In the wake of the ongoing new Permanent Voter Card (PVC) pre-registrations,
The Alternative, a pan-Nigeria movement, took its advocacy and re-orientation programme to farmers in Ogun state, urging them to take part actively in the registrations ahead of the next general elections.
Speaking at the advocacy meeting in Abeokuta with groups of farmers under the aegis of Agbe Gbe Lu Agro Network Limited, the convener of the group, Otunba Segun Showunmi, urged them to encourage their community members to register for the upcoming election.
Showunmi, who was represented by the Southwest Chairman of the Movement, Olusola Salau, described the farmers as a reliable group.
He expressed confidence that if empowered, there would be an increase in food production in the state.
“These people are not politicians, they are reliable when it comes to vote changes, although Otunba Showunmi is in PDP, he’s a brother to Prince Dapo Abiodun and Dapo Abiodun has gone to Brazil and knows the importance of farmers.
“So, we are calling on the governor to see this group as an important one that should be empowered. Give them equipment to do their work so there would be an increase in food in Ogun state”, he said
Speaking earlier, the Baale Agbe, Fohunola Ajani, revealed that politicians are the only beneficiaries of government empowerment, maintaining that after receiving these farm machineries, they sell them off leaving real farmers to cultivate with hoes and cutlasses.
One of the farmers, a septuagenarian identified as Ojeyinka Bamidele, bemoaned the government’s emphasis on training women and youths while ignoring the elderly, who are also farmers.
According to Bamidele, many young people alter their career paths after obtaining these funds, training, and even equipment, thus urging the government to restructure its selection and grant distribution criteria.
“When they want to do training, they forget that those of us who are old are on the farm. They do training for youth and women, I wouldn’t say they should not continue to train the youth, but they should not forget those of us that are working, because many youth after receiving training, money and materials go away, but we are still on the farm.
“When they want to give us loans or whatever, it’s those in the office that usually collect it. For those of us working in the farm, the condition they will give to us does not allow us to take the loan, so we want them to make sure that they make it easy for us to take loan”, he added