I had to write this piece because
until last week, I had lived and worked in Benue state which is undoubtedly the
food basket of Nigeria. During my sojourn in Benue state, I observed that the
state is highly blessed with agricultural potentials that can be harnessed for
the benefit of Nigeria, Africa and the World in general. I also noticed that
even with these potentials, the people live in penury, as most of the residents
depend on salary from the feckless government who are unable to pay workers’
wages for several months. I noticed a clear disconnect between the potentials
of the state and the standard of living of its people, which ought not to be.
Suffice it to say that for the
period I spent in Benue state, I ate lots of fruits most notably oranges,
mangoes, pineapple and a plethora of others. I also ate lots of pounded yam,
akpu and other foods which were considered bourgeois in other parts of the country.
One of the delicacies I enjoyed, and which I will miss so much is Nyangio (hope
I got that right?) alias pork. I savoured lots of pork while in Makurdi, and
that was what kept me going in the very humid weather there.
Back to business; let me tell us
a little about Benue state and why it is a goldmine inhabited by paupers.
Benue state is located in North
Central Nigeria and has a population of more than 4.2 million people according
to a 2006 estimate (which is the only reliable estimate I can lay hands on).
The state is predominantly occupied by the Tivs, Idomas and Igedes, although
there are other ethnic minorities and settler such as the Hausas, Igbos,
Yorubas and others.
According to history many of the
ethnic groups that are indigenous of the state were associated with the rise
and fall of the Kwararafa kingdom which was actually a confederacy of many
ethnic groups that co-existed and co-opted in a number of ways to lay the
foundation of the present day Benue and neighbouring states like Plateau,
Taraba and Cross River. The Kwararafa kingdom lasted till the 17th
Century when it collapsed after suffering severe military attacks from the
emerging Borno Empire.
The Tiv who constitute a large
chunk of the indigenous population of Benue state is a semi-Bantu stock from
the Katanga region of Congo-Zaire in Central Africa. According to history,
between the year 1750 and 1800, the Tivs had migrated to Seven Hills in the
West Cameroun when all the communities in the Apa region of the Kwararafa were
in a state of turmoil. Hence, it was easy for the arriving Tivs to fight their
way into the land until they reached the banks of the River Benue and Katsina-Ala,
thus forcing the Idomas and other ethnic group along that axis to move further
westwards. By 1800, all the people in the area to be known later as Benue state
had arrived in the area and had learnt to cohabit with one another.
Benue state which was created in
1976 shares boundary with Nasarawa state to the North; Cross River, Enugu and
Ebonyi states to the south; Taraba and the Republic of Cameroun to the East,
and Kogi state to the West. Benue has 23 Local Government Areas, and its
capital is located in Makurdi which is the biggest metropolis in the state and
where the seat of political power is based. Other notable urban areas in the
state are Gboko and Otukpo which are the ancestral home of the two major tribes
in the state- Tiv and Idoma respectively.
Benue state is a rich
agricultural region full of rivers, and just as has been mentioned earlier in
the introductory part, it is popularly known as the Food basket of Nigeria. The
state earned this slogan because of its rich and diverse agricultural
productivity which include, but not limited to yam, rice, flax, beniseed
cassava, potatoes, maize, soya beans, sorghum, millet and cocoyam.
Benue state accounts for over 70
percent of Nigeria’s soya beans production thereby making Nigeria the largest
producer of soya beans in West Africa. That aside, at present, the state is the
largest producer of orange and other citrus fruits in Nigeria. Not just are
they the largest producer of orange, but the best species you can find anywhere
in the world are found therein. The best species of fruits such as pineapple
and mango are found in Benue state in abundance. According to the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), Nigeria produces about 3.4 million metric tons
of citrus fruits annually making it the 9th largest producer in the
world, and the largest producer in Africa. It is estimated that Benue state
produces more than 85% percent of the citrus fruits in Nigeria which can attract
more than 2.5 Million US dollars (About N900 Million) to the state annually.
Also, according to the FAO,
Nigeria is by far the world’s largest producer of yams, accounting for over 70
to 76 percent of world production. Nigeria currently produces more than 40
million metric tonnes which is valued at more than 6 billion US dollars.
Although yam is grown in relatively large quantity in other parts of Nigeria,
the area where it is grown most is in Benue state. In Benue, especially among the Tivs, the size
of the yam farm or the tonnage of yam produced becomes the social status of that
farmer. Hence, it is in place to say that Benue state is the largest producer
of yam in the world.
Benue state is also one of the
states in Nigeria that produces cassava in bounty. Benue state produces more
than 30 percent of the 48 million tonnes of cassava produced in Nigeria
annually, which is almost 19 percent of global production. In terms of fish and
other aquatic resources, the state is also a front liner as it harvests fish in
abundance owing to the availability of rivers, ponds and other water sources.
The above indices are just a tip
of the iceberg. The state has some many cash crops which it produces in
abundance such as Bambara nuts, sesame, rice, sorghum, maize, guinea corn, oil
palm, cashew, kolanuts, but for want of time and space, I have decided to leave
them out and mention them only peripherally. In terms of agriculture, Benue
state is apparently the richest state in the entirety of Africa.
Despite all these abundance in
food produce, the people of the state live in abject poverty. According to the
United Nation’s Global Dimensional Poverty Index (GDPI) published in 2015, Benue
was ranked the 8th poorest state in Nigeria. A recent indices show
that the overall incidence of poverty in the state is 77 percent, but in rural
areas which are home of more than half of the state’s population, 88 percent of
people are poor, while 67 percent are extremely poor. The state which is famous
for food production is becoming increasingly inhabited by people who wallow in
poverty. It is paradoxical that in a state which is the highest producer of yam
in the world, poverty is absolute, severe, widespread, and multi-dimensional;
and it is expected to increase in the next few years except urgent measures are
taken to upturn this paradox.
To turn this ugly situation
around, the worsening security problem which has displaced farmers should be
tackled immediately. Again, government should provide financial support to
farmers, while also providing them with farm inputs such as fertilizers,
herbicides, pesticides and so on. The primitive method of farming should be
faced out by providing farmers with machineries to mechanize farming
activities.
Most importantly, it is estimated
that 90 per cent of the agricultural produce in Benue are lost due to lack of
storage and processing facilities. The Federal and State governments should
intervene to stop this economic sabotage by providing modern storage facilities
as well as encouraging companies to set up processing plants to mop up these
produce which are wasted year in, year out. The Federal and State Ministries of
Agriculture need to be rejigged to provide the level playing ground where these
produce are channeled appropriately and marketed optimally. The Nigerian Export
Promotion Council (NEPC) needs to wake up from its slumber and do the needful
to export these excesses. And by so doing, the Benue populace will be
empowered.
It is unfortunate that Benue
state government depends almost solely on monies that accrue to it from the
Federation Account monthly while it can make a fortune through giving value to
the produce which are in abundance. It is a shame that the government owes civil
servants backlogs of salaries and wages when it can make huge revenues from
agriculture. Benue people deserve better because their land is naturally
endowed.
Ugwuoke Kelvin Abuchi writes from
Jos, Plateau state.
