Editorial- It’s time for agric sector to shine.

There is no doubt that the year has been so eventful through government policy and programme as many have commended especial stakeholders who have consistently believed that more still need to be done to put the agricultural sector back to its feet when activities in this sector accounts for about 90% of our foreign earning and food supply between 1960-1971 with employment guaranteed cum economy boost and balance trade sheet.

Now that the down turn of oil has come, it is only an opportunity for the nation to get things right by more stimulation of proactive measures of micro economic policy that will give attention to non oil sector with special attention to agriculture because of it comparative advantage and multiplier effects on production, processing, packaging and marketing.

It is obvious that the discovery of oil in the early 70s coupled the inconsistency of government policy on agriculture  have negatively affected our food productions to a lowest level thereby leading us to importation where billion of dollars are being spent yearly until the recent policy re-direction of this present administration of Mr. President through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) which is already giving a little relief of sight as inputs are directly given to farmers to increase production for commercialization with all the year cultivation of major food crops.

As economic speculations against next year is fearing and hopeless, we may not want to share with this school of thought but rather to emphasis on why the government need to intensify her effort towards re building collapsed agricultural structures that have proactively affected the sector in the years past.

The epileptic funding of agriculture and insincerity of the officials who are at the custody of the policy execution are vital challenges that require a stringent measure against erring office who may want to truncate government effort  but with commensurable rewards to those that are doing well as a way of making the sector return back its lost glory.

Our farming mechanization is still nothing to write home about when compared to other nations of the world that have given agriculture a right place of pride, in our pursuit of repositioning the economic policy direction from oil, government must be disposed to evolving a policy that will be mechanization friendly to farmers, processors and value addition with more accessibility of commercial banks’ loan at a very attractive interest rate.

It is very appalling to know that the country has not catch on the opportunity of new trend of technology towards massive production and processing of agricultural produce as doing this will be an avenue to restoring the lost glory of the sector to replace petroleum whose level of creating wealth and job cannot in any compared with agriculture.

This comment will be in completed if attention towards research is not mentioned because improved technologies in agricultural development cannot be underestimated as both government and private sector’s attitude to funding research are not too encouraging, more importantly the private sector who the most beneficiaries of these technologies must be ready to put fund in research towards more yields and mechanization while the effort of building more roads, and power electricity challenges must be seriously taken for clinical solution by the government for the purpose of preservation and processing thereby making prices of produce globally competitive.

 In our view year 2015 portends more hope especially in the sector if the government at all levels can graciously give the political will the sector deserves in terms of accurate funding tied to specific project with involvement of private stakeholders who are genuinely committed to the sector especially the practicing farmers but not political who are only good in speaking good English to deceive government for the purpose of their selfish interest.