Editorial- Food Security without Agric Mechanization Centre

 

The recently signed Oronsanye rationalization and merger report by President Tinubu for implementation has no doubt been very timely in view of wastages and duplications of functions with many agencies performing just one function.

There are many of such instances that have necessitated the Federal Government's ( FG)  decision to become more determined in the merging of some agencies together so as to attain cost effective management of the country's resources towards our nation's building particularly as regards food security with mechanized sustainability.

We are quite in agreement with all these positions of agencies merger by the FG with an exemption to agricultural mechanization centre which in our view has to be reconsidered in order to be allowed to stay on its own under the appropriate ministry for the attainment of sustainable food productivity with best practices and right adaptive implements and tools to reduce drudgery in farming.

One of such agencies is National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization ( NCAM) saddles with the mandate to ensure local content mechanization equipments that are locally adaptable to every ecology across the nation with specification to crop types. 

The strategic positioning of NCAM under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security ( FMAFS) reflects the sensitivity of Government to the specific needs of the agency to food security which its movement into another ministry to be specific the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology will alter a lot of the purposes NCAM is meant to achieve through efficient monitoring and certification of agricultural mechanization to food productivity system through technologies availability and transfer as extension engineers to train the trainers for commercial production.

No doubt this Agency might not have achieved 100% expected standard since its inception in terms of mechanization contributions to food security, but some of its achievements of lately are evidence of more better commitment and service delivery to sustainability of efficient mechanization system that is majorly Agriculture specific which cannot be better situated other than under the FMAFS for it to be more efficient and apt to food security needs like other developing nations having similar centres.

And all these are achievable with the strong political support of the Government to give the agency the impetus to perform to its capacity as strongly advocated by Governor Babagana Umara Zulum of Bornu state who pleaded to the FG to allow NCAM be in view of what he saw during his visit to the centre.

The idea of taking NCAM to Federal Ministry of Science and Technology may sound great to those that are not properly informed of the needed support of this Agency to mechanized farming in Nigeria with evidence of similar centres in Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Pakistan, India and Philippines where they are actually advancing their food security situation in a progressive manner, and which Nigeria cannot be an exception if actually she determined to achieve success in its renewed hope in the sector. 

It is on this basis we are calling on the implementation committee of this FG merger to ensure more consultation before final decision that will not negate on food security in the country that is obviously begging for more support in the mechanized farming and increased utilization of locally invented tools and equipment that are very adaptable to our ecosystem with proper monitoring of the imported Agricultural equipments into the country which is the mandate of NCAM.