Deputy Speaker Wants Agriculture Subsidized
Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon Sulaimon Lasun Yussuff has called on all tiers of government to subsidize agriculture heavily to facilitate bumper harvest and revive the nations economy.
He made the call while presenting three-set of tractors he bought to the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Osogbo/Olorunda/Orolu/Irepodun Federal Constituency in Osogbo at the weekend..
The Deputy Speaker who described agriculture as the only vehicle that can sustain any given society, said government should set aside a mechanism that would help boost the morale of the farmers and encourage them to go back to farm.
Donating N60 million worth of tractors, Honourable Yussuff said Nigeria is blessed with series of natural resources, saying agriculture alone could be used to develop the nation as well as developing scientific and technological innovation.
He suggested that if government can subsidize agriculture in terms of farm inputs and prices of farm products as being done in some other countries, thus millions of people who have abandoned farm as one of their inherited occupation would have been motivated back to farm.
According to him, “Government should design ways of buying directly from farmers so as to serve as encouragement mechanism for those who are into farming to go back to the farm.
“As a matter of urgency, the only thing I think we need in agriculture now, which can come as a bill is to bring back the Marketing Board (MB). In some countries they do not allow the farmer who suffers to be looking for market for his produce.
“The issue of subsidy itself emanated from agriculture. Farm produce must be subsidized in all aspect either in terms of farm inputs or the prices of the farm produces”, he added.
Yussuff further stressed the need for governments at all levels and other stakeholders to embrace and give needed assistance to farmers in order to encourage them adding that, “it was so funny that fuel instead of agriculture was subsidized”.
“It is funny that Nigeria is subsidizing fuel price instead of subsidizing agricultural impute and farm produce. If they (governments) buy from farmers at high price it will encourage them to go back to farm. You don’t allow farmers to suffer and still be selling their produce at unreasonable costs.
“That is what they are doing in other countries of the world and that is why generation upon generations have stayed with farming in America and UK.
“You find six to seven generations in farming not minding their educational qualifications, they still come back to farm”, he added.
The Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, who said the gesture was borne out of his experience as a farmer, urged Nigerians regardless of the educational background and political status to embrace farming as a means of economic survival, saying “any country that is not be able to feed itself has not done well in terms of poverty alleviation”.
He stressed further, “any country that is not be able to feed itself has not even gotten started at all. Half of the human problems is going out of feeding, if you are able to feed yourself, as a family or as a nation then you have been able to solve half of your problems.
“If you go through the history of science and technology, most of the scientific discoveries came from agriculture. Agriculture does not stand on its own it attaches to so many things.
“I want to encourage people to go back to farm, and when you ask people to go and farm is not farming by hoe and cutlass, it is farming by mechanized sector and those are the things that can help farmers.
“To improve an extensive farming we need the tools that are more powerful and effective than hoe and cutlass. The newly donated tractors would motivate and encourage the farmers to be able to do more on the farm land.
Earlier, the AFAN Presidents, Mr Kehinde Afolabi described the donation of the three tractors as timely, saying Honourable Yussuff has demonstrated what good governance symbolized.
Afolabi who expressed his unreserved appreciation on behalf of other members for such enormous donation said the newly donated tractors would help in the provision of food and raw materials in the state.
He described the tractors as most important machinery and versatile machine used widely in agriculture, adding that it would serve as encouragement mechanism through which the members of AFAN can succeed in their farming occupation.
He however vow to make judicious use of the machines and loan out to the members a sum of N2million cash being given to the Honourable in an interest free rate, just as he announced the ordainment of Honourable Yussuff as ‘Oluomo’ of AFAN, Osun state
ENDS