TheCable

BY FEMI BABATUNDE

With the recent signing of the agreement between the globally renowned International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the State of Osun government led by the energetic yet visionary helmsman, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Osun is apparently treading an uncommon path of agricultural revolution capable of permanently changing her economic fortunes. The agreement is a culmination of a four-year partnership between the two parties over series of agriculture projects hitherto embarked upon by the state through the flagship programme Osun Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Programme (O-REAP).

Through the project, IITA, reputed to have in its kitty a centre that has in store over 30,000 seed varieties and at the forefront of agricultural research and innovation, the IITA would carry out research and maintain demonstration plots for best farming practices in Osun, while carrying out crop multiplication and working with the government to facilitate a most robust and shortened research-extension-farmer linkage.

Perhaps, the key and strategic highlight of the project envisaged to generate substantial impact and ripple effect is the involvement of the OREAP Youth and other Osun youths alongside the youth programme within the IITA christened the Youth Agripreneur programme. This would ensure that Osun youths are exposed to world-class training in modern agriculture to make agriculture more commercial and profitable, thereby making it more attractive to Osun and Nigerian youths in general.

According to Ogbeni Aregbesola, under the partnership “the state is releasing 205.5 hectares of land around Ago Owu in the State, to IITA for the purpose of conducting research and setting up demonstration farms for best farming practices.” The project, which the governor is convinced, has enormous potential complements the agriculture programmes of the State and also gives it a new fillip.

It is envisaged that the implementation of the project will bring in agricultural investment, ensure the improved efficiency of the agriculture value chain, create jobs and hopefully make millionaires out of our farmers, especially the youths who are interested in farming. As a largely agrarian state, farmers in Osun stand to benefit in no small measure from the move.

The governor underscored the strategic thought behind the project thus: “The parcel of land being released to IITA is very strategic. It is within a 4,000 hectares farm estate we are developing and is located next to a farm settlement of 11,496 hectares in the Ago Owu area and in close proximity to another farm settlement in Mokore with 3,340 hectares of land. This IITA centre is surrounded by some 85 farming villages that we expect would be the first beneficiaries of the farming innovation that would come from the centre. There is no doubt that this would spread to the entire farming community in Osun and then to our neighboring states”.

Dr Nteranya Sanginga, the Director General of the IITA who led an equally high-powered team of officials of the institute to pen his signature to the agreement, expressed his excitement over the project and appreciated the hands of partnership extended to IITA by the Aregbesola-led government on the project. He assured the people of his deep commitment. Being a Congolese whose country, like Nigeria, is enormously blessed with natural resources, but in his words, “has been corrupted by the by the proceeds from oil”, Sanginga noted that the “only future for us in Africa is in land and agriculture, with the over 70 percent of our youth without jobs”. Failure to take this seriously, he emphasised, “would mean that the continent would pay the harsh price”.

Emphasizing that it must indeed be a partnership that truly benefits from the mutual commitment of both parties, Saginga said that even though IITA with enormous skills and experience in the sector is committed to fulfilling her part in the agreement, all hands must be put on desk to drive the vision. Particularly, he challenged the governor in this regard. “I have few extension workers but the state has 1,000 and they have to be put to use. We would respect our duties, but if you don’t respect yours, the ball will be your court. My hope is in young people. We would like to engage them and support them”.

Indeed the import of this challenge was not lost on Ogbeni Aregbesola. Proving that he meant business, the governor reiterated his commitment to the vision of making the state a point of reference in agricultural revolution in the country. To this end, he informed the audience that the State is embarking on a ‘back to farm project’ that would see all its employees in the agriculture sector go on the farm and achieve the desired results that would catapult the State to the desired zenith. “None of our agricultural officers would be permitted to stay in the office any longer – they will manage farms and farmers. If you fail, you either get demoted or get sacked. It is now a new era, the era of management by production”, he said.

With the falling price of crude oil now sold for $38.18, Ogbeni quipped that the era of cheap money coming from the federal account is gone. “We don’t need a soothsayer to tell us that our focus must shift to agriculture if we must survive the looming financial storm. The only way to survive is to depend on ourselves and our hands,” Aregbesola said.

Dr Charles Akinola of the Office of Economic Development and Partnership (OEDP), whose responsibility it was to broker the agreement between Osun and IITA, gave further insight into the extent of the expected impact of the project. “The location of the land being released today is part of about 4,000 hectares earmarked for food production. The Agricultural Production Zone will house two new Signature Farm Estates (residential) with farmers land parcels set at 5, 10 and 20 hectares respectively. The Farm estates are to be commissioned and open to use anytime from now and well in time for the 2016 planting season”, he said.

It was all smiles on the faces of the Osun farmers, traditional rulers and other citizens of the state that prides itself as the Land of Virtue who witnessed the signing of the of the agreement between the two parties recently at the executive lounge of the governor’s office at the Bola Ige Building, Osogbo. Indeed, they have a reason to be, with the attendant benefits that would accrue to them and the state in general. For one, the site of the project is in proximity to two of the largest farm settlements in the State; namely Ago-Owu and Mokore, occupying 11,496 hectares and 3,340 Hectares respectively. Consequently, combined populations of up to 14,000 settlers/resident farming families are estimated to be impacted. Also, within a 10 kilometer radius of the location are up to 85 villages with a predominantly farming popul
ation. It is therefore envisaged that the impact of the IITA presence would be felt among the farming population in that area working on over 50,000ha of land (excluding the farm settlements) in the immediate and the State as a whole.

Ogbeni Aregbesola must be commended for this great leap, having earlier invested over N5 billion in agriculture. Indeed, he has again shown that in spite of the uninspiring economic challenges currently facing the nation, he is a visionary leader whose arsenal never runs out of giant ideas. For in many ways, the partnership reflects the audacious but realistic vigilance of the Osun state government in granting a catalytic direction to the ambition of the state to become a major player in the agriculture sector where she has long been acknowledged as having an undeniable comparative advantage.