agriculture

Open Letter to the Governor: “Inquiry and Accountability: Assessing the ‘Agribusiness for Food Security Initiative’ Event and Related Investments” by Idris Animasaun

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The recent event entitled ‘Agribusiness for Food Security Initiative,’ hosted at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan on April 29, 2024, garnered significant attention. His Excellency Governor Seyi Makinde, a Former President, the DG of OYSADA, and various dignitaries graced the occasion. The event, as reported is a collaborative effort between IITA and Oyo State government. However, questions are currently being raised about funding for this project and expected deliverables from the event and its impact on food security. Concerned citizens are humbly requesting that a comprehensible overview of the achieved outcomes from the relevant agency should be made available to the public. Furthermore, OYSADA is urged to furnish detailed, itemized records of all investments, specifying amounts, dates of receipt, disbursement particulars, beneficiaries, and the monitoring mechanisms ensuring appropriate fund utilization since inception of this administration in 2019. It is noteworthy that the absence of similar events in Fashola prompts speculation, with concerns raised about potential publicity hesitance due to alleged structural integrity issues related to heavy rainfall. The populace urges His Excellency to conduct a thorough investigation into the financial transactions associated with the construction of Fashola Agribusiness Hub. We are intentionally directing attention towards the designated consultant, Hollar Gabriel Nig. Ltd., tasked with ensuring quality and timely project delivery, whose office is situated at 1 Ipetu Road, Asio, Ondo East LGA, Ondo State to give a thorough account of the project and integrity under his watch. The government needs to be transparent about its expenditures to confirm or refute the narrative of a Public-Private Partnership with Brains and Hammers Ltd. His Excellency, known for his transparency, should ensure clarity regarding the Fashola Farm settlement. Additionally, comparing Oyo State’s agricultural progress to that of other states, such as Lagos, which reportedly earns trillions annually from agriculture, raises questions. Oyo State must disclose its agricultural earnings over the past five years and develop a comprehensive agribusiness plan leveraging Lagos State’s success. This plan should integrate the Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology with other state facilities like Fashola Farm settlements to maximize productivity. Instead of relying solely on rental income, Oyo State should invest in its citizens by creating young agricultural entrepreneurs through intentional and substantial investments, providing land, equipment, and education in agricultural and financial management. The state should also utilize its own facilities for agricultural events and training to promote local projects and visibility for rural farmers. Notably, the OYSADA headquarters in Saki, reportedly renovated at a cost of over 400 million Naira, remains underutilized, highlighting the need for more effective resource allocation and utilization.

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THE CITIZENS HAVE A BIG ROLE TO PLAY IN SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT by Idris Animasaun

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Often times, I have been at the forefront of advocacy for government to own up to her responsibilities in tackling the menace of waste collection which has bedeviled our environment in recent years. It is interesting to see how the Omituntun 2.0 is responding as they have moved from creating awareness on different radio and online platforms to breaking the monopoly of having a single waste management contractor collecting our wastes to about 10. For an administration that prides itself on prompt reaction to issues being raised, it is commendable to see the decline in the amount of black spots that we used to have within the city centre and our road median steadily becoming a shadow of her usual self. It is in this line that I am using this medium to call on the good people of the Ibadan to see themselves as major stakeholders as we can play a crucial role in sustainable waste management by reducing, reusing, and recycling of waste. We can minimize our waste by practicing responsible consumption habits, segregating recyclables, and composting organic matter. We are getting past the era of illicit dumping as anyone caught by the new Sheriff in town will be made to pay 50,000 naira fine or risk other sentences. The amount of calls I receive on weekly basis to help reach out to the commissioner for mercy by victims is increasingly growing and this feels so shameful for me to put a call through to someone I publicly drag for not doing his job well. We as citizens cannot continue to advocate for better waste management policies without willingness to support initiatives that promote sustainability in our communities which enforcements becomes one of the major fulcrum of actualizing some of these goals. Image Location: Ojoo IbadanDate: 10th April, 2024 Idris AnimasaunArchitect and Social Change Advocate

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How GSM is making Oyo State a major investment destination.

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Oyo, Lagos state as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have emerged as best performing states in Nigeria’s socioeconomic scorecard, according to Analysts Data Services and Resources (ADSR). A total of 57 relevant indicators were used in the construction of the scorecard across 12 key broad socio-economic segments. Mr Afolabi Olowookere who is The Managing Director and Chief Economist of ADSR said that Nigeria’s average was pegged at 45.79 per cent, the best performing states – Lagos, FCT and Oyo scored 62.5 per cent, 58.9 per cent and 58 per cent respectively. A total of 57 relevant indicators were used in the construction of the scorecard across 12 key broad socio-economic segments namely Economic Output; Government Finance; Financial Sector; and Capital Importation. Others were Land, Housing and Sanitation, Transportation, ICT Infrastructure, Energy and Environment, Industrialisation and Business Competitiveness, Education, Health, and Citizens’ Livelihood and Welfare. The disclosure on Tuesday during a Webinar series with the theme: “The Socioeconomic Scorecard of Nigerian States (2023 Baseline Edition)” and made available by premium times few days ago. A more structured and proper Public Private Partnership (PPP) framework to finance infrastructural facilities therefore enhancing manufacturing and global competitiveness. “It is also important for government to be more efficient in delivering an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. “Education, health and human capital development as key drivers of productivity must be refocused while Nigeria takes advantage of its youthful population and train them on skills that are relevant to get the needed competitiveness across states. Idris Animasaun writes from Ibadan

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PALLIATIVES: A BLESSING OR CURSE

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The Collins dictionary defines the word PALLIATIVE as an action that is intended to make the effects of a problem less severe but does not actually solve the problem. At the inauguration speech of President Bola Tinubu, he declared that the subsidy on fuel will be removed with immediate effect. This announcement/declaration had a domino effect on the prices of products across all sectors of the economy. This is because simple economics dictates that transportation is one of the key factors of production and when transportation cost increases, the cost of the product will increase. This will lead to the increase the final price the consumer will have to pay. Petrol which was selling for about for less than NGN250.00 in May 2023 now sells for between NGN550.00 and NGN600.00, this is well over 250% increase. With this massive increase, bearing in mind that generally, income has remained the same, a large percentage of the population are feeling the financial pain. On the 14th of July 2023, the federal government declared a state of emergency on the food security situation in the country. Based on the above, the federal government decided to provide funds, rice and fertilizers to the state governments and farmers in other to alleviate the economic strain being felt by the masses. According to reports, each state will get NGN5,000,000,000.00 (Five billion Naira) and 50kg bags of rice and maize. Several online media platforms and Television stations have covered the distribution of these commodities by some of the state governments across the federation. I would like to use this medium to thank His Excellency Gov. Seyi Makinde for the flagging off the distribution of the palliatives across the state. In the current situation we have found ourselves as a nation every little helps. The masses are drowning economically and are looking to the leaders to come up with sustainable solutions. On behalf of the citizens of Oyo State, particularly ‘the poorest of the poor’ I say thank you to our governor. Your Excellency, I know you as a man of the people, a man that works hard to fulfil his promises. There are several issues that I feel need attention regarding the distribution of palliatives, supports for farmers in the form of distribution of agricultural inputs and the sustainable food security. During Omituntun 1.0, there were several distributions of palliatives and distribution of inputs to farmers, this is Omituntun 2.0 and we are already doing the same thing. These distribution activities cost Oyo State billions of Naira, and with the economic situation of Nigeria it is obvious this is not sustainable. This brings me to the Oyo State Roadmap for Sustainable Development (2019-2023, 2023-2027). In Omituntun 1.0, agriculture/agribusiness was a building blocks for the development of Oyo State. And truth be told there were many ‘brilliant’ programmes/projects that were undertaken particularly form late 2020 to early 2023. I say ‘brilliant’ because no one can fault the idea behind the programmes/projects, the effort, time, and funding. However, it appears that the outcome does not march the effort especially from the point of view of the masses. According to the Oyo State Roadmap for Sustainable Development 2023 -2027, “1,500 students in senior secondary schools have been introduced to various enterprises in the agribusiness value chain through the Start Them Early Program (STEP). STEP is facilitated in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). A further 3,300 youths were trained in technology-driven agri-food systems under the Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project (YEAP). Also, working with the French Government, 150 women entrepreneurs were trained under the Support to Women Entrepreneurship in the Agri-food sector in Nigeria (SEFAN/ SWEAN)”. The question that we must all answer is ‘where is the output of all these programmes?’. it is important to note that the bottom-line of any agricultural programme is twofold, the increase in food production for the masses and increase in income for the farmer. If after approximately 3 years of financial and physical effort in agriculture/agribusiness, Oyo State citizens are still dependent on palliatives mainly food items handout, then we must rethink our strategy. For any modern-day farmer, irrigation is key to food production. Your Excellency my request on behalf of the youths that have been trained is that one of the farm settlements be upgraded to a large scaled irrigated farm funded by the state and leased out to the youths trained under the YEAP project. There are a few of the farm settlements that already have dams on site, please select one, landscape it, fence it, irrigate it and provide hostels and basic amenities. This will be cheaper than whatever Fashola has cost I can guarantee and quicker to complete. A project like this will within the shortest possible time increase actual food production as crops such as maize, peppers, tomatoes and vegetables can be produced at least 3 to 4 times a year on an irrigated farm as opposed to the once during the rainy season on the farm without irrigation. The same ‘Oyo State Roadmap for Sustainable Development 2023 -2027’ document stated that “In Agribusiness, we were able to attract over N35 billion in investments and $126 million in development partner blended finance. This is in addition to the direct and indirect benefits of training over 4,000 youths in agribusiness and the employment opportunities generated through projects such as the Fashola Agribusiness Industrial Hub, which will be completed in a few months. The result of these efforts is that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Oyo State increased from N2.75 trillion in 2019 to N4.05 trillion as of Q3 2022. Also, the net investment in Oyo State between 2019 and 2022 is N457.76 billion”. Going by the figures above, the Oyo state economy improved by just over 50% between 2019 and Q3 0f 2022, which is impressive. The main task now is how to ensure that the ‘poorest of the poor’ have a direct benefit from the economic expansion. For example, the alleged number of

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OPEN LETTER: Idris Animasaun writes Governor Seyi Makinde on need to address rising cost of food commodities despite the heavy investments in Agribusiness

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As an independent observer with extensive grassroot coverage, it is that important that I speak on the current situation of increasing cost of living and particularly the ever-rising cost of food commodities in Oyo State and Nigeria as a whole. This is a national problem: ‘Nigeria declared a national emergency on food security July 13, 2023, as record inflation has made basic foods unaffordable for many. The president’s spokesperson also said authorities would boost the security architecture to protect farmers ‘. For observers and political commentators, it came as a surprise that the government of Oyo State did not respond immediately to this public declaration. The people of Oyo State are aware of the massive interest the Oyo State government has in Agriculture. In fact, Agriculture was one of the major areas of focus in Omituntun 1.0 and remains one of the key areas of focus of this administration. There were also massive investments in agriculture and agribusiness with Agricultural Hubs being proposed and one being built, and a major agriculture summit held in 2021 and another business summit held in London recently that had agriculture as one of the main areas of discussion. With all these, Oyo State should be expected to be reaping the yields from all the effort put into agriculture in the last 4 years. Some of the government programmes that were lunched include: Oyo State Agribusiness Park programme Oyo State Regional Agribusiness Development Programme Oyo State Sustainable Rural Cities Development Programme Oyo State Agribusiness Policy and Governance Programme Oyo State Agribusiness Park Programme Oyo State Youth in Agribusiness Programme There was also the YEAP programme, various trainings in collaboration with private partners and so on. The question now is what is the current impact of all the efforts and investments of the past 4 years on the citizens in Oyo State? A quick glance at the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and that of OYSADA does not provide any direction for agriculture in Oyo State both of which have not been updated lately. The bottom-line in agriculture for the ‘Baba Taju or Iya Ronke’ is high food production which will translate to cheaper food commodities, no matter how much foreign investors/investments that come into the State, if food prices do not come down then the ‘Baba Tajus and Iya Ronkes’ all over the State will not benefit from these investments. The government need to involve farmers that can practice farming and reduce the reliance on ‘agricultural policy experts’ many of whom have little practical experience. It is a sad situation that we do not have farm products with the Oyo State label on them in the market today. Too much money has been spent and too many meetings and programmes have been lunched, we need results that impact on the masses that is physical food products in the markets and on the tables in the family homes. We must separate the policy developers from the practical farmers, both roles cannot be rolled into one as it has not served us well. During Omituntun 1.0, there was massive investments in agricultural input distributions, inputs were distributed in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Although these were laudable actions at the time, the question now is how do we measure the effectiveness of these distributions which involved massive financial investments? With all the money spent on agriculture in the last 4 years both by the Oyo State government and the private investors, Oyo State should be the model from which other State come to learn. However, this does not appear to be the case. Oyo State is the Pacesetter, and it is high time we take our rightful place as the ‘Food Basket’ of Nigeria. I believe there is a simple solution to significantly boost our food production. Instead of investing billions into the building of massive structures on farm settlements, the government should purchase Tractors and agricultural machineries that can be leased to farmers at subsidised rates. The Oyo State government has Nine (9) farm settlements, the government can select one for example Eruwa, embark on large scale irrigation of the farmland on this selected farm settlement and bring in the YEAP trained youths to cultivate the land focusing on Vegetables that are high in vitamins, corn and sweet corn, tomatoes peppers, fruits etc. The irrigated farmland allows for all year-round farming and food production. The irrigation can be done within the next 3 to 4 months and by April/May 2024 the State will have its first massive yield of farm produce to help boost food production. The State can then purchase these food items and distribute to the poor. Doing it this way will also ensure accountability and transparency as we will be able to monitor all costs and record all inputs distributed and all outputs achieved. A major part of the immediate solution is also to provide direct investments to our local farmers, I do not mean the usual seed and chemical distribution, what is required is bringing the Farmers associations, cooperatives, and communities to the table. We must go down to the Ward level and not just rely on the list of names coming from government officials and political groups. Elections are over and government programmes must positively touch everyone in the State irrespective of political association. Many of these groups are prepared to work with the government if the engagement process is conducive and well though through, we must remember that the local farmers are the main drivers to a sustainable food security. It is important that there is a change of approach as the previous farm distribution exercises has not translated to increased food for consumption. It is also important to note that foreign investors will only stay around when the going is good, but the local farmers will remain come rain come shine. Foreign investments are good, but they usually will not give the necessary quick gains required in this difficult time. Therefore, it is key that local farmers, farmer

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OYO STATE AGRIBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AGENCY: ONGOING ONLINE PALAVA

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It is no longer news that there are certain people ‘Concerned Citizens’ that appear to have an issue or issues with the Agribusiness setup in Oyo State. These people have taken aim at the DG of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency OYSADA in some recent online publications which I have been following keenly since my outburst about the agency in an online publication on my Instagram account on 3rd Decemeber 2022. Certain claims have been made online via different news platforms such as westerdailynew.com and oyoecho.com requesting the State government to set up a panel of enquiry to look into the activity of the agency headed by Debo Akande. One will wonder what these detractors stand to gain as the election is over and Gov. Seyi Makinde has won his second term. So why now, why OYSADA, why not any other ministry or agency? OYSADA on their own part have since come out fighting with different articles to defend their position and to discredit the articles from their detractors which indeed confirmed to me that something must really be going on. Blogs such as goalpoacher.com, flowerbudnews.ng and oyotruth.com have since been employed to not only respond but fire back. As a neutral observer who has been following the various articles on the OYSADA/Agribusiness topic from afar since some friends who went on the so called training in Nassarawa returned back without any serious form of engagements at neither of the state owned farm settlements or some sort of empowerments. There are so many aspects of this whole issue that is confusing and should be laid bare. On the side of the so called ‘Concerned Citizens’, what exactly are they after, what do they stand to gain? They have claimed that there is mismanagement in OYSADA, what proof or evidence do they have? The must provide details. On the OYSADA side, the DG claimed that 600 out of 3300 youths from YEAP have been empowered, OYSADA should provide the names of these 600 and how they were empowered. This information will kill off the rumour being peddled by their detractors regarding this project. The DG talked about the management staff in an article by Adewale Owoade “Gov. Makinde places Oyo State a step ahead of others on agribusiness development”. He clamed that IITA was responsible for funding the management staff of OYSADA, and that OYSADA decided to make do with two management staff even though it has the statutory powers to recruit more staff. This is where this gets tricky, is the DG saying OYSADA has only two management staff? This needs to be cleared. Why is IITA funding OYSADA staff, does IITA have shares in OYSADA or are they just helping the State out for free. Then who are the two management staff and who appointed them and when? The DG has left so many more questions unanswered. Simple research into the staffing of OYSADA shows that the secretary of the organisation is a civil servant and there are several directors that are also civil servants. Are these not management staff, and are they being paid by IITA? The Western Daily News published a report on the 1st of April 2023 and mentioned a Mr. Peter and a Miss Gift, are these two people the management staff being funded by IITA? Who are the people giving their sweat and blood for the project to succeed? Are there people working for free in OYSADA? Are the pictures posted in the Western Daily News really from the Centre in Awe? If not the OYSADA must file an official compliant with the NUJ. The Oyo State Independent Monitoring Group’s (OYSIMG) investig ative unit also need to provide information on the detailed and thorough investigation they conducted. What is being alleged has to do with mismanagement and misappropriation of funds, so the question is, did the investigators go through the financial records and contract award records of OYSADA, did they physically visit all the sites under the supervision of OYSADA for example Saki, Fashola, Awe. Who invited OYSIMG to carry out the investigation? Why not invite the Oyo State Anti Corruption Agency (OYACA) for accountability, credibility, and transparency? AN ADVICE TO THE DG: To clear this issue the DG should showcase the work done in AWE, SAKI, FASHOLA for the public to see. Also, whenever the DG is representing OYSADA he should hold such meeting on an OY SADA site instead of IITA. This will shut his detractors up permanently. Further investigation is being done on this topic. It is important to ensure that the government of Gov. Makinde is not distracted from its good work. However, it is important to ensure that all the above is cleared up and facts are separated from rumours.

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Governor Seyi Makinde Beware The Ides Of March

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Most people do not realise that the Ides of March has a non-threatening history. Kalends, Nones and Ides were ancient markers used to reference dates in relation to lunar phases. Ides simply referred to the first new moon of a given month, which usually fell between the 13th and 15th. In fact, the Ides of March once signified the new year, which meant celebrations and rejoicing. However, the soothsayer’s warning to Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare play has not only branded the phrase, it also marked the phrase as a dark gloomy warning of eminent danger. In relation to Oyo State politics and the GSM factor, it is important that GSM is wary of all the hangers on around him. Some are appointed close allies and others are friends. GSM needs to investigate and carry out enhanced due diligence on some of these allies who follow him around. Some of these people are so far from reality that they believe they are GSM supporters, but their personal greed, arrogance and outright wickedness has become a major issue for the GSM brand. These people have directly and indirectly enriched themselves over the last three and a half years. The actions are a direct contradiction to the position which GSM himself tries to project to the masses. Governor Seyi Makinde presents himself as a man of the people, a man accountable to the people, a man that loves the people and a man ready to fight corruption. It is however so sad that there are a couple of major cases of corruption and financial mismanagement going on right under his nose. No one is sure if his is unaware, aware but likely scenarios or what then is the reason for the creating OYACA which is an agency established by the virtue of the Oyo State Anti-Corruption Agency cy Law, 2019. The activities of OYACA would plug revenue leaks in the government purse and stop the act of mismanagement of office by public office holders and government workers. Till date, there has never been a record of prosecution of any high profile case in the state. From what we see, GSM appears to be ‘unaware’, at least from his words and sometimes even his body language. His Excellency talks about the improvement of education in the claims that things are better than they were before he came into office state. Same in Health, Education and Security. However, the facts on ground do not appear to agree with his statements. HEALTH A good example is the Medical Outreach by Omituntun Initiative in the Diaspora (OID) and Seyi Makinde Volunteer in partnership with the Oyo State Ministry of Health held last December, 2022 in Adamasigba Stadium, with many state officials, hangers on and allies attending for the photo opportunity. In a State where Billions of Naira has been spent to supposedly rehabilitate the primary health centre (about 350 of them) across the state, you will think the government will partner with the sponsors of the Medical Outreach to publicise the rehabilitated primary health centres. Really the sensible thing to do would have been to use several primary health centres as venues of the outreach, thereby show casing the work of the government. They used the stadium, brought in several government officials and allies and then supposedly donated medical supplies to the state ministry of health. The question that should be asked is that if these government had improved the health facilities and health awareness, such outreach would not be necessary. Such programmes should be run by the opposition not the ruling party. We are all familiar with the usual practice of politicians seeking attention to carry out such programmes in other to get noticed in their efforts to be considered for a position in the future. In the area of health there was more audio work done than in real life. However, GSM can provide facts and figures, pictures by going to campaign in front of several of the rehabilitated and functioning primary health centres. EDUCATION In the area of education, at the primary level there are no obvious changes, GSM’s cancellation of the NGN3000.00 paid by the students is the major change at secondary level. Regarding education, there seems to be a whole lot of noise at the tertiary level. This however can be associated with the acquisition of the sole ownership of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomoso. Rehabilitation of old buildings is currently ongoing at several Polytechnics across the State. Oyo State they claim is becoming the centre of higher education. Even though they started poorly due to the initial choice of a commissioner in the ministry which was a colossal disaster. This is a man that is not known to have run any major organisation before becoming commissioner, and as such his tranfer or should we say demotion to the Ministry of Establishment became imminent. He was later moved to Ministry of Works (A Professor of Statistics) ? The people of the State particularly Ibadan can attest to his incompetence going by the state of the roads in the ancient city. Although, there are several major road projects going on in the State reliable source claim the Governor is directly handle these ‘deals’. And we are going to really do business going forward, we are better start by meaning them with right appointments in rightful positions. SECURITY In the area of security, there has been a couple of high-profile robberies, kidnappings, murders, and thugs going on rampage in the State under this government. Reliable sources also point to the obvious fact that a certain individual who can be considered as a major security risk is a close ally of the government and a regular visitor to the Governor’s house. The Amotekun security outfit championed by the Governor are poorly trained and there has been a few allegations of members being involved in crime. This will remain a problem until the government understand the importance of enhanced vetting of

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