SAVE OUR land WITH OUR LANDS

The subject of popular debate of WHAT and WHERE to sow in other to achieve a bountiful harvest and avert the current economic crisis rocking the bottomless wellbeing of an average Nigerian becomes the purpose of this thesis.

“Technical Recession” is just a modernized phrase of saying the country is in the period of FAMINE. In the Nigerian case however, the extent of this famine will solely depend on the ability of her citizens to respond positively to the hardship with ideas and innovations to subsistently satiate their cravings and thereafter gain a stronger ground for commercialization.

There were various interpretations to the unseen predetermined Eclipse that was to happen sometimes last month. Well, for the observant ones, you would agree with me that on the same day for the first time in our history, we witnessed the appearance of two parallel rainbow and many began to wonder what could be the implication of the sudden turn of events.
Juxtaposing the current events unfolding in the country, desperation has led to incessant kidnapping, high criminal perpetuations, and ugly incidents of raping, vandalizing activities etc. Then I would leave you to deduce your opinion of the double rainbow appearance.

A story was told of a recent event where a hungry man took his boy to the market and requested for a bag of rice which now cost #18,000 and therein claimed forgetting his legal tender. He was then given the bag of rice while he would come back for his son. Three days past and he was nowhere to be found, he was later traced with the information provided by his little boy. Surprisely, on arrival at his home, his family were happily devouring a delicacy made from rice and when asked why he didn’t come back to pay for the goods he bought, his reply, “my son was meant to be the payment”.
A second scenario was witnessed at 3rd mainland bridge, Lagos where a Civil Defence personnel reportedly watched a man dive into the lagoon after numerous shouting of “Buhari”. The personnel quickly alerted his colleagues and the poor man was rescued. He was then asked why he acted that way and he narrated his ordeal. His family had nothing to eat all day, he had just collected his monthly contribution “ajo” of #300,000. On jubilantly arriving home, arm robbers showed from nowhere and disposed him of his last hope and since life held no meaning as he felt, he wanted to end it all.
The two scenarios illustrated above is a direct explanation of the kind of untold hardship confronting the good and bad citizens of Nigeria.
In his Sallah message to the Muslims, the Sultan of sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar (iii) appealed to Nigerians to respond to the hardship confronting them by returning to farming.
But unfortunately, very little or nothing has been done by both the leadership of the nation and her citizens in recapturing agriculture from the ungodly hands of retrogression. I say with assertion that this is the time to soil our hands to feed our mouths. Decide to produce at least 5% of what you consume. It is penitent to categorically state at this point that government has proven incompetent in actually engaging the agricultural sector. More attention should be paid in creating an enabling environment for the growth and expansion of this sector.
From research, it’s believed that 800billion hectares of arid land lay waste while we keep gnawing in agony of food scarcity. Rather individuals with bright ideas to explore this resources should be given the necessary aids to do what they know how to do best.

You, Yes I mean you, you can start from subsistence practice where you Tend and Till for the immediate consumption of your family and see your woes transcend into oceans of tranquility.
Our Lands is the only way out of the Famine.
Let’s go back to AGRICULTURE.
Copyright: ONYEBUCHI, O.F