Days ago, People's Gazzette wrote a news report saying a farmer in the Ogun State rice Farm cluster said the Ogun state government lied and tried to pass off his rice as a world bank and Ogun state government assisted project.

That report has been denied by the farmers themselves who said they in fact got support from government and world bank.

The farmers who were full of praises for the support they received also mentioned that their aim is the assist Nigeria achieve their food independence goals and also provide cheap food for the populace with the expansion of the cluster from 200 to 400 hectares. They also denied unequivocaly the reports that the government didn't give then any assistance.

What I wonder is why media houses will just attempt to mislead the public. Why will they choose to not thoroughly investigate matters before publishing and giving the people news that isn't entirely trust.

I personally find it disturbing and utterly shocking that this kind of thing still happens in Nigeria.

Please watch the videos

This videos done on July 7th 2024, shows the offloading of fertilizer to be used by the farmers


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L_l0Mvk_rc?si=Kg65hx5wBg2K6qSr

This video was done as late as July yet the said agency didn't feel the need to look at it before they came to their false conclusion and narrative.

The remaining videos are of the farmers confirm that the report was not true and they clarified the situation of matters


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y5zydpOH5k?si=ycpnaGupHt1jMClv



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9f5cop7Ut0?si=3Re1mg-1-WwNenhp

Some rice farmers, under the umbrella of Alubarika Rice Farm Cluster, Magboro in Obafemi/Owode local government area of Ogun state, have clarified that the State government contributed 65 per cent of the cost of production for the 200 hectares rice farm project.

The farmer who spoke to newsmen at the farmland over the weekend said the State government provided the training through its Ogun State Economic Transformation Project (OGSTEP), linking them with how to assess funds and other logistics.



Speaking with newsmen, the Head of the Hausa community in Alubarika Rice Farm Cluster, Bello Zabarmawa, refuted claims of complete ownership and management of the Ogun 200-hectare rice farm.

Contrary to a report circulating on the internet, the Kebbi State businessman stated that the rice plantation is not completely his project and the state government, under the leadership of Governor Dapo Abiodun, has consistently provided support for them.

Zabarmawa, said over 200 farmers of different ethnic backgrounds had contributed and were cultivating the field.

He maintained that the state government had brought tractors, harvesters and paid 65% for fertilizers and chemicals.

Zabarmawa said, “I saw some social media posting online that I said the government did not help farmers that’s not true. When we start this we haven’t done anything, it was the government that brought tractors to help us, after that for chemicals and fertilizers the government paid 50% while the farmers were to pay the remaining 50% and when they couldn’t I borrowed them the sum of N30 million to pay .

“We have 200 members who did their registration and we have their names each of them covers 1 hectare and they are not just Hausa we have Igbo and Yoruba.

“When the rice reached the harvesting stage, I called the Young Agro Service informing them and the government brought three harvesters for us. I didn’t say the government never supported me even looking at the farm you would see the government’s support, so people should not lie on me.

He noted that due to the state government’s support, he left his hometown to do business in Ogun, adding ” I told them about all the government has done for us and even called on the government to do more to help Nigerians overcome the country’s food shortage”.

On his part the Chairman of the farm, Adelowo Salam said the report that Zabarmawa personally owns the farm is not true as the tractor, planter and harvester belongs to Young Agro, the service provider.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Young Agro Services Enterprise, Ajibola Johnson said, he was selected by the state government in 2023 to offer services to farmers in Obafemi Owode, Remo North, Sagamu and Ikenne local government area which the rice farm is one of them.


He said the report from the news media is politically motivated, adding that all 200 farmers although not having sufficient capital supported the process.

He said due to what we are performing in this land the Ogun state government was moved, and also promised to expand the land.

“On Monday I was called to see how we can expand this farm to reduce food insecurity.

He confirmed that the 65 provided by the government percent is a grant to farmers and over 1000 farmers have shown intentions to participate in the scheme.

Also, the Treasurer of the Farm, Kanayo Cynthia Olarotimi , said some of the farmers borrowed money from Alhaji Bello in order for them to meet the 35% commitment, while, the government gave 65 percent.

She said no physical cash was given to the people, but government provided the level playing ground for the project like provision of fertilizer, the training through the OGSTEP and other logistics.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2024/09/ogun-farmers-clear-air-on-200-hectares-magboro-rice-farm/amp/

Lanrelagboi:
■ Days ago, People's Gazzette wrote a news report saying a farmer in the Ogun State rice Farm cluster said the Ogun state government lied and tried to pass off his rice as a world bank and Ogun state government assisted project.
That report has been denied by the farmers themselves who said they in fact got support from government and world bank.
The farmers who were full of praises for the support they received also mentioned that their aim is the assist Nigeria achieve their food independence goals and also provide cheap food for the populace with the expansion of the cluster from 200 to 400 hectares. They also denied unequivocaly the reports that the government didn't give then any assistance.
What I wonder is why media houses will just attempt to mislead the public. Why will they choose to not thoroughly investigate matters before publishing and giving the people news that isn't entirely trust.
I personally find it disturbing and utterly shocking that this kind of thing still happens in Nigeria.
Please watch the videos
This videos done on July 7th 2024, shows the offloading of fertilizer to be used by the farmers ....This video was done as late as July yet the said agency didn't feel the need to look at it before they came to their false conclusion and narrative.
The remaining videos are of the farmers confirm that the report was not true and they clarified the situation of matters

Are these farmers in the videos the very same farmers who farmed the 220 hectares belonging to Mr. Bello Zabarmawa— aide to Kebbi State Governor— or other farmers in the same Ogun State who equally farm rice?

Lanrelagboi:
Speaking with newsmen, the Head of the Hausa community in Alubarika Rice Farm Cluster, Bello Zabarmawa, refuted claims of complete ownership and management of the Ogun 200-hectare rice farm.
Contrary to a report circulating on the internet, the Kebbi State businessman stated that the rice plantation is not completely his project and the state government, under the leadership of Governor Dapo Abiodun, has consistently provided support for them.
Zabarmawa, said over 200 farmers of different ethnic backgrounds had contributed and were cultivating the field.
He maintained that the state government had brought tractors, harvesters and paid 65% for fertilizers and chemicals.
Zabarmawa said, “I saw some social media posting online that I said the government did not help farmers that’s not true. When we start this we haven’t done anything, it was the government that brought tractors to help us, after that for chemicals and fertilizers the government paid 50% while the farmers were to pay the remaining 50% and when they couldn’t I borrowed them the sum of N30 million to pay .
“We have 200 members who did their registration and we have their names each of them covers 1 hectare and they are not just Hausa we have Igbo and Yoruba.

Mr Bello Zabamawa's explanations were very clear.
You people should leave lies and propaganda alone.
It doesn't cost anything to present issues the way they are.

Kobojunkieee:
Are these farmers in the videos the very same farmers who farmed the 220 hectares belonging to Mr. Bello Zabarmawa— aide to Kebbi State Governor— or other farmers in the same Ogun State who equally farm rice?

You can see the name right? They just misrepresented the facts

overall90:
Mr Bello Zabamawa's explanations were very clear.
You people should leave lies and propaganda alone.
It doesn't cost anything to present issues the way they are.

These guys think we are foolish like them. How could the Governor blank out the real heroes of that farm? The point is not whether government supports or not, but that the governor pass off the farm as World bank sponsored blanking out farmers who have also spent their money, time and resources.

Lanrelagboi:
■ You can see the name right? They just misrepresented the facts

See what name? The information you posted does not even begin to address the claim made by Bello Z though. Read what he said carefully to realize that those videos do no justice to the real matters here.

Lanrelagboi:
Speaking with newsmen, the Head of the Hausa community in Alubarika Rice Farm Cluster, Bello Zabarmawa, refuted claims of complete ownership and management of the Ogun 200-hectare rice farm.
Contrary to a report circulating on the internet, the Kebbi State businessman stated that the rice plantation is not completely his project and the state government, under the leadership of Governor Dapo Abiodun, has consistently provided support for them.
Zabarmawa, said over 200 farmers of different ethnic backgrounds had contributed and were cultivating the field.
He maintained that the state government had brought tractors, harvesters and paid 65% for fertilizers and chemicals.
Zabarmawa said, “I saw some social media posting online that I said the government did not help farmers that’s not true. When we start this we haven’t done anything, it was the government that brought tractors to help us, after that for chemicals and fertilizers the government paid 50% while the farmers were to pay the remaining 50% and when they couldn’t I borrowed them the sum of N30 million to pay .
“We have 200 members who did their registration and we have their names each of them covers 1 hectare and they are not just Hausa we have Igbo and Yoruba.

Do the farmers in those videos belong to this same Alubarika Rice Farm Cluster, for instance?

Lifestone:

These guys think we are foolish like them. How could the Governor blank out the real heroes of that farm? The point is not whether government supports or not, but that the governor pass off the farm as World bank sponsored blanking out farmers who have also spent their money, time and resources.

You mean the government who provided Fertilizer, tractors and other equipment?

Do you know what "government assisted" means?

Kobojunkieee:
See what name? The information you posted does not even begin to address the claim made by Bello Z though. Read what he said carefully to realize that those videos do no justice to the real matters here. Do the farmers in those videos belong to this same Alubarika Rice Farm Cluster, for instance?

Yes. These are the farmers there. The same Bello Z is who the media reports misquoted

Mynd44:
■ You mean the government who provided Fertilizer, tractors and other equipment? Do you know what "government assisted" means?

Government assisted or subsidized projects are not government-owned and certainly not for the government to claim the achievement. Go read up on what the Governor said in the former articles that prompted Mr Bello to step in to in fact clear the air on the matter. For instance, he mentioned that there were loans taken out. Certainly, it is not the government paying off those loans but the farmers.

Mynd44:
■ Yes. These are the farmers there. The same Bello Z is who the media reports misquoted

Misquoted as saying what exactly? The report said Mr. Bello Z is an aide to the Kebbi State Governor and the project is in fact his project. Is that a misquote?

Na wa oo
They don bribe them

Government if each state should have at least 4 agricultural products that can feed 500 million people so half for Nigeria half for export we have the land and human

Gov re always sleeping

It would have been easier to have done photo ops with the farms they 'actually' funded in the very first place.

Such careless praise stealing should be avoided. The governor was getting enough heat as a non-performer already.

Kobojunkieee:
Misquoted as saying what exactly? The report said Mr. Bello Z is an aide to the Kebbi State Governor and the project is in fact his project. Is that a misquote?

Seems you are getting a kick out of this.

The same Bello Z who was quoted has now done a video interview to clarify what he said. Yet you want to argue and argue and argue.

You went me to take a third party reporting over a video done by the sane person of interest.

Is this playing? What type of play is this?

The farmers and government partnering started during Amosun's regime. Infact free lands was given to motivate farming.

Reason why I ignored the earlier report about one farmer

DesChyko:
It would have been easier to have done photo ops with the farms they 'actually' funded in the very first place.

Such careless praise stealing should be avoided. The governor was already getting enough heat as a non-performer already.

The farmers empowerment program started even before DA became the governor. I have friends who benefited from the program

You guys shouldn't be petty about this news

Mynd44:
■ Seems you are getting a kick out of this. The same Bello Z who was quoted has now done a video interview to clarify what he said. Yet you want to argue and argue and argue. You went me to take a third party reporting over a video done by the sane person of interest. Is this playing? What type of play is this?

What in the world are you on about? I don't know of such a video. All I have seen are the videos posted by the OP in his attempt to claim the report made the other day was false hence the reason why I am directing my questions at him before you stepped in to make yourself the center of attention. Abeg, waka pass me if you can't respond to questions without thinking you have some magical access into my thinking!

Kobojunkieee:
Misquoted as saying what exactly? The report said Mr. Bello Z is an aide to the Kebbi State Governor and the project is in fact his project. Is that a misquote?

What is really your problem here That there is a fantastic program supported and assisted by government or that it is a good news coming out of a state or that the earlier negative media report you so much believe was bursted

Which one is the issue

Why not focus on the good news

Mynd44:

Seems you are getting a kick out of this.

The same Bello Z who was quoted has now done a video interview to clarify what he said. Yet you want to argue and argue and argue.

You went me to take a third party reporting over a video done by the sane person of interest.

Is this playing? What type of play is this?

There is no argument from what I have read so far, why can't simple explanation be done without the need to tag it as argument.

creativejagaban:
■ ...That there is a fantastic program supported and assisted by government or that it is a good news coming out of a state or that the earlier negative media report you so much believe was bursted...

You people are just full of sheets is all!

Go read the main complaint made by the Bello Z. man in the first report. Read it carefully, and then come back and tackle the real issue instead of trying desperately to deflect by claiming it is all about the government providing assistance or support — subsidy — to farmers, something that has been ongoing for many years now. Every year for as long as we can tell, the Ministry of Agriculture, for instance, distributes fertilizer and seeds to various governors for the benefit of farmers. Tractors and other farm machinery were made available from over a decade ago in many farming states as well. If Mr. Bello Z has retracted the claims formerly reported, post that video or message, rather than videos of farmers who may not even be related to the property in question.

Otherwise, avoid seeking my attention abeg!

I said it before now. Seun, you recently employed a new Super Mod. That mod is not sound. The English seen on the frontpage these days ehhh. This particular thread is one of the.

Seun review ASAP. Nairaland is longer a Naija thing alone.

helinues:


The farmers empowerment program started even before DA became the governor. I have friends who benefited from the program

You guys shouldn't be petty about this news

You're an APC bot. Even if you didn't say you have friends who have benefitted from it, you'd say you have benefitted from it. You'd say anything at this point, which is basically your job description.

For the bolded, direct your complaints to the one who gave the press conference which unveiled the true state of things, not people commenting on what has been said.

DesChyko:


You're an APC bot. Even if you didn't say you have friends who have benefitted from it, you'd say you have benefitted from it. You'd say anything at this point, which is basically your job description.

For the bolded, direct your complaints to the one who gave the pressure conference which unveiled the true state of things, not people commenting on what has been said.

Fixated mindset is what is making some of you not to get anything right politically for years on this forum

Kobojunkieee:
Are these farmers in the videos the very same farmers who farmed the 220 hectares belonging to Mr. Bello Zabarmawa— aide to Kebbi State Governor— or other farmers in the same Ogun State who equally farm rice?

Chai....lolz

Mynd44:

You mean the government who provided Fertilizer, tractors and other equipment?

Do you know what "government assisted" means?

Why will government not give credit to the farmers as stakeholder until the farmers called them out?

Omalicious1:
✓ Chai....lolz

The main issue the Bello Z. -- aide to Kebbi State Governor -- had was that the Ogun State Governor laid claim to what was his project saying it was part of his world bank collaboration -- not sure of the details on that. According to the Ogun government, the rice farm generated Naira 1 billion in revenue for the state. How?

Anyways, any report that claimed the report was wrong would have to have Mr. Bello Z. In fact retracting that statement.

helinues:


Fixated mindset is what is making some of you not to get anything right politically for years on this forum

We see how right you and your ilks have getting it politically for years on this forum and how it has helped the forum become top 10 in the world, and made Nigeria a top choice destination for right thinking individuals.

Keep up the good job 🙌🏾

Kobojunkieee:
See what name? The information you posted does not even begin to address the claim made by Bello Z though. Read what he said carefully to realize that those videos do no justice to the real matters here. Do the farmers in those videos belong to this same Alubarika Rice Farm Cluster, for instance?

Journalists are lazy these days, they think they can get all the scoops online. They can’t even contract locals to help them go to actual locations for verification. Journalism is dying

Propaganda everywhere

It has become a habit for some people to bring politics into everything.

Government does anything good, they start spreading false news that it is propaganda.

Same thing they did with federal government's students loan scheme. Even when students started confirming their school fees have been paid and N20,000 was dropping in their personal account every month, some people insisted it was all propaganda and not true.

No wonder some politicians don't even bother to do any good.

Kobojunkieee:
You people are just full of sheets is all!

Go read the main complaint made by the Bello Z. man in the first report. Read it carefully, and then come back and tackle the real issue instead of trying desperately to deflect by claiming it is all about the government providing assistance or support — subsidy — to farmers, something that has been ongoing for many years now. Every year for as long as we can tell, the Ministry of Agriculture, for instance, distributes fertilizer and seeds to various governors for the benefit of farmers. Tractors and other farm machinery were made available from over a decade ago in many farming states as well. If Mr. Bello Z has retracted the claims formerly reported, post that video or message, rather than videos of farmers who may not even be related to the property in question.

Otherwise, avoid seeking my attention abeg!

Then what's your problem about the program, why are you bitter about the project, attacking it left and right?

Here is a government that is doing good thing, providing support to people to produce food for the generality, without minding the tribe, and the people benefitting from it are giving praises to the government, and from nowhere you raised arms against it.

Do you have to criticise everything? Why don't you applaud even your enemies when it is necessary.

Take bitterness out of your life, it is always energy and mind sapping.

Kobojunkieee:
The main issue the Bello Z. -- aide to Kebbi State Governor -- had was that the Ogun State Governor laid claim to what was his project saying it was part of his world bank collaboration -- not sure of the details on that. According to the Ogun government, the rice farm generated Naira 1 billion in revenue for the state. How?

Anyways, any report that claimed the report was wrong would have to have Mr. Bello Z. In fact retracting that statement.

Ok I get you now.

1. The project is a private investment by a private citizen.

2. The ogun government claimed it as its world bank partnership agric development project. Probably to use it to get more world bank funds.

3. A private investment can't generate money for the state government, like Ogun government claimed.

4. The assistance given to the farmers through seeds and fertilizers has been going on even before the current administration, it's not a special world bank assistance. And that most states do same, not just Ogun. These seeds and fertilizer are shared by the FG via the state governments.

5. The farmers took loans that will be repaid by them, and not the ogun state government or the world bank.