Ogun state, located at the South-West region of the country is endowed with substantial landmass and has a good climatic condition that can make agriculture strive.
With an estimated 7.2 million people, its proximity to Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of the country, and this gives it advantage over other south-west states, with the ready-made market for agricultural produce.
As an agrarian state, successive growth target initiative in the state have hinged on boosting agricultural productivity to produce more food, generate employment and drive sustainable economic growth through strategic crop and livestock production.
But most of the initiative has failed to actualise growth through the sector.
Compared to other administrations, the former administration led by Governor Ibikunle Amosun formulated several policies aimed at the transforming the fortune of the sector for the overall interest of the state, but like the situation in the past, little was recorded compared to the huge investment put into the sector.
At the onset, the former governor of the state came up with five-Cardinal Programmes that made up the “Mission to Rebuild” Ogun State (MITROS).
Then, the governor disclosed that he sees agriculture as the fulcrum for achieving the much desired wealth creation, employment generation and attainment of self-sufficiency in production of the food for which the state has a comparative advantage.
To actualise this, the state embarked on an Agro-Politan Development Strategy. The strategy provides multiple opportunities in agriculture and agri-business. It emphasises the localisation of the entire value-chain that agriculture offers, namely:
“This will ensure that millions of our citizens will be engaged in the agricultural value chain and will be able to prosper wherever they are,” Amosun said during the launch of the state MITROS rice in Abeokuta in 2017.
The MITROS rice project is one of the positive outcomes of this strategy. But despite this, findings showed that not much was achieved in the sector, as other areas where the state has cumulative advantage were left to rot away.
At a time, the state experimented hybrid tomato, through the use of greenhouse technology, in Kotope area of Osiele, but due to inconsistency, the technology has been idle since the first and only harvest. It also claimed to have invested heavily on cashew cultivation, but a lot was not achieved in the last eight years.
Some farmers and other stakeholders operating in the state, who are saddened by the wasted opportunities in the state, said the problem stems from government policies and choice of appointees into the ministry.
They noted that putting round pegs in round holes should be the standard in the state if truly any administration wants to create employment and drive growth through the sector.
“The incoming governor needs to choose technocrats; those who know about farming, agro processing, export to be agric commissioners or special advisers on food security,” an indigene of the state said who does not wants his name mentioned on print.
“Someone that has passion for the sector and not just a political appointee that does not know anything about agriculture or what the farmers are going through,” he adds.
Going by what farmers and stakeholders operating in the state are saying, an indigene of the state that suits the position of Agric Commissioner or Special Adviser to the Governor on Agric is Prince Wale Oyekoya, an agriculturalist, a commercial farmer and food processor and former head of the agric-group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
Aside being a bonafide indigene and a technocrat, his vast experience in the sector qualifies him to turn around the fortune of the near moribund agric sector, if given the opportunity by the governor, Dapo Abiodun.
An experienced and practicing farmer, he is also a Consultant. He attended the Alabama Agricultural & Mechanical University, Huntsville AL USA, graduating with Bachelor of Science in Accounting/Agriculture.
“I can make positive change in the agric sector if given the opportunity to bridge the gap between the farmers and government through my uncommon experience with the real farmers,” Oyekoya said while speaking to journalists if he is given the responsibility as the next governor.
“Policy somersault will be the first thing to tackle since there are fantastic policies on ground; the implementation is a big challenge.”
He stated that declaring state of emergency in the state’s agric sector will be his top priority, while adding that value addition will be prioritise through industrial farm estates in all the senatorial districts.
Raising state bonds to fund the sector will be encouraged and I will be more concerned to create wealth and employment through the sector, he said.
“Stakeholders meeting of farmers will be done quarterly to listen to farmers’ problem will be order of the day. Providing silos and storage facilities to reduce post-harvest losses will be my priority,” he added.
He noted that capacity building for farmers on standards and good farming practices will be carried out regularly in all local government areas of the state.
Oyekoya linked the failure of past administrations to what he termed policy somersault and lack of political will.
“They meant well by their policies, but they do not have the political will to do the right thing by supporting the policies with adequate funding and putting the right person to oversee the affairs of such an important ministry like agriculture,” he said.
He noted that the sector would have created more wealth for Ogun citizens and increase the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) as well as provide employment opportunities for youths, but for selfish interest of some individuals has deny the successes.
“The so-called MITROS rice revolution in Ogun State is a failure, where the government collected N4b from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to develop rice production, but citizens were deceived with the staging of phony bags of rice, which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is investigating.”
“The incoming governor in the state needs to do is to revamp all the abandon projects by privatising them and give them tax break. Support the projects with good enabling environment.
“The incoming administration needs to increase the funding of the sector from two per cent to eight per cent if they cannot even meet the expectations of 10 per cent by the Maputo agreement to increase funding of the sector,” he added.
Josephine Okojie
