It is matter of public knowledge that Sokoto state, the home state of the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the first and only Premier of Northern Region and President Shehu Shagari, is endowed with huge agricultural potential. This can equally be said of other states in the North-west zone, and indeed the entire Northern Nigeria. The problem of the state, like Nigeria itself, is the devastating distraction from crude oil earnings which made every state to abandon its potential for the cheap money from Abuja. But the worldwide economic downturn has forced states to look inwards to generate revenue and create jobs for their citizens.
This fact was restated as resolution Number Six in the communique of the recent meeting of the 19 Northern state governors with chairmen of the respective state’s traditional councils.
Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto state is doing precisely what needs to be done without noise and prodding. A vital part of Dr Aliyu’s 9-point transformative agenda is the resolve to drive prosperity for the good people of Sokoto state, through a well coordinated investment in the agriculture value chain.
It is also not in doubt that Sokoto state, along other states of the North, has the capacity to eliminate, or drastically reduce, hunger in the country. Optimal food and feed production in Northern Nigeria can improve food security in West Africa, boost economic growth in the region, and increase the rate of foreign exchange inflow from the export of surplus agricultural produce rather than the import of grains like maize and soybeans.
The windfall will be massive, if only the respective governments, and other stakeholders, can key in to the Sokoto state template for optimal tapping of the enormous opportunities in the agriculture sector.
On this note, the actions and intentions of the incumbent Sokoto state administration, under the purposeful leadership of Dr Aliyu, who has quite commendably assumed the front seat in the effort to revive agriculture and explore its latent gold mine, is welcoming.
For Governor Aliyu, the focus on agriculture and rural development is not a fanciful choice, but a matter of urgent necessity. It’s smart choice, considering that the majority of Sokoto state indigenous population earn their modest livelihood by engaging in one form of agricultural activity or the other. They are classified as poor because they do not produce enough from the lands to earn meaningful income to support a decent living standard. Therefore, any serious government that truly desires to uplift the quality of life, boost economic activities, and reduce the high incidence of poverty among the people in Sokoto state must pay serious attention to agriculture.
As stated earlier in this analysis, the opportunities for farming, livetock rearing, fishing and agro-allied processing in Sokoto state are huge, but largely untapped.
The state is endowed with an estimated 1.62 million hectares (4 million acres) of arable land, well drained fertile alluvial soil, which are underutilised or totally wasting. Despite the unreliable weather conditions, much of Sokoto arable land can support year-round farming activities, using irrigation water from Goronyo Dam and from lakes variously located in Lugu, Wamakko, Kalmalo and Kwakwazo, as well as the alluvial banks of Rima and other rivers.
Dr Bashir Mohammed Achida, Special Adviser on Economic Matters to Governor Aliyu, in a recent interview stressed the commitment of the incumbent administration in the state to cash in on the huge opportunities that abound in agriculture sector in the state and is working hard to convert the potential to gainful reality, in the interest of the people.
He said when Dr. Aliyu came into office on May 29, 2023, he immediately swung into action to procure farm inputs like improved seeds, fertilisers and implements to support the farmers. And that the government intends to go beyond input supply, which many state governments do, or claim to do, yearly, but without making significant impacts on the quantity or quality of the farmers’ harvest.
The governor wants to change the narrative entirely. According to Dr Bashir Mohammed, the impending green revolution in state is hinged on a comprehensive plan, involving two critical programmes which the government is seriously working on. Number One is the Sokoto Integrated Agricultural Project: “In that project, we have plan of building three new dams in the state, which will support the Fadama and dry season farming. In that plan also, we have all-inclusive agricultural activities, ranging from animal rearing, poultry, to even having rice mills across the three senatorial zones.”
The special adviser continues: ‘”These programmes are huge and would be accompanied by hundreds of huge hectares of land to be cultivated, where raw materials will be sourced from the economic trees and we are lucky we have a comparative advantage of having rivers and dams across the state and so, it will be utilised.”
Sokoto state is a leading producer of onions and boasts of the best onion quality in the subregion. It also leads in the production and supply of garlic. So, the government is embarking on programmes that will accelerate the production of these international crops, currently being exported in huge tonnes to Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and some other African countries. The state has a competitive advantage to grow pearl millet, beans, tomatoes, groundnut, wheat, maize and rice, among other food and cash crops. Local farmers are poised to make life-changing fortunes from these crops, with the active support of the federal and state governments, and even the World Bank.
According to Dr Achida, the second project to fully harness the food production potential of the state is the establishment of Sokoto Agriculture Processing Zone (SAPZ), to ensure value addition of the crops. “We don’t want to take all items outside. We need to add more value, by processing and packaging some of the produce to international standards, for export. We are working to see how to draw the attention of farmers away from only producing for consumption, although there is consumption under this particular programme.
Said Acida, “While It is important to feed the state and the nation, it is also important to empower the farmers to be able to get the necessary income and be able to empower themselves. So, we are thinking about, how do we get incomes from outside, especially in this period where income flow and foreign exchange is critical to the nation. So, how do we contribute our own revenue to the mix? That is where the idea of export promotion zone came in.”
The Sokoto state authorities understand the importance of collaboration with the federal government and external financial institutions for the overall success of their bold agricultural plans. So, the governor has reached out to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to collaborate in the commercial production of onions, garlic and millet, among others, for local consumption and export. The anticipated programme agreement will give focus to the farmer on the field to cultivate the listed items and each one will basically yield foreign exchange.
However, efforts to export agricultural produce from the country in recent times had met with some hitches. Dr. Achida said that the programme has looked at the problems associated with the exportation of some of these items. “We realised that it is the chemical content of some of the items that will serve as the obstacle for them to get into the international market.
“Now, we are in collaboration with a company that has developed an organic fertilizer that we are going to use. We observed that the organic fertilizer will also lead to better yield and would be chemical free for all our products to compete and be exported to other countries without hitches”.
“Also, we are working on organic pesticides, especially for dry season farming. We are also working with a company that has developed organic pesticides and herbicide to ensure that all the products we are going to produce do not have any problem. Now, when the production is done, we have a design for an export terminal to reduce losses of the farm products, reduce expense of exporting cost on the farmers, and other issues that usually arise while exporting the produce from Sokoto. This will include the export of choice Sokoto beef to Saudi Arabia where there is a confirmed demand for high quality meat.”
The governor’s aide made the disclosure during the programme on animal livelihood sustainability initiative. According to him, it is an initiative of the federal government, with World Bank intervention, which seeks to enhance the production of milk and beef for indigenous markets.
Indeed, the Aliyu administration in Sokoto is doing a lot more than could be mentioned in this write up, to take agriculture to the next level, thereby helping the farmers to improve their living conditions. All of these initiatives fall within the 9-point agenda of Governor of Aliyu, on which he ran election which is focused on economic development, increased revenue base of the state, and, by extension, increased income for citizens of the state.
So, now is not the time to create distractions for Governor Aliyu. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) kingpins and the misguided group led by Senator Ibrahim Lamido should desist from fanning the embers of political and social frictions in the state. Instead, all hands should be on deck to help the capable governor implement bold and well designed economic programmes to improve the quality of life of Sokoto state residents!
Njoku writes from Kaduna
