It is a matter of public knowledge that Sokoto State,the home state of the late Sir. Ahmadu Bello,the Premier of Northern Region and President Shehu Shagari is richly endowed with huge agricultural potentials. This can equally be said of other states in the North- West zone, and indeed the entire Northern Nigeria. The problem of the state like Nigeria itself is the devastating distraction from crude oil earnings which made every state to abandon its potentials for the cheap money from Abuja. But the worldwide economic downturn has forced states to look inwards to generate revenue and create jobs for their citizens.
This statement of fact was restated as resolution Number Six in the communique of the recent meeting of the 19 Northern states governors with chairmen of the respective states traditional councils.
Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto,the Sokoto State Governor is doing precisely what needs be done without noise and prodding. A vital part of Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto’s 9-point transformative agenda is the resolve to drive prosperity for the good people of Sokoto State, through a well coordinated investment in the agriculture value chain.
It is also not in doubt that Sokoto State, along with these other states of the North, have the capacity to eliminate, or drastically reduce, hunger in the country. Optimal food and feed production in North Nigeria can improve food security in West Africa, boost economic growth in the region, and increase the rate of foreign exchange inflow from the export of surplus agricultural produce rather than the import of grains like maize and soybeans.
The positive windfall will be massive, if only the respective governments, and other stakeholders, can key in to the Sokoto State template for optimal tapping of the enormous opportunities in the agricultural sector.
On this note, the actions and intentions of the incumbent Sokoto State administration, under the purposeful leadership of Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto who has, quite commendably, assumed the front seat in the effort to revive agriculture and explore its latent goldmine is welcoming.
For Governor Aliyu, the focus on agriculture and rural development is not a fanciful choice, but a matter of urgent necessity. The smart choice considering that the majority of Sokoto State indigenous population earn their modest livelihood by engaging in one form of agricultural activity or the other. They are classified as poor because they do not produce enough from the lands to earn meaningful income support a decent living standard. Therefore, any serious government that truly desires to uplift the quality of life, boost economic activities, and reduce the high incidence of poverty among the people in Sokoto state must pay serious attention to agriculture.
As stated earlier in this commentary, the opportunities for farming, lifetock rearing, fishing and agro-allied processing in Sokoto state are huge, but largely untapped.
The state is endowed with an estimated 1.62 million hectares (4 million acres) of arable land, mostly well drained fertile alluvial soil, mostly underutilized or totally wasting. Despite the unreliable weather conditions, much of Sokoto arable land can support year-round farming activities, using irrigation water from Goronyo Dam and from lakes variously located in Lugu, Wamakko, Kalmalo and Kwakwazo, as well as the alluvial banks of Rima and other rivers.
Dr Bashir Mohammed Achida, Special Adviser on Economic Matters to Governor Ahmad Aliyu, in a recent interview stressed the commitment of the incumbent administration in the state to cash in on the huge opportunities that abound in agricultural sector in the state and is working hard to convert the potentials to gainful reality, in the interest of the people.
He said when Dr. Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto came into office in May, 2023, he immediately swung into action to procure farm inputs like improved seeds, fertilizers and implements to support the farmers. And that the government intends to go beyond input supply, which many state governments do, or claim to do, yearly, but without making significant impacts on the quantity or quality of the farmers harvest.
The incumbent governor wants to change the narrative entirely, according to Dr Bashir Mohammed, the impending green revolution in state is hinged on a comprehensive plan, involving two critical programmes which the government is seriously working on. Number One is the Sokoto Integrated Agricultural Project: “In that project, we have plan of building three new dams in the state, which will support the Fadama and dry season farming. In that plan also, we have all-inclusive agricultural activities, ranging from animal rearing, poultry, to even having rice mills across the three senatorial zones.”
The Special Adviser continues: ‘”These programmes are huge and would be accompanied by hundreds of huge hectares of land to be cultivated, where raw materials will be sourced from the economic trees and we are lucky we have a comparative advantage of having rivers and dams across the state and so, it will be utilized.”
Sokoto state is a leading producer of Onions and boasts of the best onion quality in the subregion. It also leads in the production and supply of garlic. So, the government is embarking on programmes that will accelerate the production of these international crops, currently being exported in huge tonnes to Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and some other African countries. The state has a competitive advantage to grow pearl millet, beans, tomatoes, groundnut, wheat, maize and rice, among other food and cash crops. Local farmers are poised to make life-changing fortunes from these crops, with the active support of the federal and state governments, and even the World Bank.
According to Dr Bashir Mohammed Achida, the second project to fully harness the food production potentials of the State is the establishment of Sokoto Agriculture Processing Zone (SAPZ), to ensure value addition of the crops. “We don’t want take all items outside. We need to add more value, by processing and packaging some of the produce to international standards, for export. We are working to see how to draw the attention of farmers away from only producing for consumption, although there is consumption under this particular programme.
Said Acida “While It is important to feed the state and feed the nation, but it is also important to empower the farmers to be able to get the necessary income and be able to empower themselves. So, we are thinking about, how do we get incomes from outside, especially in this period where income flow and foreign exchange is critical to the nation. So, how do we contribute our own revenue to the mix. That is where the idea of export promotion zone came in.”
The Sokoto state authorities understand the importance of collaboration with federal government and external financial institutions to the overall success of their bold agricultural plans. So, the governor has reached out to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to collaborate in commercial production of onions, garlic and millet, among others, for local consumption and export. The anticipated programme agreement will give focus to the farmer on the field to cultivate the listed items and each one will basically yield foreign exchange.
However, efforts to export agricultural produce from the country in recent times had met with some hitches. Dr. Achida said that the programme has looked at the problems associated with the exportation of some of these items. “We realized that it is the chemical content of some of the items that will serve as the obstacle for them to get into the international market.
“Now, we are in collaboration with a company that has developed an organic fertilizer that we are going to use. We observed that the organic fertilizer will also lead to better yield and would be chemical free for all our products to compete and be exported to other countries without hitches”.
“Also, we are working on organic pesticides, especially for dry season farming. We are also working with a company that has developed organic pesticides and herbicide to ensure that all the products we are going to produce do not have any problem. Now, when the production is done, we have a design for an export terminal to reduce losses of the farm products, reduce expense of exporting cost on the farmers, and other issues that usually arise while exporting the produce from Sokoto. This will include the export of choice Sokoto beef to Saudi Arabia where there is a confirmed demand for high quality meat.”
The Special Adviser on Economic Matters to Governor Aliyu Ahmad Sokoto disclosure of the programme on animal livelihood sustainability initiative. According to him, it is an initiative of the Federal Government, with World Bank intervention, which seeks to enhance the production of milk and beef for indigenous market.
Indeed, the incumbent administration of Governor Sokoto is doing a lot more than could be mentioned in this write up, to take agriculture to the next level, thereby helping the farmers to improve their living conditions. All of these initiatives fall within the 9-point agenda of the Governor of Sokoto state, on which he ran election which is focused on economic development, increased revenue base of the state, and by extension, increased income for citizens of the state.
So, now is not the time to create distractions for Governor Aliyu Ahmad Sokoto. The opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) kingpins and the misguided group led by Senator Ibrahim Lamido should desist from fanning the embers of political and social frictions in the state. Instead, all hands should be on the deck to help the capable governor implement bold and well designed economic programmes to improve the quality of life of Sokoto State residents!
