonders why over the years many Nigerian governments, both at the federal and state levels have treated it as ‘avoidable leprosy,’ or a third class commodity.
And the prize that is being paid mostly by the federal government in Nigeria and the masses is simply heavy and terrible because the discovery of oil prior to the nation’s phony independence in 1960 led to the sinful abandonment of the agricultural sector.
More so, when the culture of profligacy and reckless maladministration, championed by most politicians has brought the Nigerian nation into the abyss of ridicule, economic stagnation and stark underdevelopment.
To say it point blank, corruption like a devouring cancer has eaten the Nigerian nation into the state of coma; graft and rapacity have kept our country stuck perpetually in reverse gear with agriculture pushed to the corner of neglect.
That is why it is heart-warming to know that Governor Muhammed Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa State is assiduously placing agriculture on the front burner of state development.
His agricultural agenda is unparalleled since Jigawa State was created. In 2016, he allocated N7.4 billion to agriculture more than four times approved allocation to agriculture in 2015.
That was the highest budgeted funds ever in the history of appropriation process in that State.
From the moments he disembarked from the rostrum on May 29 2015, after he was sworn in as the 4th Executive Governor of Jigawa State, Abubakar has not left any one in doubt that supporting agriculture and its value chain to build a sustainable local economy is the path he will thread to fulfil the potentials of the State.
The Governor has emphasized that: “Agric sector is the cardinal to diversify the state economy based on natural resources endowment, cultivation of vast arable lands, abundant water resources, numerous irrigation schemes, vast population and sustainable climate.”
The sum of N6.1 billion has been earmarked for agricultural and livestock development out of the total budgeted sum of N127.8billion for the 2017 fiscal year. It is so because this critical sector is the back bone of the economic transformation agenda of his government.
In trying desperately to make Jigawa State less dependent on the already dwindling federal allocation from Abuja, the administration is encouraging communal farming; modern farm inputs; improved seeds and credits funds available to farmers, in order to produce more at a competitive prize; wooing local and foreign investors to invest in agriculture and agro-allied industries.
The government has bought thousands of fertilizers (both organic & chemical) and distributed to farmers at highly subsidized prizes.
Medium size tractors to support large scale cultivation with less manual labor have been provided; high quality certified seeds are being made available; rehabilitation of all existing irrigation schemes are being carried out; development of farm settlements; grazing reserves for livestock development; comprehensive soil mapping; agriculture research and extension services, etc. are being actualized to make the state the hub of unprecedented agricultural development.
Today, signs of good things are happening in the state, as investors are flocking into Jigawa. Precisely, on November 23, 2016, billionaire Muhammad Indimi paid a courtesy call to the state Governor where he pledged to invest $50m in Jigawa State for Solar power projects.
Dangote Group of Companies has equally made its presence felt in the state with the establishment of 30,000 hectares of land for rice production and rice mill company, with processing factory at Malaru Madori for processing & packaging the products for Export, and training of farmers in modern sesame farming.
Lee Group Company has acquired 12,000 hectares for establishing Sugar cane estate and Sugar cane factory in Gagarauwa Local Government Area of the state, while Olam Agro-allied Company is operating in the state etc.
Governor Abubakar has recapitalized the Jigawa Agricultural Supply Company (JASCO) up to the tune of N400 million and the major crops produced are rice, groundnuts, maize, millet, sugar cane, sesame, gum Arabic and tomatoes.
Abubakar, who doubles as President of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines & Agriculture with a degree in Accounting from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was indeed a foremost industrialist before he contested on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015 and won.
As the Executive Director of Talamiz Group, which deals on automobiles, manufacturing, agriculture & animal husbandry before he became Governor, Abubakar had adequately prepared himself to take the people of Jigawa to the Eldorado of agricultural attainment.
And no wonder as a fellow of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, he is succeeding beyond the ordinary run of things to bring pragmatic succor and democratic dividends to the people of Jigawa State.
Unlike most sitting Governors in Nigeria chasing the shadows of infrastructural/urban renewal programs to the tilt at the expense of agricultural developmental initiatives that will guarantee massive employment and food etc., Abubakar is on the right track and on the side of the people.
And with the political will, adequate funds, policy implementation/evaluation and effective organization such that has been brought to play in the state today, this Governor and his agricultural agenda will go places beyond his wildest imagination when his tenure expires in 2019.
Who says communal agriculture, cluster farming, backed by capacity building for farmers to boost their production by using simple and affordable technology will not catapult Jigawa to the zenith of agricultural pole by 2019?
Nowinta wrote: Where We Are – A Call for Democratic Revolution in Nigeria
