But
apart from referring the matter to the Office of the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, nothing more was
heard about it, hence their decision to write the President way back in
November 2017.
The
farmers lamented: “The procured inputs, particularly
the fungicides, had destroyed our cocoa trees and farms”. Apparently,
this was not the first time it was happening because according to them: “We want Mr. President to realise that most of the inputs
procured in the past like jute bags, solo sprayer pumps, fungicides and
insecticides were rejected by the cocoa farmers as a result of (their) low
standard, while those farmers that used (some of them) regretted their action
because of the negative impact on their cocoa farms”. This is a highly
shocking and embarrassing development.
Coming
from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture which has enjoyed a positive outlook
in sustaining the giant strides that were set by the previous government of President Goodluck Jonathan, especially
in the areas of rice and cassava production, we are tempted to agree with the
farmers that there could be a deliberate effort to sabotage cocoa cultivation
in Nigeria. The Minister of Agriculture, Ogbeh, has since responded to the
issue by pledging to “immediately meet with those
affected, take samples of the fungicides, investigate the source of supply,
find the supplier and compel him or her to account for the damage”.
We
find this response highly reactive, which should not be the case. It amounts to
medicine after death. It is the duty of the Ministry to ensure that the quality
of inputs supplied to farmers is above reproach. If farmers can no longer trust
the quality of inputs supplied by their own government, then no one can be
safe. Such a government must be snoozing on its responsibilities while toiling
farmers labour in vain.
This
is definitely an issue the anti-graft and security agencies must swing into
action to investigate because it touches on economic sabotage and in fact,
national security. We call on the National Assembly Committees on Agriculture
and Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes to conduct a comprehensive probe and a
public hearing to enable Nigerians see those who are working against efforts to
recharge the non-oil revenue economy of the nation.
Above
all, we call on the Federal Government to severely sanction those behind this
outrage and adequately compensate the farmers for their losses. We want a
strong example to be made of the culprits to demonstrate our zero tolerance to
economic saboteurs. (Vanguard)
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