Nigerian youths have been advised by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, to deepen their interest in farming before struggling for political positions.
This advice was given by the minister in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory on Thursday, 4th April, 2019 at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between two companies, Nigeria Agricultural Mechanisation and Equipment Leasing Company (NAMEL) and MANTRAC Nigeria Limited.
The MOU by the two companies is an agreement to open up 500,000 hectares of unused land to boost food production in Nigeria.
Audu Ogbeh who was represented by a director in the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Victor Mayomi, while speaking on the ceremony urged the Nigerian youths to cash in on the partnership to secure land, bearing in mind that the onus of feeding the nation is on them.
He further advised that on the importance of taking responsibility of feeding the country seriously by saying, “I implore our youths to take advantage of this project. Youths should come into agriculture to take advantage of the project, bearing in mind the responsibility of feeding the nation will increasingly depend on them from now into the nearest future.”
He also added that, “The youths should not only be interested in taking over from politicians, let them go to the field and take it over first. And when they can feed us, we will be encouraged to entrust our destiny to them.”
The minister applauded the arrangement by the two companies by saying that, “Through arrangements such this as between the two companies, the burden of tractors’ procurement and management would be taken off the shoulders of government.” He said the move will improve mechanised farming to give room for food sufficiency and reduce poverty.
NAMEL is into a public-private partnership arrangement with the Nigerian government. Last year, the federal government signed a pact with NAMEL/John Deere for the supply of over 10,000 tractors to boost agriculture in the country. The minister stated that the government paid 35 per cent of the cost of the tractors, while the private sector paid the balance.
NAMEL’s Chief Executive Officer, Ahmed Adekunle, said during the event that they are planning to acquire 13,000 hectares in each state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from the over 47 million hectares of unused land in the country. The added that, “The project is to de-stump at least 1, 000,000 hectares of poorly cleared and non-tractable land; to help improve soil fertility for farmers; increase annual food production by at least 2,500, 000 metric tons annual for a period of five years.”
He said the project is structured to complement and optimise government efforts and resources in land development, using a cost split mechanism to support smallholder farmers and youth empowerment programmes.
The minister stated that it will be creating a flexible investment window for medium and large scale primary production investor to open more land with a little initial cost. He however lamented that efforts to mechanise land are sometimes thwarted by stumps, roots and stones.
He concluded by saying that, “It costs more than N15, 000 to N600, 000 to properly develop one hectare of land from the Savannah vegetation of the north down to the mangrove and rain forests of the couth.”