AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

A speech given in the House of Representatives on 12th April, 1961.

Agricultural development will also be an avenue for employment for our young people. If it is agreed, therefore, that the foundation of our national prosperity as had been said by the minister himself rests on agriculture, then it must be agreed also that the foundation must be well, truly and solidly laid. It would be shirking its duty, indeed one of its primary duties, if the Federal Government were to pass the entire buck of agricultural development on to the Regional Governments. The Regional Governments, in my view, are doing their very best in the task of improving our agricultural economy. But their best needs the bold, imaginative and enlightened support of the Federal Government if that best is to be good enough for our purpose. This will help the Regional Governments to develop and diversify the economy of our country and promote the welfare and happiness of our people.

My suggestion therefore to the government is this. First of all, the Federal Government should set up, immediately, an Agricultural Development and Finance Corporation. The duties of this Agricultural Development and Finance Corporation will be, among other things: (I) to subsidise the Regional Governments in their pursuit of agricultural development expansion, particularly in their efforts to set up farming institutes and cooperative farm settlements; (2) to establish, on its own, industries for the processing of agricultural products. My second suggestion is that special and studied encouragement should be given to those industries which plan to undertake the processing of our agricultural products for export.

We have heard of protective duties being imposed in order to enable a flour mill to be established in this country. But the raw materials for the plant will have to be imported from abroad. I do not know whether government has really sat down carefully to work out the economy of this flour mill. I am myself of the opinion that, sooner or later, government will be called upon to impose additional duties to protect this industry. Wheat grains will have to be imported from abroad and the wastes, which are by-products of the flour mill which are used as cattle feed will have to be exported from this country to other countries for consumption; whereas it would have been a different matter if the Government had seen to it that we have in this country a wheat plantation from which we can get our wheat and also have cattle ranches that can make use of the by-products from the flour mill. All this has not been attended to by the government and yet protective duties are imposed.

I will have more to say on this subject when I come to the proper head during the committee of supply. But the fact I want to emphasise at this moment, sir, is that Government should, instead of imposing protective duties in favour of the flour mill, encourage entrepreneurs to establish industries in this country which will undertake the processing in a big way of our groundnut, cotton, cocoa, palm kernels and so on and so forth. If entrepreneurs are not willing to come on their own then government should invest in such industries on its own account. For instance, our tomatoes or some of our beans can also be processed for export.

It is imperative therefore that agricultural development and industrilisation should both feature in our future Development Programmes. Let us recall the words of Professor Arthur Lewis that ‘if agriculture remains stagnant industry cannot grow.’

Sir, I trust that the last word has not yet been said by Government on the issue of setting up an Economic Planning Commission.

In this connection, may I say, sir, that it is not correct for the Hon. minister of finance to say, as he said the other day, that there is no organisation of a similar nature in Western Nigeria. There has always been, and there still is, I believe, an Economic Planning Committee consisting partly of officials, who are qualified in economic matters, and outsiders who are economists or businessmen.

In view of the short time at my disposal, may I repeat my previous suggestion and I am repeating it simply because the government has not yet seen fit to accept this very valuable suggestion. First or all I think that the National Economic Council should be reorganised so that the premiers of the Regions would be members of that organisation together with their ministers who have charge or economic matters. At the moment the National Economic Council is too low-powered to formulate any important policy. Secondly, I think that the Joint Planning Committee should be converted into a high-powered Economic Planning Commission, consisting partly of officials, who are qualified in economic subjects, and also outsiders, all of them Nigerians, who are businessmen and who are also known economists.

Now the duty of the National Economic Council, as reconstituted, will be to set out policies regarding targets and priorities, and also to co-ordinate the economic activities of the entire federation. The Economic Planning Commission, on the other hand, will work out detailed programmes and, from time to time, will review any Five Year Programme during the currency of that programme. I do not doubt the competence of the economists employed in the ministries of finance, commerce and industry and economic planning, but they are civil servants and in any case their efforts which at present appear to me to be diffused must be canalised. This is possible, in my view, only through the agency of a reorganised National Economic Council and a high-powered Economic Planning Commission.

CONTINUES NEXT WEEK

READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE