Initially, when people talked about hunger or food scarcity, I did not feel disturbed. I believed that if Nigeria remained united and indivisible, the North would always produce enough to feed the rest of the country. Considering the landmass and population, Nigeria would have no reason to worry as long as we maintained good relations with our northern brothers. For instance, take Niger State in the North. Its landmass is larger than the entire South West. Similarly, the population of Kano State exceeds that of the entire South East.
A few years back, I contemplated marrying someone from the North. My reasoning was that if the Yoruba or Igbo, the two regions known for their assertiveness, decided to antagonize Northern Nigeria and the latter cut off food supply to the South, I could easily relocate to the North. Alas, I never imagined that a day would come when the North, the acclaimed food basket of Nigeria, would protest against hunger. What an irony of life.
If I had been more perceptive, I would have suspected that something was amiss. The herdsmen and farmers’ clashes in the Oke Ogun part of Oyo State during Governor Lam Adesina’s tenure were troubling signs. In response, former Governor Rasheed Ladoja sent some young graduates from the state to Israel to study how Israelis feed themselves and export food products despite their desert land. The total area of Israel is 22,145 sq. km (8,630 sq. miles), of which 21,671 sq. km is desert. Israel is about 420 km in length and approximately 115 km across at its widest point. These graduates returned with the concept of greenhouse farming. Former Governor Adewolu Ladoja is one of the most intelligent governors to have ever ruled Oyo State.
Today, it is that greenhouse farming that sustains us in Oyo State. The incumbent governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde, has taken it to another level. We no longer depend on the Northern part of Nigeria for our supply of tomatoes and onions in the South West. Before this, such unrest would have caused the prices of tomatoes, onions, and pepper to skyrocket in our region. But due to our leaders’ foresight, we have been able to mitigate this to an extent.
Now that Northerners have shown us the scarcity of food products in their region by protesting against hunger, the rest of the country must not ignore this warning. There is a fire on the mountain. We must invest more in modern agriculture in the South West, or we will have ourselves to blame. A word is enough for the wise.
Mogaji Wole Arisekola writes from Ibadan.
