The ongoing pressure being mounted on President Muhammadu Buhari by some people, which led to the setting up of a presidential committee on border reopening headed by the Minister of Finance is not a good omen for Nigeria’s agricultural sector. Particularly, it will truncate the laudable achievements of agricultural initiatives of President Buhari designed to make Nigeria self-sufficient in food production.
There is a consensus among agricultural sector practitioners, especially large scale farmers in the rice, maize, corn, cassava, sorghum, millet, etc, agriculture sub-sector for closing of borders by the president is to achieve three main objectives.
One is to prevent the illicit trans-border arms proliferation and light weapon smuggling into the country from other African countries, especially Nigeria’s immediate neighbouring countries, while the second is to prevent Nigeria from being a dumping ground for international trade and commodities. The third one is to strengthen and boost local production of agricultural produce to make the country self-reliant in terms of food security.
It is important to note that illicit trade contributed immensely to the national security problems of Nigeria. Through trans-border arms proliferation, weapons are being supplied to terrorists and other criminal elements, a development that has continued to sustain insurgency in the North-east, banditry in the North-west, farmers/herders conflicts in the North-central, as well as other criminal activities such as kidnapping in other parts of the country.
Another objective of the border closure by the federal government, which is to protect local productions in agriculture and manufacturing sectors, may face imminent jeopardy if the recommendations to reopen the borders are approved by Mr. President. Stakeholders are of the view that border reopening now is not in the best national interest.
Chairman, Rice Processors Association of Nigeria, Hon. Mohammed Abubakar Maifata, said, “It is important to note that border closure has achieved a lot for Nigerian farmers. That is why we and many other stakeholders in the agro-allied sector are happy with Mr. President.
“However, the ongoing move to persuade Mr. President to reopen borders is against national interest which the president has been promoting by creating several incentives to support both small and large scale farmers in his unwavering determination to see that Nigeria attains food self-sufficiency under the present dispensation.
“It is good to note that one of the productive and best agricultural development policy initiatives of the federal government is the Anchor Borrowers Scheme Paddy Rice initiated and implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). For the records, there has been a boost in agricultural produce and value chain across the country as a result of the meticulous implementation of this policy.
“If not for the fatalities of Covid-19 pandemic, the lull in the oil prices at the international market, interruptions of conflicts in several instances, as well as the early stoppage of rain this year, agricultural harvest this year alone would have catapulted Nigeria to the point of self-reliance in a tremendous way. Thanks to government’s agricultural initiatives”, Maifata said.
The decision of Mr. President to close borders is not new in terms of internal mechanism for the purpose of internal security and economic development. For instance, China closed its borders for about 40 years in order to develop its domestic agriculture and today, China is not only a world power exporting food, agro-allied and technological products, but it is also a lender to developing countries like Nigeria.
What the president did with the border closure is to achieve the same feat. It is meant to encourage local farmers, especially agro-allied sub-sector so as to boost local economy, create jobs through agricultural value chain, etc. Like the chairman of Rice Processors Association of Nigeria rightly stated, the impacts of President Buhari’s agricultural initiative would have surpassed its projections if the above factors were out of the way.
In the view of Alhaji Mohammed Abba Liman, Chairman, Lima Rice Mills Ltd, and a member of Rice Processors Association of Nigeria, reopening borders now will reverse all the great gains of border closure which is not Mr. President’s intention for Nigerian farmers.
“There is no denying the fact that as a result of the federal government’s agricultural initiatives by President Buhari, food importation has drastically reduced. Without any doubt, this is due to improved local agricultural production as a result of the federal government’s incentives.
“It is evident that since 1999 when the country returned to democracy, farmers in Nigeria have never been happier. There is now enough market for their produce and a challenge to increase production as a result of high market demand. This is why it is reflecting in the rising cost of food in the market.
“But it is not in the negative. If this tempo of government support system and partnership with rice farmers and relevant stakeholders in the sector is sustained, Nigeria will soon become a food basket for the West African sub-region and beyond”, he said. He urged Mr. President not to succumb to any pressure or anti-people recommendation.
In terms of the federal government’s efforts towards boosting agricultural production and development in the country through different incentives, rice farmers under the aegis of RIPA have particularly lauded the CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, for the initiative of paddy rice aggregated scheme for rice millers who have the capacity for 10metric tons with a view to enhancing local rice production in the country.
According to stakeholders, if this support system is sustained, it means that Nigeria will soon become not just self-sufficient in rice production but may soon become a net exporter of rice. One of the things which the federal government needs to do in this regard is for President Buhari to call for a meeting of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, as well as relevant stakeholders in the country to cooperate with government in the areas of border security on proliferation of arms and for them to support his agricultural initiative. This is the solution and not border reopening.
Abba writes from Jalingo, Taraba state
Mohammed Abba Liman
