Nigeria developed from an infant nation seeking economic aid,
recognition and respect from other nations around the time of her independence
to an ambitious state capable of funding and defending other African nations by
the mid to late 1970s.
A modest entourage visited John F. Kennedy in July 1961 to discuss
cocoa price stabilization, economic aid and the metastasis of communism into
Africa amongst other critical subjects. The nation held so much promise
and our adopted mentor nations were well aware of this. Unclassified documents
from Balewa’s visit in 1961 has it stated that “Nigeria’s greatest resource is
its people who number 38 million…These are energetic, industrious people
vigorously pressing for economic and social advancement.” Our agricultural
produce which consisted of diverse food and cash crops; minerals such as tin,
columbite, petroleum, coal and iron deposits were highlighted as strengths
despite the high illiteracy, high infant mortality rates and low per capita
income which characterized the nation at that time.
38 million strong people in 1961 have become about 180 million in
less than 60 years but our agricultural sector has remained stunted just like
most of our mineral deposits have stayed interred. Per capital income remains
abysmal and it remains rocket science to crash the rates of infant and maternal
mortality. JFK and his people figured that the Nigerian people who made up
about one-sixth of all Africans on the continent at that time were the nation’s
greatest asset; that assertion is however yet to be proved accurate largely
because the Nigerian people seem to have worked against the dream and pressed
the self-destruct button too often.
The recent upsurge in communal clashes and the response to these
have served to expose some of the underlying insecurities which cripple the
Nigerian and prevents him/her from seeing himself as a citizen and trusting
other citizens as comrades in developing the Nigerian project. A particular
group noted for pastoral nomadism has been so vilified in recent years that
many from other tribes readily utilize derogatory terms to refer to them and
their activities. It is easy for some Nigerians to brag about how their tribes
could do without other tribes which make up the Federal Republic of Nigeria especially
the Fulani. It is imagined that this largely uneducated bloc who seemingly have
more regard for cattle would wither away economically if other groups boycotted
their ‘meat.' This thought has even expressed severally on social media and
reports of an upgrade in the terrorism profile of Fulani herdsmen has led to
calls for them to be curbed before they are able to mutate into more virulent
strains like the Boko Haram terrorist group.
The Fulani tribe spans virtually all of West Africa into Central Africa
and parts of Egypt. They are quite a formidable race with tales of conquests
which date back a few centuries. They are the largest pastoral nomadic group in
the world; this practice of rearing livestock is also done in several
parts of East Africa, Central Asia, Russia, China, the Middle East and
Scandinavia. The Fulani tribe conquered Hausa territories between 1804 and
1809 establishing their own Emirates before being conquered by the British in
1903. The Hausa language somehow prevailed over the Fula probably because of
intermarriages and the absence of outright ethnic cleansing. The people who
embarked on these expeditions were perhaps only interested in spreading Islam
such that anyone or group of people who accepted got spared. The recent alleged
attacks on Enugu and the Agatu incident a few months ago have led many to
accuse the president Muhammadu Buhari of complicity with some boldly calling
him the chief of the herdsmen since they are of the same stock.
The passage of time has made it difficult to identify who
is actually Fulani or Hausa. The president is from Daura which is said to be
historically the oldest Hausa state in Nigeria. It can be said that the
president is technically Hausa although there are reports that his mother was
from another northern tribe. The major problem with the champions of this
theory is that they are actually unable to define the object of their rage. Do
they despise the Fulani or the Hausa? Is it the Islamic bloc of Northern
Nigeria they cannot stand or is it the entire North? They often do not know the
diversity inherent in Northern Nigeria so they end up wrongly generalizing as
well as indulging in propagating hate and intolerance. The conquests of old,
the migrations and the acquisition of slaves within the geographical space that
is Nigeria have caused intermingling of people over centuries. I was told by my
father that his grandmother was said to have been a very light-skinned
‘priestess.’ Who knows if she arrived Ekiti from a region well beyond the
boundaries of where she eventually settled. It would be very interesting if
genetic studies to determine ancestry of all Nigerians could be done. I am
certain that many will be shocked at what such tests would yield.
The Fulani tribe and to a lesser extent Northern Nigeria are
despised by many Nigerians ignoring their history, potential and good
qualities. We sometimes assume that livestock is all about the cows we get to
buy for our weekly ceremonies or the yearly purchase of rams for the ‘Iléyá’ festival.
Livestock is way more than that and the business of animals is a potential
multi-billion dollar goldmine yet to be unearthed. We have forgotten about
camels, donkeys and other ruminants just like we forgot about our cocoa, coal,
groundnuts and solid minerals all because of the black crude. Chief Obafemi
Awolowo in a speech he delivered on the 16th of August 1954 in
the House of Representatives mentioned that the revenue of the then
Northern Region Native Authorities was £5,643,000
in 1954 while the Western and Eastern regions yielded £2,134,000 and £993,000
respectively (although the proceeds from the Eastern region could have been
higher if some politicians from that region had not led the people to assume
that they did not need to pay tax before getting social amenities). This was
before the advent of crude oil sales and when agriculture was the sinoatrial
node of the fledging nation’s economy. We shut down agriculture and began to
overdose on crude.
Nigeria’s landmass is about 920,000km2 and
it was estimated that the population of cattle within the country in 1992 was
13.9 million. South Africa is reported to have had about 13.5 million cattle in
2003 while Kenya although a net importer of cattle sourced through pastoral
nomads had about 17.5 million cattle in 2009 according to a Food and
Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) report. About 96% of
Nigeria’s cattle are in the hands of pastoral nomads but most of the animals
slaughtered within the country are sourced from neighboring countries. It is
important that we understand the relationship of Nigeria with her neighbors and
how whatever happens to them affects us. Joe Garba in his book “Diplomatic
Soldiering” referred to urgent meetings he held with the ambassador of Niger Republic
in August 1975. There was a drought in 1973 which claimed over 50% of Niger’s
cattle resulting in meat shortages in Nigeria. It appears Nigerian cattle gets
relatively preserved while we eat those sourced from neighboring nations.
Uganda according to Kurt Davis Jnr produces
between 1.5 to 1.8 tonnes of milk a year with only 10 to 15% of this getting
processed. Kenya was reported to have had more than 9 million dairy cows in 2012
(a little more than the United States of America) but they did not produce milk
anywhere close to what South Africa produced despite the latter having a far less number of dairy cows.
The USA led all and sundry in the production of milk with their 9 million cows
(87 million tonnes per year) followed by India’s 50 million tonnes from a little
over 43 million dairy cows; the highest population in the world. Europe is the
largest supplier of processed milk worldwide with 47% of supplies while Africa
contributes just 4% to this multi-billion dollar industry just like Oceania’s
4%. One must wonder what proportion of the 4% of Africa’s quota emanates from
Nigeria. It is not surprising to learn that we are the largest importers of
milk on the continent; we are also one of the largest importers of rice in the
world despite being the largest producers of rice on the continent. The
Nigerian profile page on the FAO website has it that Nigeria produced 2 million MT of milled rice in 2008 but still imported 3 million MT. I believe there is a
current embargo on such importation at the moment. This is akin to
exporting crude oil and importing refined products for many years while
allowing the local refineries to decay; this persistent negative trade balance
can only be described as madness.
The milk shortage on the African continent
implies that most countries have to depend heavily on imports but still, the
average volume of milk per head consumed annually is well short of the per
capita global average. One country with about 573,000 dairy cows (2010 figures)
is the Scandinavian nation Denmark which has over 400 islands. Denmark
contributed 3.6% of EU milk production in 2010.
The Danish project
Denmark with a population of 5.6 million people
(Nigeria is over thirty times more populated) is approximately 43,000km2 in
total land mass (excluding the area covered by Greenland and the Faroe islands)
which is about twenty one times smaller than Nigeria. The agricultural sector
of this relative small nation is one of the most efficient in the world with
approximately 65% of the total area cultivated. They contribute 3.4% of the
world food supplies and deal with over 150 countries. 61% of their exports go
to the European Union and their largest trading partner in Asia is China. The
Denmark agricultural societies are one of the world’s largest with over 40,000
farms. They produce over 30 million pigs annually, 85% of which gets exported as
processed bacon or as pig ears to China. But how did Denmark develop a
€15billion industry capable of comfortably producing enough food for 3-6 times their population? How did they get to become number 5 in the world with
respect to the average yield of milk per cow when India with their world
leading 43 million dairy cows did not even make the top 20 list?
Denmark experienced wars and severe losses in the
1800s which plunged the nation into bankruptcy and a famine ensued which meant
that the government was unable to feed the people. Wars do not necessarily
help anybody and those agitating for war in Nigeria or any kind of showdown at
all should get this clarification synapsed with their higher centers. The
Danish government officials of the day did not wallow in self-pity neither did they
continue their attrition with the neighbours who inflicted severe damage on
them. They vowed that never again would Denmark go hungry; they thought like
statesmen instead of mere monarchs or politicians. Obafemi Awolowo echoed this
mindset when he said in 1954 on the floor of the House of Representatives that "Of course, a politician may think only of
the present but a statesman has to think not only of the present but of the
future generation."
The Danes developed their country’s agriculture
through massive investment in education and research. They established
nationwide railway networks, connected their arable Islands and Peninsulas by
Ferries and turned their people’s focus to education. Their many years of
research led to the development of new tools and equipment, new high yielding
crops and new methods of producing milk and other livestock products. Denmark
exports food, technology and their human resources; we have a good number of
agricultural research facilities all over Nigeria but I am not certain their
recommendations over the many years since their establishment have been
adequately implemented. Who needs agricultural counsel when there is crude oil?
Where Nigerians see self-preservation and
distrust, other nations see opportunity. We see our over 13 million cattle as
Salah meat, the United kingdom see their 1.8 million dairy cows as producers of
tonnes of milk for export annually. Denmark has a GDP per capita of $45,435 which is about
seven times larger than Nigeria’s and agriculture contributes a great deal to
this. Life expectancy is 81.9 years for females and 78 years for males; should we
mention that of Nigeria? Many Nigerians see cattle grazing as the job of lazy
men; many groups of sedentary farmers have had their crops trampled upon or
eaten by livestock and have reacted with rage many times leading to numerous
communal clashes. Where we have seen destruction, India and Pakistan have been
utilizing Biogas as an alternative energy source. We have not exploited this
technology sufficiently in Nigeria even though there were reports of Biogas
experimentation a few years ago. Denmark has invested heavily in Biomass which
is carbon neutral and they have a target to make it the source of 30% of their
renewable energy by 2020. If we really think about making use of cow dung as a
source of energy all across the country, are we going to have to import cow
dung for that purpose if we shut out our brothers who control the herd in Nigeria?
The late Major General Joe Garba highlighted in
his book more than a few ‘Big Brother’ gestures by Nigeria to other nations
especially in Africa and the Caribbean. There were a few millions of dollars
here and there for the struggle against apartheid and colonialism; we also used
out planes to ferry delegates of other nations for Organization of African
Unity summits from time to time. General Yakubu Gowon once paid the salaries of
civil servants in Grenada and we paid for and constructed highways connecting
our border states with our neighbors. One particularly fascinating request made
of Nigeria was on the 4th of February 1976 by Angola.
Lieutenant-General Olusegun Obasanjo had travelled to meet President Neto in
Luanda where he assured the Angolan president that Nigeria would fulfil her
promise to deliver C-130 and F28 aircrafts to Angola. The Angolan then went
further to ask Nigeria for an urgent supply of meat to which Obasanjo replied
that Nigeria could afford to deliver 7,000 to 8,000 tons of meat aboard a
Boeing 707 aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Airways. I wonder what was so
urgent about meat in Angola in 1976.
As part of his approach to rapid economic
development, Obafemi Awolowo told the House of Representatives on the 7th of
April 1960 that the country needed to do all within its power to stimulate the
development of agriculture and other natural resources. He highlighted that the
gap in education between the north and the south at that time was dangerously
wide which needed to be closed. It remains wide till this day but I do not
think that this should be blamed completely on the Northern leadership. Awolowo
repeatedly pointed out that the federal budgetary allocation for health and
education were inadequate and would not augur well for the desired economic
growth. From 1957 to January 1966 when Tafawa Balewa was prime minister, the
majority of cabinet positions were occupied by Southerners but it seems they
did not utilize their vantage positions enough to push to close that education
gulf.
Many have claimed that the Fulani have spent
the longest time ruling Nigeria but that is technically inaccurate. Tafawa
Balewa who was prime minister of Nigeria from October 1 1960 to January 15th 1966
was a Shuwa Arab. Yakubu Gowon who took charge after the July 29th 1966
counter coup for the next 9 years is Angas while Murtala Mohammed who reigned
for less than 7months after a palace coup deposed Gowon on the 29th of
July 1975 was Fulani. Shehu Shagari was president for exactly 4years and
3months and he is Fulani. The incumbent president who took over following a
military coup on 1st January 1984 and ruled for 20 months is
from Daura the oldest Hausa state but he is also Fulani while Ibrahim Babaginda who reigned for the
following 8 years is of Gbagyi descent. Sani Abacha who reigned for about four
and a half years was Kanuri; Abdusalami Abubakar ruled for 11months and is
Hausa while Umar Yar’adua who was actively president for just over 2years was
Fulani. The much maligned Fulani ethnic group seems to have had one of theirs
in power for less than 8years out of Nigeria’s 56years since independence.
Awolowo advised the country then to engage in
industry and agricultural ventures and to establish large-scale ranches in the
Northern region. The Northern region here refers to all the 19states which make
up the Northwest, Northeast and the North Central geopolitical zones. The truth
is that a good proportion of the region is arid with the more fertile regions
occupied by minority tribes which have had skirmishes with Fulani herdsmen in
the past. There is palpable resistance and any talk of establishing grazing
zones or ranches will be shrugged off. It is baffling why we cannot see the
need for cooperation and organization with respect to this. One wonders what
proportion of our arable land is actually currently cultivated that it cannot
be enough to sustain livestock. We only need better organization, education and
integration of these herdsmen even if many of them are said to be foreigners
from neighboring countries. I do not believe there are many who will remain
unreasonable when a profitable and well-structured plan is tabled before him.
Awo went on to suggest that refrigerated vans
and trains should be provided to transport slaughtered cattle from the north to
maximize profit for the producers and ensure the supply of “really good meat to
eat, particularly those who live here in Lagos.” On the 18th of
November 1961, he addressed the issue of the balance of payments with respect
to Nigerians’ taste for luxury. We were importing fresh, chilled or frozen
meat; eggs in the shell or otherwise; malted milk compounds, fish and fish
products as well as canned ones and tomatoes. We have all these in abundance
within the country; will it not be wisdom to nurture what we have so that it
can multiply in geometric proportions?
The animosity which even supposedly
intellectual people are propagating has to stop. These people owe their
gullible fans and supporters easily swayed by chants of ethnic or religious
supremacy a responsibility to preach patriotism instead. We have been too
prideful and focused too long on what divides us instead on establishing
successful businesses. According to the Nigerian profile on FAO.org;
“The sector faces many challenges,
notably an outdated land tenure system that constrains access to land (1.8
ha/farming household), a very low level of irrigation development (less than 1
percent of cropped land under irrigation), limited adoption of research
findings and technologies, high cost of farm inputs, poor access to credit,
inefficient fertilizer procurement and distribution, inadequate storage
facilities and poor access to markets have all combined to keep agricultural
productivity low (average of 1.2 metric tons of cereals/ha) with high
postharvest losses and waste.”
These are some of the issues we ought to be focusing on and
channeling our advocacy towards. The legislators are constantly talking about
securing constituency projects; this is what they ought to be doing. A southern
farmer should be able to freely relocate to Taraba state and acquire land
larger than the 1.8 hectares limit to establish farms, ranches and/or food
processing facilities with technology and equipment obtained indigenously and
from well-established agricultural success stories such as Denmark.
We have not even scratched the surface, we have the potential to
feed ourselves comfortable and most of Africa. It is not about war and rumors
of war; who has fighting wars actually helped? Syria, Liberia, Guinea, DRC,
Angola, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Iraq, Biafra? This
is not the time to call for division but to identifying our strengths and deal
with one another like properly trained business men. Obafemi Awolowo while
addressing African Unity on the 28th of June 1961 said that
“It cannot afford to behave like the mythical
phoenix in the confident belief that by burning and destroying itself a more
glorious Africa would arise from the ashes of the dead.”
Let us eliminate the thought that viable nations will rise up if
we allow Nigeria to burn to ashes because we think one group is better than the
others.
“Genesis 13 So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife
and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram
had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.
3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to
Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been
earlier 4 and where he had first built an
altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.
5 Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and
herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support
them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they
were not able to stay together. 7 And
quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The
Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that
time.
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between
you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close
relatives. 9 Is not the whole land before you?
Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to
the right, I’ll go to the left.” (NIV)
Our possessions as different ethnicities are not even anywhere
near great yet; when we become great while staying together then we may then
proceed to discussing separation. Separation didn’t augur well for Lot
eventually; it isn’t always the best option on the table. Selah.
 |
| form the jfklibrary |
Bibliography
§
VOICE OF REASON. Selected Speeches of Chief
Obafemi Awolowo. 1981
§
DIPLOMATIC SOLDIERING (Nigerian Foreign Policy
1975-1979) by Joe Garba. 1987
§
Statistics: Dairy Cows ciwf.org
§
Facts and Figures: Danish Agriculture and Food
2012.
§
denmark.dk The official website of Denmark
§
http://www.africa.com/dairy-consumption-in-africa-part-1/
by Kurt Davis Jnr
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