Palliatives: A blessing or a curse?

The Collins dictionary defines the word ‘palliative’ as an action intended to make the effects of a problem less severe but does not actually solve the problem.

At the inauguration speech of President Bola Tinubu, he declared that subsidy on fuel will be removed with immediate effect. This announcement/declaration had a domino effect on the prices of products across all sectors of the economy.

This is because simple economics dictates that transportation is one of the key factors of production and when transportation cost increases, the cost of the product will increase. This will lead to an increase in the final price the consumer will have to pay.

Petrol which was selling for less than N250 in May 2023 now sells for between N600 and N700. This is well over 250 percent increase.

With this increment, bearing in mind that generally, income has remained the same, a large percentage of the population are feeling the financial pain.

On July 14, 2023, the Federal Government declared a state of emergency on the food security situation in the country.

Based on the above, the Federal Government decided to provide funds, rice and fertilisers to the state governments and farmers in order to alleviate the economic strain being felt by the masses.

According to reports, each state will get N5 billion and 50kg bags of rice and maize.

Several online media platforms and television stations have covered the distribution of these commodities by some of the state governments across the federation.

I would like to use this medium to thank Governor Seyi Makinde for flagging off the distribution of palliatives across the state. In the current situation we have found ourselves as a nation, every little helps. The masses are drowning economically and are looking to the leaders to come up with sustainable solutions. On behalf of the citizens of Oyo State, particularly ‘the poorest of the poor’ I say thank you to our governor.

I know His Excellency as a man of the people, a man that works hard to fulfill his promises. There are several issues that I feel need attention regarding the distribution of palliatives and support for farmers in the form of distribution of agricultural inputs for sustainable food security.

During Omituntun 1.0, there were several distributions of palliatives and inputs to farmers. This is Omituntun 2.0 and we are already doing the same thing. These distribution activities cost Oyo State billions of Naira, and with the economic situation of Nigeria, it is obvious this is not sustainable.

This brings me to the Oyo State Roadmap for Sustainable Development (2019-2023, 2023-2027). In Omituntun 1.0, agriculture/agribusiness was a building blocks for the development of Oyo State. And truth be told, there were many ‘brilliant’ programmes/projects that were undertaken, particularly from late 2020 to early 2023. I say ‘brilliant’ because no one can fault the idea behind the programmes/projects, the effort, time and funding.

However, it appears that the outcome does not match the effort, especially from the point of view of the masses. According to the Oyo State Roadmap for Sustainable Development 2023-2027, “1,500 students in senior secondary schools have been introduced to various enterprises in the agribusiness value chain through the Start Them Early Programme (STEP). STEP is facilitated in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). A further 3,300 youths were trained in technology-driven agri-food systems under the Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project (YEAP). Also, working with the French government, 150 women entrepreneurs were trained under the Support to Women Entrepreneurship in the Agri-food sector in Nigeria (SEFAN/ SWEAN).”

The question that we must all answer is ‘where is the output of all these programmes?’ It is important to note that the bottom line of any agricultural programme is two-fold: the increase in food production for the masses and increase in income for the farmer.

If after approximately three years of financial and physical effort in agriculture/agribusiness, Oyo State citizens are still dependent on palliatives mainly food items handout, then we must rethink our strategy.

For any modern-day farmer, irrigation is key to food production.

My request to the Oyo State governor on behalf of the youth that have been trained is that one of the farm settlements be upgraded to a large-scale irrigated farm funded by the state and leased out to the youth trained under the YEAP project.

There are a few of the farm settlements that already have dams on site. Please select one, landscape it, fence it, irrigate it and provide hostels and basic amenities.

This will probably be cheaper than whatever Fashola agric project located at Oyo-Iseyin Road has cost and would be quicker to complete. A project like this will, within the shortest possible time, increase actual food production, as crops such as maize, pepper, tomatoes and vegetables can be produced at least three to four times a year on an irrigated farm as opposed to the once during the rainy season on the farm without irrigation.

The same ‘Oyo State Roadmap for Sustainable Development 2023-2027’ document stated that “In agribusiness, we were able to attract over N35 billion in investments and $126 million in development partner blended finance. This is in addition to the direct and indirect benefits of training over 4,000 youths in agribusiness and the employment opportunities generated through projects such as the Fashola Agribusiness Industrial Hub, which will be completed in a few months. The result of these efforts is that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Oyo State increased from N2.75 trillion in 2019 to N4.05 trillion as of Q3 2022. Also, the net investment in Oyo State between 2019 and 2022 is N457.76 billion.”

Going by the figures above, the Oyo State economy improved by just over 50 percent between 2019 and Q3 0f 2022, which is impressive. The main task now is how to ensure that the ‘poorest of the poor’ have a direct benefit from the economic expansion. For example, the number of people in Oyo State that were supported in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic was 200,000, according to government data. According to some reports, this list will be expanded in the current palliative distribution.

One may conclude then that the investment and the increased GDP has not yet benefited the ‘poorest of the poor’.

The Okun’s law concept created by a Yale economist named Arthur Okun explains the correlation between GDP and employment. The general rule is that when GDP increases, unemployment will decrease. The N35 billion and $126 million appears not to have expanded opportunities for the people at the base end of our society and also, there is yet to be improved and sustainable food production in Oyo State when we consider the interventions in Omituntun 1.0.

Therefore, I am using this opportunity to plead with Governor Makinde to take radical steps to ensure Oyo State becomes the food basket of Nigeria.

Policies are great, but the bottom line is that the masses are hungry, and they want affordable food products through sustainable production. People do not want palliatives, they want affordable, consistent and sustainable food supply.

How can this be done? Oyo State must set aside a minimum of 2500 hectares of farmland that will be irrigated and then employ the YEAP trainees to mass produce different crops, vegetables, and fruits. The government can then buy the produce and sell to the masses at subsidised rates.