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Model for Nigeria’s economy
ONYEKWERE CHIKEZIE
THE Obasanjo
administration has completed one tenure of four years. Another tenure has
already gone one year out of the second tenure of another four years. Which
means that the regime has only three more years to work.
It is certain that from the hues and cries
across the land, the first four year did not leave us with much hope.
The masses appear not to have seen PDP
promises translate into dividends of democracy. Possibly, if there was anything
to be considered as dividend in the first tenure it has been the incessant hike
in fuel price which has brought untold hardship to the masses.
I know the president as the man on whose
head all the blames are heaped cannot sleep, for uneasy lies the head that wears
the crown. I will also reckon that within that first four years most of his
regime’s activities were centred on the drawing boards and developing blue
prints. Upon these, they were to rely in addressing the myriads of problems that
have plagued our once great Nigeria. I am equally convinced that it was to make
sure these blue prints are interpreted and implemented that the election went
the way of the PDP. So as it is now, all we expect from the regime is a concrete
manifestation of these already thought out solutions from the first tenure. And
if this reasoning is right, putting food on the table for the masses was one of
those prime programmes. That is where and how the agricultural sector comes in.
The second is the cottage industries under the small and medium scale industries
and entrepreneurs scheme. Included in this master plan amongst other things will
also be a concerted effort to revitalize and resuscitate ailing industries and
corporations like the Nigerian Railway Corporation, the Coal Corporation, the
Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill, just to mention but a few.
Nigeria is blessed with fertile lands.
Most of these land have been tested to be arable. In terms of spread, the span
is enough to support and encourage various agricultural endeavours. However, the
South African approach in this guise comes to mind. A friend of mine was in
South Africa recently and had worthy examples to point at.
According to him, the style in that
country is mechanized agriculture with farm settlement structure. The
settlements are organized in accordance to crop types and area best suited for
ample yield. Each settlement has the desired mechanical equipment for the
particular specie of crop cultivated. In the settlement there is a functional
hospital to cater for the health needs of the farmers and their children. A
primary and a secondary school are usually in place for the farmers’ children
and even for those interested in adult education. Mini marts, supermarkets and a
community market for food stuffs are also established. Of course, before all
these could be in the settlement, electricity and pipe borne water system would
have been functioning. Accessible roads within and outside the settlements are
constructed.
The areas I have in mind for this type of
agriculture include the vast lands stretching from Kaduna State to Birnin Kebbi
and down Sokoto; I have travelled along this route. From Plateau State to Bauchi
and to Gombe; I have also journeyed along this stretch; from Niger State to some
parts of Nassarawa; some areas of Kano State up to Jigawa and stretching to
Maiduguri-the Chad basin zone; some parts of Rivers State down to Akwa Ibom and
Cross River; I have been to these parts too; parts of Ebonyi State-the Abakaliki
rice zone up to Enugu State, rolling down Benue State which today is seen as the
food basket of the nation. Benue State attracts a lot of my admiration because
of her annual agricultural yield and capabilities. Nigerian has a lot to gain
from this zone food wise.
Before cultivation, he continues, soil
samples and textures are tested and proven to be good for a particular crop. I
am not an agriculturist. But as big as we are, I am sure we have experts in the
fields of agriculture who should be in a better position to advise Mr.
President. I also know he has advisers from the Agric Ministry. As he cannot be
a Mr. know all.
In the same vein, the industry sector
should attract Mr. President’s attention. That is a sector I believe our dear
President and his team of aristocrats can use to launch themselves into history
books depending on the type of legacy they leave behind now. As Americans today
look back with pride whenever they remember people like Abraham Lincoln, J. F.
Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower and a host of others. If their legacies were bad,
their names no doubt would have been obliterated from the pages of American
history. For, they would have belonged to the garbage bin of bad influence.
Ironically, this is going to be the case for some of our past and present
leaders who see their positions as opportunities for self aggradizement only.
Back to this industry, there are seven
hundred and seventy-four local governments in Nigeria baring the quasi-ones
being created by state governments. Majority of these are in the sub-urban and
rural areas.
With all the money retrieved from the
Abacha loot and the windfall from boosted oil sales in the world market,
establishing cottage industries in these local government areas will not render
the national purse lean. Beside, it is investment that will yield returns,
provide employment and attract other benefits.
If each local government is to inherit
five cottage industries say, with a capital of outlay of N20 million, my
summation is that each would be requiring a hundred million naira (N100 million)
to set up the five industries. Thus, the seven hundred and seventy-four local
government areas will need a total of seventy-seven billion, four hundred
million naira (N77,400,000,000.00) only to establish these industries. I am not
a very good mathematician but what I have done is to give a rough estimate of
how things should go.
Honestly, should the President toe this
line, I see him mounting on a horse and riding to glory. He and his aristocrats
would have their names written and etched on gold when history remembers them.
They will be handing over a legacy not yet
heard of in Nigeria. Each cottage industry employs between twenty to as many as
forty people or so. Hence, the President should remember that he will not only
be giving twenty or more people employments in each of these industries whose
raw materials should be locally sourced, but should also be causing a major
drift, a redirection from urban to rural movement.
Either in the farm settlements or the
cottage industries, if people have work, food to eat, hospitals for health
services, schools to attend, electricity and pipe-borne water, of what need will
urban drift be for them?
Definitely, this, to a great extent will
help reduce the stress and strain on our urban centers.
Further, a good percentage of 419 cases,
armed robbery, "alaye" cases, "almajiris", touting, fraudulent
agencies and syndicates that have infested every facet of our economy due to
unemployment and hunger will drastically reduce.
Again, the vital effects of these types of
initiatives in the area of rural development should not be over emphasized.
Notably, light and water will be made available where they have been
non-existent. If they have been existent, they will be made more functional.
Should a standby generator for alternate source of power be provided as our dear
NEPA remains epileptic and unpredictable, some people would be employed to
maintain it - job openings for more people.
Series of other small but healthy
supportive industries and developments married to such ventures in a place will
automatically spring up to spice the lives of these rural dwellers. I am sure
the rural dwellers concerned and whose lives have been so touched would never
forget such largesse in a hurry.
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