I hold myself responsible for the performance of the sector from 2001 to 2007, noting however that my last full year in office was 2006. I admit, with full appreciation and gratitude, to the guidance, direction, support and cooperation I received from President Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, who I used to call Chief Minister of Agriculture because of his total involvement and the vanguard role he played in the various presidential initiatives that were undertaken.
I also want to put on record the support I received from all the state Governors particularly Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, CON. Worthy of mention at the Government level also was the support received from all the Deputy Governors of that period especially the role played by President Goodluck Jonathan as he was at that time the Subcommittee Chairman on Rice Production under the Presidential Initiative on Rice where he served creditably well. All the stakeholders, especially farmer groups and cooperatives, were most helpful.
The table below displays the performance of the Agricultural sector in terms of GDP growth:
I have however noticed that the achievements being mentioned at various fora especially by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, have no basis except that they were stated by the Honourable Minister in charge of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina (pictured). I have personally spoken with the SSA as to his source and he gentlemanly told me that he got all he said from the Minister. I reminded him that there are independent government agencies especially the National Bureau of Statistics that he should check with, and he promised to take up the issue with the Minister and revert back to me.
Fertilizer Claims On the issue of fertilizer, it is only God the Almighty that will judge the unfair way past administrations are being portrayed. To claim that there was subsidy of N870 billion spent on fertilizers since the use of fertilizers was initially encouraged by the Government about 40 years ago is most unfair, as I doubt if the entire agricultural budgets for the whole period was up to that sum. For a fact, from 1999-2007, the total subsidy on fertilizers was under N25 billion. This can be verified from the Budget Office of the Federal Ministry of Finance. However, according to Dr. Adesina the subsidy which was abused and corruptly taken was claimed to be N26 billion annually over a period of 40 years.
He further claimed only N2.9 billion reached the farmers annually. Any discerning person can see clearly that under Obasanjo’s administration, we had only N3 billion on average per annum for fertilizer subsidy. How can N26 billion be corruptly taken annually when only N3 billion was allocated annually? And where did the figure of N870 billion subsidy on fertilizers come from when only about N25 billion was committed in eight years, which represent 20% of the 40 years mentioned? It is clear that there is no basis for the claim being made by Dr Adesina except for the purposes of getting unearned awards at the expense of those who served in previous administrations. Middlemen in Fertilizer Distribution The Minister of Agriculture proudly stated that he stopped corruption of 40 years in 90 days.
This statement is misplaced, as over the purported period, he had not overseen the purchase of a single bag of fertilizer. This can only be accepted as a statement of intent and not an achievement. Dr. Adesina can only claim this as an achievement if there was successful supply of fertilizers to farmers during that period. Under the Obasanjo administration, we NEVER HAD A SINGLE MIDDLEMAN. Fertilizers were sent directly to state governments that then arranged distribution to their own farmers. It is a great pity that Dr. Adesina keeps on making claims instead of doing his job and allowing to be judged afterwards.
I would not have had any problems with his false claims except that it tends to disparage those who served before him and their respective Presidents. Facts on the Nigerian economy should be taken from the National Bureau of Statistics and the CBN, not plucked from space, massaged and deployed to malign others, pull wool over the eyes of members of government and the public, and gain unearned credits. I hereby appeal to the Government to set up an inquiry into the spurious claims on the Agricultural sector by the Minister to stop the embarrassment of the country, particularly when his bogus statements on performance can be easily dismissed with highly reliable and readily available data from the National Bureau of Statistics. *Bello was minister of agriculture (2001-2007).
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