Anchor Borrower programme failed due to corruption – AFAN President
In what may well be an official corroboration of the complaints constantly lodged by South East groups about the existence of ‘malicious’ checkpoints in the zone, where security agents not only extort the people but humiliate them to boot, impeding movement and, by extension, economic activities, Livestock Development Minister, Alhaji Idi Mukhtar Maiga, has decried the existence of 700 checkpoints where truck drivers conveying agricultural produce are forced to pay an average of N1.2 million per trip, a major reason for the high cost of meat and other agricultural produce in the market.
On Wednesday this week, it was reported that the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petition had commenced a probe of the multiplicity of security checkpoints across the South East geopolitical zones, as well as the alleged constant humiliation of commuters in the zone at the various ‘malicious’ checkpoints.
To that end, the committee had invited the Igbo National Council and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa to appear before it on Thursday – yesterday, January 23 – over a petition by the former alleging extortion and humiliation of travellers at the various checkpoints in the South East.
According to the report, the invitation to the parties, which was signed by the chairman of the committee, Mike Etaba, requested them to submit copies of their brief to the committee, in respect of the petition entitled “petition against the unlawful extortion of motorists and wanton humiliation of civilian passengers and road users by security operatives serving in some joint task force /military checkpoints and outposts in South East Region of Nigeria.’
The Livestock Minister, who spoke on Thursday – yesterday, January 23 – as one of the guest speakers at Daily Trust’s 22nd Annual Dialogue in Abuja, warned that the extortions and the impediments to movement cause by these unregulated checkpoints are the main reason for the high cost of meat and other agricultural produce in the market.
“Our people who transport cows have to pass through about 700 checkpoints manned by State and non-state actors, Alhaji Maiga lamented.
“The drivers are paying an average of N1.2 million as they travel from one part of the country to another, which will be transferred to the goods they are carrying,” he said.
Accordingly, he called on the responsible government authorities to dismantle these checkpoints, particularly those created by non-state actors.
“We are calling on the responsible government authorities to rise to this occasion by dismantling these checkpoints, especially those created by non-state actors on the road to make food available and affordable for Nigerians,” he appealed.
Speaking in the same vein, the National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Arc. Kabir Ibrahim has alleged that the Anchor Borrower programme of the previous administration failed due to corruption.
According to Ibrahim, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) gave billions of naira to prime anchors, who instead of giving the money to real farmers, used it to buy rice from the market.
This, he said, led to the failure of the programme, which was intended to boost rice and wheat production between 2015-2016.
“Between 2015-2016, there was an effort to make rice available through the Anchor Borrower programme. But instead of giving the money to the real farmers, the CBN gave the money to the prime anchor.
“So, they took the money to the market and started buying what was expected to be grown by indigenous farmers”, he alleged.
The Special Guest of Honour at the event, Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Right Hon Abbas Tajudeen, agreed with other speakers that there is a need for a paradigm shift in food governance in the country.
Represented by the Chairman of the House Committee on Nutrition and Food Security, Hon Chike John Okafor, the Speaker assured Nigerians that the House would champion strategic funding for food production in Nigeria.
“One of the things we do in the National Assembly is to network with the states and local governments across the country, so we can be on the same page to make good food available and affordable to our people.
“Again, we will continue to hold key players in the agricultural value chain to account.
“So, NASS is poised to ensure food availability and affordability in Nigeria in line with the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu,” he said.
Explaining why food is so costly in Nigeria when compared to countries like Kenya, which share a similar per capita ratio with Nigeria, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tomato Jos, Ms Mira Mehta, said Nigeria still imports up to 30 percent of its food.
“Apart from insecurity, there are other reasons for the high cost of staples in Nigeria, including about 30 per cent to importation.
“Kenya shares similar per capita with Nigeria. Meanwhile, the average Kenyan spends less than half of his salary on food, while his counterpart in Nigeria spends two-thirds of his salary on food.
“So, to address high food cost, the Nigerian government must have a deliberate plan to support farmers, make precision farm technology available and affordable and develop and implement policies that will attract more persons, especially the young generation, to agriculture,” she said.
