- Such a troubling move is akin to a forlorn and despondent man who, having been battered by the vicissitudes of life, takes to heavy drinking to escape his harsh and gloomy realities, but the respite the alcohol he drinks with reckless abandon brings will only be momentary and when he becomes sober and clear-headed again his problems and miseries will be waiting for him.
Please make no mistake about it, agriculture and food security play a crucial role in any nation’s development. They are the foundations upon which the solid structures of economic growth and prosperity are built. Agriculture is not just the planting and harvesting of agricultural produce or the rearing of livestock, it sets in motion the social and economic trajectory of any nation. Everything that drives the governance of a nation, from macroeconomic policies to interest rates, hinges on a nation’s ability to independently and sufficiently feed its people. A nation that cannot feed itself will definitely remain subservient to others.
If there is one thing many Nigerians have come to know about the people who lead them, it’s their intemperate and unabashed ability to indulge in activities and make decisions that grate the nerves, confound the minds, defy logic and above all raise questions about their ability and capacity to lead a nation where visionary, selfless, intelligent and altruistic people are needed at the helms of its affairs to take control and steer the nation away from troubled waters and the edge of the precipice.
Since coming to office, President Bola Tinubu-led government has taken decisions and made moves that fuel concerns and provoke debate about his government’s plans on how to lead the country and solve many problems that confront it and its people. If it’s not suspiciously spending huge amounts of public funds and taxpayers’ money on white elephant projects that the nation does not really have money for and really does not necessarily need at the moment, it’s subsidising pilgrimage and doling out cash to pilgrims to spend as they please. If it’s not doing these, it is standing idly and watching on as marauding armed non-state actors kill unarmed and defenceless Nigerians for sport, while proffering unrealistic answers to problems that require pragmatic and actionable solutions.
You would think by now nothing the Nigerian government does can stun or shock the people. But the government, it seems, has an endless stream of illogical decisions and banal moves up its sleeves that are sure to turn heads and get tongues wagging each time it shows them. The latest episode of our government’s penchant for absurdities is the directive by the federal government, through the Ministry of the Ministry of Agriculture asking civil servants working in the ministry to observe mandatory prayer and fasting within three weeks as part of the spiritual effort to combat food insecurity in the country
The directive is contained in a circular dated June 11 sent to its board members and staff, inviting them to participate in prayer sessions against nationwide hunger. This circular does not only reecho the government’s aversion to critical thinking and predilection for chasing shadows but underscores its lack of imagination, competence and palpable indifference to doing the actual work expected of the government to address the challenges its people are grappling with. It is difficult to see how fasting and prayer would help to tackle the problem of insecurity that severely affects agriculture when what is needed is deliberate, conscious and practical action by the government.
How will fasting and prayer halt the killings of farmers by rampaging armed herders and other criminal elements in the Middle Belt and core north which have contributed significantly to runaway food inflation in the country? How will fasting and prayer help address the issue of post-harvest losses that hinder the ability of players in the agricultural sector to provide cheap food all year round? How will fasting and prayer ensure the provision of cheap loans, grants and subsidies for farmers and other entrepreneurs in the agricultural value chain to help them grow and sustain their businesses and provide cheap and affordable food for the country?
All these questions can only be answered with the government’s aggressive investment in agriculture and its entire value chain through short, medium and long-term strategic planning, formulation and implementation of well-thought-out policies geared towards ensuring that Nigeria achieves sufficiency in local food production, guaranteeing food security, diversification of the economy and also leverage the comparative advantage the nation has in the production of certain cash crops for export in order to earn more foreign exchange. These are the steps serious governments, who are intentional and deliberate, about tackling galloping food inflation and achieving food security, will take.
Resorting to praying and fasting for food security is a religious circus and spiritual shenanigans that should not be entertained by any government that knows what it’s doing. Such a troubling move is akin to a forlorn and despondent man who, having been battered by the vicissitudes of life, takes to heavy drinking to escape his harsh and gloomy realities, but the respite the alcohol he drinks with reckless abandon brings will only be momentary when he becomes sober and clear-headed again his problems and miseries will be waiting for him.
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