As
President Muhammadu Buhari made to visit Plateau in March, the
interrogation for the visit, due to the level of seriousness the state
government committed to the project bordered on the justification for
such high level preparation.
When the president concluded his two-day visit and left however,
many were awed by the tangible benefits of the visit that began to come
in in droves that the initial cynicism not only abated but stopped
completely.
Apart from the numerous
projects commissioned which were thrown open for public use, the
goodwill of being on the same page with the president began to manifest.
It was not surprising therefore that two weeks after the visit,
the state governor, Simon Lalong was appointed as a member of the
National Food Security Council (NFSC), giving Plateau a deserved
recognition as an agricultural center of excellence.
As many know, any governor chosen to be on the council considers
himself and his state as privileged as the council has only six states
governors with proven commitment to agriculture as members.
The council works in collaboration with seven federal ministries,
the CBN and other security agencies and is chaired by no less a
personality than the President.
The other state governors in the council are the governors of
Kebbi, Lagos, Delta, Taraba, Ebonyi and the seven cabinet ministers are
that of Agriculture and rural development, Finance, interior, industry,
trade and investment, water resources, environment as well as budget
and national planning.
While the Council has as its key objectives the aim of developing
sustainable solutions to the farmers-herdsmen clashes; climate change
and desertification and their impact on farmlands; grazing areas and
lakes amongst others.
The council also takes interest in regional and global policies and trends that bear implications for food security in Nigeria.
From these it was clear that Plateau’s commitment to developing
agriculture and boosting the lot of farmers can no longer be done from
the back seat as it has been enrolled into a comity of states with
proven track records of agricultural enhancement for its citizens and
for the nation,
The question then moved to what Plateau state and its governor owes this privilege and honour to?
At the inception of the Lalong administration in 2015, the
governor and his team saw the need to promote agriculture for the
development of the state and its people.
This it did by making agriculture one of its policy thrusts all
in the bid to ensure food secuirty, provide employment to the citizens
of the state and leverage on the policy thrust of the APC led
administration.
Lalong who has come to be known as a farmer-friendly governor did
not just talk but swung into action by immediately releasing funds to
an agency of the government, the state agricultural development program
and in the process brought back life to the agency which had become
inactive.
Added to that, extension service which was almost extinct in the
state was resuscitated with the employment of 400 adhoc staff to guide
farmers on best agricultural practices in addition to the payment of
counterpart funds which attracted national and international
collaboration that further enhanced agricultural production in the
state.
Due to the interventions of the Lalong administration, the World
Bank through the state Fadama three programme additional funding is
expecting two crop value chain programmes in the state, with increase in
tomato farming.
A lot of green houses have been springing up all over the state
due to these efforts while improvements are being recorded in rice
farming.
With the commitment by the current administration in agriculture,
potato farming irecieved a boost which has resulted in Plateau being
selected as the only state to run the national potato value chain and
furtherance of its desire to encourage a robust agricultural sector, the
governor created the enabling environment and sponsored the first ever
farmers’ summit in the state which resulted in in far reaching
resolutions.
In addition to all that, the state government purchased 400 tractors by for a farmer ownership scheme at a subsidized rate.
This project many concede is bound to elevate Plateau as the most
mechanized state in the country as it now boasts of over 800 functional
tractors in its fleet.
To the surprise of many, the moribund Panyam fish farm all of a
sudden began to function and to produce in full gear despite several
setbacks,
The Panyam fish farm which was established 65 years ago, is
reputed to be Nigeria’s largest fish farm covering a land mass of 309
hectares with the capacity to produce about 4.9 tonnes of fish
annually.
The Lalong administration it was that saw the need to bring it
back on stream and went into a Public Private Partnership to ensure
sustainable growth in line with government’s resolve to breathe life
into moribund industries and provide massive employment opportunities.
Fertilizer being one of the major inputs in crop production
propelled the Lalong administration to resuscitate the moribund Bokkos
fertilizer blending plant and is now one of the biggest plants in the
country which has supplied fertilizer to not only the state but other
states in the North Central & North Eastern Regions of the country.
The investment in the agricultural sector in Plateau state has
gone beyond subsistence levels to a flourishing value chain enterprise
with opportunities waiting to be tapped.
With these clear strides in the agricultural sector, not many
were surprised that Plateau, under Lalong is now property placed to
realise its destiny as a center of agricultural excellence.
Yakubu Dati
Commissioner for Information, Plateau State.