NANFeatures/Vol.11/No.77/2017 (May 26)
Agriculture as means of checking militancy in Niger Delta region
A News Analysis by Rachael Abujah, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) is established to further the development of the people of Niger Delta using its resources, including land mass, oil and agriculture, among others.
Specifically, observers note that the large expanse of arable land available in the region can encourage investments in agriculture that will result in increased levels of production.
Considering this, the Federal Government, through PAP, has paid more attention to agricultural development in the region to engage the youth.
Apart from creating jobs, checking militancy and bringing developments to the region, the Coordinator of PAP, Brig.-Gen Paul Boroh, said sustainable agriculture would increase biodiversity of the Niger Delta region.
Observers in the region also note that although there are complaints of land and water pollution, the cultivation of crops such as cassava, cocoa, rice and aquaculture practices such production of catfish can flourish in many areas of the region.
They also observe that there are other businesses that would not require huge capital to start off unlike the oil business that is accessible to only a few people.
They describe agriculture as a goldmine that needs to be taken seriously by the people of the region, particularly the youth as it is easier to empower people through agriculture than oil business.
This observation, has therefore, informed the PAP’s decision to engage its beneficiaries on agriculture and to develop it.
For instance, the Amnesty Office said it would train more beneficiaries of PAP in different fields of agriculture in line with the Green Alternative Initiative of government.
Boroh also reaffirmed President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to offer a better arrangement with the beneficiaries of the programme in agriculture.
He said the office had concluded the training of more than 500 beneficiaries on advanced agriculture at the Bio Resource Centre in Odi, Bayelsa and signed an agreement with the Songhai Rivers Development Initiative to train 3,105 amnesty beneficiaries in modern agriculture.
According to him, the agreement will be implemented on the platform of the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme and it will create 12,400 jobs in the region.
He observed further that the agreement covered training, establishment of cluster farms, empowerment services and establishment of a market chain.
In the implementation of the agreement, Boroh said 105 of the beneficiaries would have one hectare of farmland each to be operated on individual basis, while 3,000 others would have farm clusters to be operated as cooperatives.
“The all-round training and empowerment of each beneficiary is designed to enable them employ four persons each in the integrated farms with a capacity to employ 12,400 workers,’’ he said.
He listed areas to be covered by the training as aquaculture, agriculture, crop production, agro-and food processing, comprising feed formulation and entrepreneurship.
Boroh explained that the training would be 75 per cent practical at the end of which successful participants would be certified by Songhai Rivers Development Initiative and the University of Port Harcourt.
“All we are doing is to sustain the reintegration process of the PAP, stabilise the Niger Delta region and use agriculture as a mechanism to resolve crisis in the region,’’ he said.
Sharing similar sentiments, Mr Tamunopriye Jaja, Coordinator of Songhai Rivers Development Initiative, said the agreement provided a framework for Songhai to contribute to peace and security in the Niger Delta region.
“It is no longer news that there is a new policy direction in the country tilted towards raising agriculture.
“It is obvious that the demand for oil is diminishing, but agriculture remains a renewable source always in great demand.
“In the 1960s, agriculture was the mainstay of our economy. Today, with the financial constraints, we have to go back to agriculture.
“We are to train and empower the trainees and we have chosen the cluster farm method; we will provide efficient service delivery and we will work as a team and give our best,’’ he said.
Jaja explained that the agreement would be valid for an initial period of 18 months for agribusinesses training, land acquisition, establishment of cluster farms, post-training empowerment programme and the establishment of market chain.
Boroh said PAP would focus on agriculture to revamp the economy, create massive jobs and food sufficiency in the Niger Delta region and country at large.
He said PAP was collaborating with various national and international groups on ways of training more beneficiaries of the programme in agriculture for job creation, food security and wealth creation.
Mr Emmanuel Onoyo-Akorhe, owner of a fish farm in Ugheli, Delta, a beneficiary of the programme, said PAP had given him the opportunity to boost his fishing business.
Also, Mr Reuben Opuobori, a fish farm owner, said that farming had offered him and other former agitators a chance to make a difference by growing enough food to feed the nation.
“Those who become farmers now have the opportunity to be the generation that end world hunger and alleviate malnutrition as well as helping the sector to adapt to climate change.
“There are many challenges ahead for the sector but if young people are offered education in agriculture and are engaged with innovations, then the agriculture industry can attract the youth again,’’ he said.
In his view, a beneficiary of PAP, Mr Uche Ogburia from Elele, Rivers, said chicken business had becoming popular due to its high returns on improved chicken farming.
“I know youths have small or no land to start big investments, but with the little they have or by making use of their parent’s farms, they can do their poultry farming right there and realise their dreams,’’ he said.
According to him, small scale farming has become a major force behind the Nigerian’s economy and could not be ignored if the country will make a generation that can take the it to a greater height in the world economy.(NANFeatures)
**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)