The prospects of the Nigerian agriculture sector
should ordinarily give hope to the majority of
Nigerians who are poor in their numbers. The
Agriculture sector with all its potentials waiting to be
harnessed, has longed been abandoned due to the
discovery and exploration of oil a few years after the
country’s independence. Virtually, every government
since independent had come with one policy or
program on how to resolve the puzzle but had failed.
Tractor
The indictors for a striving/growing agriculture sector
cannot be hidden and cannot be seen only on pages
of newspapers and the web pages. That is where I
fault the approached used by the current
administration of President Jonathan.
Dr Akinwumi Ayo Adesina the current Agriculture-
minister and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are bright minds
and nobody can take that from them. However, if the
President of Nigeria Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
wishes, he can go ahead and fill his cabinet with 80%
of these brains; we won’t make progress in
developing our country. Why? The current
government’s posture towards corruption should
raise concerns for any sane Nigeria. The institutions
that should be the enablers or drivers for positive
development are totally corrupt. That Corruption has
weakened our institutions in Nigeria is one of the
biggest reasons the agriculture sector will not strive.
From the Farmers associations to the policy makers,
regulators, and the whole agriculture supply chain
the bug of corruption had weakened them. It is
alarming but Nigerians are not yet alarmed.
The Agric-minister had constantly in various fora
released hard statistics and figures on the agriculture
sector of Nigeria. These statistics and figures all used
around the country for campaigns in a bid to make
Nigerians believe in the Transformation Agenda. I
consider them bogus and a hoax. It is what a recent
publication by Malam Adamu Bello who was Dr
Adesina’s predecessor in the ministry of agriculture
referred to as “The Many Lies of Adesina”. The
publication went hard on the Minister and the
government on their claims of stemming out
corruption in the distribution of fertilizer, and I quote
“On the issue of fertilizer, it is only God the Almighty
that will judge the unfair way past administrations
are being portrayed. To claim that there was subsidy
of N870 billion spent on fertilizers since the use of
fertilizers was initially encouraged by the
Government about 40 years ago is most unfair, as I
doubt if the entire agricultural budgets for the whole
period was up to that sum”.
The sad part of these mendacities is that Nigerians
and even our media do not have the time or will to
verify them. The public, a majority of them gullible,
run with this information given by the minister. Dr.
Adesina once said that no fewer than 2.2million jobs
have been created in the last two year in the
agricultural sector of the Nigerian economy. Also,
that food importation has fallen by N850 billion ($5.2
billion) and food production was up by 8 million
tonnes. He went further to say "The world’s second-
largest importer of rice, Nigeria aims to become self-
sufficient by 2015 after introducing a 100 percent tax
on polished rice imports this year, likely to mostly
affect countries like India, Thailand and Brazil"
Anyone with an analytical or logical mind should ask
the following questions. How many months are we
away from 2015, if in the last two years our country
added 2.2 million jobs in the agriculture sector alone
would we had had the stampede that took lives of
young Nigerians this year during the Immigration
recruitment exercise? Does anyone think about the
impact and multiplier effect of 1 million jobs not to
talk about 2 million? My little knowledge of
economics suggests to me that N850 billion in our
country is a lot. The minister is used to overblowing
the achievements of his ministry and the danger is
that Nigerians could wait forever to feel the impact of
this so-called REVOLUTION in Agriculture-sector.
Furthermore, the said much talked of Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) in the agriculture sector the
minister had said had come into Nigeria, the impact
has not been felt. These are issues that should cause
worry for any reasonable Nigerian. We have seen
various and well scripted agriculture-policies in
Nigeria, but none had changed the sector for good. A
proper and sincere revolution in the sector will in
itself end the epidemic called unemployment in
Nigeria and the end of unemployment could curb
Boko Haram, armed robbery, prostitution,
kidnapping and other social vices.
Research has said that South-East Asia and Sub-
Sarahan Africa will find it difficult to end hunger and
poverty if nations in these regions do not develop
agriculture properly. Also, Forbes in 2012 stated in an
online article that world’s next billionaires will come
from the agricultural sector and farmers could be the
owners of Lamborghinis in the future. “The next sets
of billionaires are those who will produce what is
needed to meet world's urgent needs (Food)” says
Forbes. Jim Rogers a multi-millionaire and Chairman
of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests was quoted
in the TIME Magazine saying “if you want to be rich
become a farmer”. Our country has men and women
who are rich; some worked for their wealth but most
stole theirs from the state. Most of them are known
for investing this wealth abroad on properties. If a
third of our country's wealth both stolen and worked
for is reinvested into agriculture, our nation will in
the next few years stand heads and shoulders with
the BRIC nations. We will feed Africa and still be self-
sufficient in food production.
Nevertheless, we must not miss the point, for Nigeria
to fight the Dutch Disease that have ravaged our
country as a result of continuous exploration and
exportation of oil and gas while the Agriculture and
other sectors had suffered; Nigeria must go back to
the days were 80% of our country’s foreign earnings
came from agriculture and allow for other sectors to
strive. We must build those less corrupt institutions,
reliable and sustainable infrastructure; have policy
and laws that are friendly to agriculture
development.
Only responsive and responsible government can do
these, however, 2015 elections gives us another
opportunity to put our great country back on track
and take her place in the comity of nation as the one
and only giant of Africa and also give the opportunity
to our friends, brothers/sisters uncles and aunties in
the village to own and drive Lamborghinis in the
future.

Jeus:
The prospects of the Nigerian agriculture sector
should ordinarily give hope to the majority of
Nigerians who are poor in their numbers. The
Agriculture sector with all its potentials waiting to be
harnessed, has longed been abandoned due to the
discovery and exploration of oil a few years after the
country’s independence. Virtually, every government
since independent had come with one policy or
program on how to resolve the puzzle but had failed.
Tractor
The indictors for a striving/growing agriculture sector
cannot be hidden and cannot be seen only on pages
of newspapers and the web pages. That is where I
fault the approached used by the current
administration of President Jonathan.
Dr Akinwumi Ayo Adesina the current Agriculture-
minister and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are bright minds
and nobody can take that from them. However, if the
President of Nigeria Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
wishes, he can go ahead and fill his cabinet with 80%
of these brains; we won’t make progress in
developing our country. Why? The current
government’s posture towards corruption should
raise concerns for any sane Nigeria. The institutions
that should be the enablers or drivers for positive
development are totally corrupt. That Corruption has
weakened our institutions in Nigeria is one of the
biggest reasons the agriculture sector will not strive.
From the Farmers associations to the policy makers,
regulators, and the whole agriculture supply chain
the bug of corruption had weakened them. It is
alarming but Nigerians are not yet alarmed.
The Agric-minister had constantly in various fora
released hard statistics and figures on the agriculture
sector of Nigeria. These statistics and figures all used
around the country for campaigns in a bid to make
Nigerians believe in the Transformation Agenda. I
consider them bogus and a hoax. It is what a recent
publication by Malam Adamu Bello who was Dr
Adesina’s predecessor in the ministry of agriculture
referred to as “The Many Lies of Adesina”. The
publication went hard on the Minister and the
government on their claims of stemming out
corruption in the distribution of fertilizer, and I quote
“On the issue of fertilizer, it is only God the Almighty
that will judge the unfair way past administrations
are being portrayed. To claim that there was subsidy
of N870 billion spent on fertilizers since the use of
fertilizers was initially encouraged by the
Government about 40 years ago is most unfair, as I
doubt if the entire agricultural budgets for the whole
period was up to that sum”.
The sad part of these mendacities is that Nigerians
and even our media do not have the time or will to
verify them. The public, a majority of them gullible,
run with this information given by the minister. Dr.
Adesina once said that no fewer than 2.2million jobs
have been created in the last two year in the
agricultural sector of the Nigerian economy. Also,
that food importation has fallen by N850 billion ($5.2
billion) and food production was up by 8 million
tonnes. He went further to say "The world’s second-
largest importer of rice, Nigeria aims to become self-
sufficient by 2015 after introducing a 100 percent tax
on polished rice imports this year, likely to mostly
affect countries like India, Thailand and Brazil"
Anyone with an analytical or logical mind should ask
the following questions. How many months are we
away from 2015, if in the last two years our country
added 2.2 million jobs in the agriculture sector alone
would we had had the stampede that took lives of
young Nigerians this year during the Immigration
recruitment exercise? Does anyone think about the
impact and multiplier effect of 1 million jobs not to
talk about 2 million? My little knowledge of
economics suggests to me that N850 billion in our
country is a lot. The minister is used to overblowing
the achievements of his ministry and the danger is
that Nigerians could wait forever to feel the impact of
this so-called REVOLUTION in Agriculture-sector.
Furthermore, the said much talked of Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) in the agriculture sector the
minister had said had come into Nigeria, the impact
has not been felt. These are issues that should cause
worry for any reasonable Nigerian. We have seen
various and well scripted agriculture-policies in
Nigeria, but none had changed the sector for good. A
proper and sincere revolution in the sector will in
itself end the epidemic called unemployment in
Nigeria and the end of unemployment could curb
Boko Haram, armed robbery, prostitution,
kidnapping and other social vices.
Research has said that South-East Asia and Sub-
Sarahan Africa will find it difficult to end hunger and
poverty if nations in these regions do not develop
agriculture properly. Also, Forbes in 2012 stated in an
online article that world’s next billionaires will come
from the agricultural sector and farmers could be the
owners of Lamborghinis in the future. “The next sets
of billionaires are those who will produce what is
needed to meet world's urgent needs (Food)” says
Forbes. Jim Rogers a multi-millionaire and Chairman
of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests was quoted
in the TIME Magazine saying “if you want to be rich
become a farmer”. Our country has men and women
who are rich; some worked for their wealth but most
stole theirs from the state. Most of them are known
for investing this wealth abroad on properties. If a
third of our country's wealth both stolen and worked
for is reinvested into agriculture, our nation will in
the next few years stand heads and shoulders with
the BRIC nations. We will feed Africa and still be self-
sufficient in food production.
Nevertheless, we must not miss the point, for Nigeria
to fight the Dutch Disease that have ravaged our
country as a result of continuous exploration and
exportation of oil and gas while the Agriculture and
other sectors had suffered; Nigeria must go back to
the days were 80% of our country’s foreign earnings
came from agriculture and allow for other sectors to
strive. We must build those less corrupt institutions,
reliable and sustainable infrastructure; have policy
and laws that are friendly to agriculture
development.
Only responsive and responsible government can do
these, however, 2015 elections gives us another
opportunity to put our great country back on track
and take her place in the comity of nation as the one
and only giant of Africa and also give the opportunity
to our friends, brothers/sisters uncles and aunties in
the village to own and drive Lamborghinis in the
future.

Massive investment in intellectual and physical infrastructure is required for rapid development and wealth creation
Nice write up.

I like this