Where are the arable lands?

This is one question I have been asking since I returned to Nigeria. Are we all building houses with big compounds forgetting we need to be alive to live in big houses? Have we wrongly placed our primary needs as ‘shelter, food and clothing’ instead of ‘food, shelter and clothing’? It seems so to me.

One particular thing that struck me during my residence in Europe is that their cultivation season is too short when compared to ours but they end up with more than enough food for the next year and beyond. They observed their environment and used a tailored approach to eradicate hunger. What are we doing in Nigeria? Just like our blessing (crude) has turned into a curse (driving our politicians and citizens to greed), our land mass has also turned to an object of covetousness! Every single person wants a big house where he can park 5 cars to impress/oppress his neighbors. I ask, at whose detriment?

When are we going to realize that the horizontal space we are wasting by building too many unnecessary houses should be used for agriculture? What are we using the vertical space for? Are we still naïve at 56 to realize that hunger is a major driver of poverty? How can each state not be able to produce enough food for its occupants? Where will the supply come from? Obviously, from imports! How does that help our economy? Why are we wasting fertile lands and favourable cultivation weather? Why are we trapped in this vicious cycle of waste of resources? Why are we still on the world’s list of hungry nations?

Many countries envy Nigeria’s blessings. Some visionary leaders given the pool of resources in Nigeria as capital will turn this nation into an enviable haven and give the United States a run for their power. But we look on while the future of our children is hopelessly destroyed. In fact we join the train and help our leaders execute their selfish agenda. When are we going to wake up and smell the coffee? How can we pretend to be in a perpetual state of ignorance? We need to awaken the lost sense of community building and discard our individual, selfish ambitions of getting richer and richer.  Living in smaller houses has never killed people but hunger has been killing and continues to kill many Nigerians. We need to keep arable lands for us and our children to survive.

It is no surprise that the average Nigerian graduate wants a job with Shell petroleum, Agip, Chevron or Mobil. ‘Oil industry; that is my portion!’ Whose portion is it to make sure you eat and stay healthy while you drive your car to the office? Your dead great-grandfathers or your sickly uncles in the village? Agriculture is an industry Nigeria can develop and exploit! We had exported cash crops in the past, we can do it again but that is after we have provided enough food crops for our survival.  Building houses for shelter is commendable but providing enough food as a priority is admirable!

If five rich people decide to open poultries in a community, meat and eggs will invariably become cheaper in that community. If community lands or even individual lands are preserved and cultivated in acres, the same community will have more food to eat and to sell to others. If this is duplicated in every community in every state, there will be a multiplier effect and abundance of food. It is not so complicated. But, will we quell our insatiable, selfish drives and look into the future even for a second?

Let’s reorient ourselves and redefine dignity. It is not in white collar jobs and big houses and cars. That is just a façade under which lies the majority of the masses; hungry, unhealthy and angry. Let’s teach our children that choosing a career in agriculture is as noble as choosing Medicine or Accountancy! What can be nobler than studying to provide man’s first and most basic need? Let’s scale down on our mindless property acquisition and begin to acquire a greater future for our children by joining hands to accomplish greater feats for our communities. Let’s save our horizontal (arable)space by maximizing the vertical space in building more high-rise buildings for residences while encouraging mass food production. Let us all ensure that there will be a Nigeria in the future. Let’s shame our corrupt leaders and take the initiative!