Leadership (Abuja)
Abdulazeez Sani
4 May 2008
Unless government intervenes in the food crisis now rocking the world, the nation's security will be at risk. The picture is also going to be gloomier in the coming months of June, July and August, says the Abuja Discussion Forum. Already, food shortages have led to wide-scale revolts in some countries. The Forum is of the opinion that this may soon happen in Nigeria too. The Abuja-based discussion group noted that much has not been done by the authorities to address the scourge
In a press release signed by the Forum's chairman, M.M. Abdu, it noted: "The food crisis is a reality and is already felt by the public long before the months of June, July and August, the period perennially associated with food shortage. It is even more disturbing when one considers the international dimension to the crisis. In some countries such as Egypt, Senegal, Mauritania, our immediate neighbours like Cameroun and a number of countries in Asia, the people have been on the streets a few times protesting the exorbitant cost or inadequate supply of food items."
Since the problem of food crisis is a global phenomenon which is expected to last a few years, the group said, there is need for governments at all levels to strategise and come up with measures that would nip the problem in the bud to avoid risking the nation's security.
The group acknowledged the effort of the federal government and its planned importation of 500,000 metric tons of rice which will cost the nation a whopping N80 billion. It, however, pointed out that the importation of rice in such large scale is not the panacea to the problem.
Instead, the group suggested that long-term measures be employed and that other essential food items be included in the importation list, while stressing the need to import wheat and maize which are needed for the production of bread and livestock feed respectively.
For lasting solutions and prevention of future occurrence of such food scarcity in the country, the group called on the government to make food-stuffs such as rice, wheat and maize available to the citizenry before the harvest season. Also, it clamoured for immediate support to farmers especially in terms of fertiliser distribution so that the country will not depend solely on imports.
The group further advocated reinforcing and supporting river basins in the country. This, according to it, will enhance dry farming and engage the virile youth in food production. The group also called for the establishment and completion of more reserve facilities and sustaining them to the capacity of stocking food for the demand of Nigeria's teeming populace. Establishment of such reserve facilities, the group asserted, "will carry the nation through the trying years and beyond". It will also help to checkmate "price crash for agricultural produce".
The forum also called upon the National Assembly to not allow the current probes overwhelm it and make it forget important national issues such as the food crisis. The release reads in part: "While we appreciate and identify with the ongoing probes by the National Assembly, we urge them to equally and most importantly direct their attention to the impending food crisis as a matter of national security concern."
Meanwhile, the Association for Truth and Justice (ATJ) has joined the campaign to tackle food shortage in the country. Speaking to newsmen at the ATJ headquarters in Abuja, the chairman of the association, Alhaji Musa Megida Abdu, grieved over the imminent food crisis which, he said, is an issue of national security.
Alhaji Abdu added that hunger can be a major cause of lawlessness in the country. He said: "When stomachs are empty, people's reasoning becomes shallow and hollow and consequently they do not obey any law of the land."
He called upon President Umaru Yar'Adua to take immediate action, since this is a national calamity. "Hunger does not know who is in PDP, ANPP, DPP or any other party. After all, Yar'Adua is Nigeria's president not president of a political party," he said.
Alhaji Abdu was of the opinion that since it takes about a year before some food items become ripe for consumption, it will not not bad for the country to continue to import some essential food items until it is out of the woods
He advised Nigerians to engage in productive ventures rather than use their useful time for daydreaming and spreading wild rumours which have no substance. He noted that in developed countries people think of how they would help their countries not how to rig elections or pull down one another.
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