Trump's $12b aid to farmers - Nigerian govt must learn to take responsibility amid crash in prices of farm goods

Trump’s $12b aid to farmers – Nigerian govt must learn to take responsibility amid crash in prices of farm goods

Femi OGUNLANA

There is no doubt Nigeria still has a long way to go in governance, our present quality is incontestably low, uninspiring. It is chaotic, nonchalant, self-centred and lacks the finesse that taking responsibility for its actions is. Taking responsibility is a critical element in achieving good governance rooted in compassion, connectedness with the governed and is devoid of arrogance and rascality.

Comparing situations in the USA with Nigeria in recent times will help grasp my position. The Donald Trump administration in the US unfolded a policy that saw it increasing tarrifs on goods. This has taken its toll on farmers as countries boycotted their farm produces, which adversely affects farmers’ income. China which imports large volume of soybeans from America as an instance is now looking elsewhere – Brazil and other South American countries for its imports, making American farmers to struggle to sell their crops.

But to counter the effect, Trump announced a $12 billion farm aid package on Monday, targeted at boosting American farmers.

“We looked at how they were hurt, to what extent they were hurt,” Trump said, explaining how the administration came up with the size of the package. Trump said the money for the program will come from tariff revenue.

“With this bridge payment, we’ll be able to farm another year,” Iowa farmer Cordt Holub told Trump during the event, thanking him for the gesture.

Later this month, it’s disclosed, the USDA will use a formula that estimates production costs to come up with a per-acre payment for each type of crop. Payments will be capped at $155,000 per farm or person, and only entities that make less than $900,000 a year will be eligible for aid.

Compare to Nigeria

Contrarily, Nigerian farmers face various vagaries – uncertain markets, fluctuating prices, farm destruction by herders etc. Farmers currently are experiencing a new wave of hardship arising from crash in prices of farm goods. A cab-full cassava now sells between ₦50, 000 and ₦60, 000, whereas last year it was said to be about ₦250, 000. By the time the farmer pays the harvesters and settles transport fare, he is left with about ₦30, 000. That is a colossal loss and it constitutes a disincentive. Farmers groan under this crushing turn of events and now living with dashed hope amid humongous losses.

Such uncertainty and unpredictability occur often. That is where a responsible government comes in, from local to federal governments. Government officials would when some brain waves propel them charge Nigerians to go back to the land and engage in massive farming. They tell people cassava is now in high demands globally because of its variety of uses. Farmers would hearken believing government but it’s usually a charade. No post-harvest plan for farmers, as when a glut ensues and prices slump the farmers bear the loss alone, suffering in silence. At such times, government will unabashedly retract into its shell unconcerned. Whereas a responsible government would step in, create avenues for marketing the produce, buy excess from farmers, thereby ensuring price stability.

Herders destroy farms impulsively, herders in turn suffer pilferage and so on with government unable to halt the various maladies yet never offering compensation or aid packages to mitigate the losses. When diseases outbreaks devastate livestock farms, owners lick their wounds. Yet at peace times you see governments at various levels unveiling different agricultural programmes and projects purportedly aimed at driving production. It is all cosmetic – geared to enrich themselves and not to support farmers or farming.

In the light of the latest example from America, it is high time our governments dropped the charade and started emulating serious governments by taking responsibility.