FG Urged to Remove All Encumbrances on Farm Lands to Enhance Food Production

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

As farming season fast approaches, the federal government has been urged to take all necessary measures to remove all encumbrances on farm lands so that food production can resume across the nation.

The Vice-chancellor of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUAU), Professor Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe, made the call at a media chat to mark his fourth anniversary in office.

He lamented that farm lands across parts of the country, including the traditional food belts of the nation have been rendered inaccessible to farmers due to terrorist activities.

“Agricultural lands must be combed and all encumbrances removed to enable people go back to their farms and grow food,” he said.

Prof. Iwe blamed the encumbrances on farm lands for the prevailing high cost of food and the general hunger in the land, noting that many farmers have been killed, crops destroyed and farm lands out of bound.

He warned that the drive for Nigeria to become self-sufficient in food production would remain a mirage if farmers remain separated from their farms in North East, North West and North Central zones.

The MOUAU VC also called for adoption of smart agriculture as a way of making everybody to get involved in food production, saying that “hunger is prevailing and the need for people to say give us something to eat is still there”.

He said that Nigeria was still grappling with food insecurity because the consciousness to solve the problem is still lacking among the citizenry.

According to him, the major issue as it concerns food insecurity, just like other national problems, is whether we, as a people, are ready to help ourselves overcome the problems.

He said: “It is possible to feed Nigeria if we are conscious that we have to feed Nigeria. It is possible to have balanced diet if we’re conscious that we have to eat balanced diet. It is possible to for the rich and the poor to have food in Nigeria if we’re conscious of that”.

The MOUAU VC, who is an expert in food science and technology, explained that smart agriculture entails people cultivating one crop or another in gardens around homes thereby making food readily available, adding that it was the practice in the past.

He said that Nigerians must lose their appetite for foreign foods and heed what  government and universities of agriculture have been preaching for Nigerians to “produce what you eat and eat what you produce”.

On the ongoing move to change the status of MOUAU and convert it from specialised to conventional university, the VC kicked against it, saying that such a change would have negative effect.

The bill seeking to change the status of the institution being championed by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives,  Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, has already scaled through second reading.

But Prof. Iwe alluded that those behind the bill did not consult before embarking on the mission to change MOUAU to conventional university hence he noted that a think tank for Abia State devoid of politics was long overdue.

“This University is a historical university,” he said, adding that it was set up for the South-East to complete the tripod of universities of agriculture across the nation.

He stated that while “we appreciate anything anybody is doing to show that he loves MOUAU, Abia State and Ndigbo” the idea of changing the status of the institution should be considered as a disservice to Ndigbo.

Iwe recalled that MOUAU came about after the federal government established the University of Agriculture in Makurdi for the North and the one in Abeokuta for the South West, thereby sparking clamour to have one for the South East.

He explained that the University of Agriculture for the South-East was intentionally named after the late Premier of the defunct Eastern Region because “Nigeria knows Michael Okpara as a great achiever in agricultural entrepreneurship”.

The MOUAU Chief Executive said that what Abia State needs is another federal university and the earlier the better as tension is already growing over the planned conversion of the existing federal university.

“I think we should all go for another federal university and let MOUAU grow and achieve its mandate,” he said.

Prof. Iwe, who has now entered the final one year lap of his five-year tenure, showcased his score card so far, saying that he has remained focused to achieve his vision for MOUAU.

He said that after the initial encumbrances “things have clicked and things are going fine” paving the way for landmark achievements, including the commencing work on the permanent site of MOUAU.

Iwe, who is the sixth MOUAU VC, said that he has lifted the institution which was down when he assumed office on March 3, 2021, adding that new programmes have been introduced in engineering, agriculture and management sciences.

He also said that his administration has set up new centres on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Agricultural Incubation and Innovation, adding courses lost six years ago were on the verge of being restored.

Prof. Iwe appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to lift the ban on recruitment in the universities to enable the institution fill the vacancies created by lecturers swept away by the japa syndrome.