Few months ago, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Kebbi State Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the production of ethanol fuel. What exactly are the issues involved?
Kebbi State, as we all know is endowed by the Almighty Allah with all the potentials for high level agricultural production. We have the arable fadama land in almost all the 21 local government areas of the state. You know this is the era of change from over-reliance on oil to self-sufficiency in food production. It is in the light of the need to achieve these ambitious diversification goals that the MoU was signed between the Kebbi State Government and the NNPC. The objective is to collaborate to utilise Kebbi’s arable land suitable for either mass production of sugarcane or cassava to achieve a capacity to produce and blend of ethanol – what they call green energy – in order to blend it with premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol. The idea is to get a blend to improve the quality of PMS. A feasibility study was carried out and I am happy to tell you that as it is today, the conclusion is that we have the natural endowment and a very resourceful human capital to generate fuel grade ethanol for the country to help push our desire to diversify forward.
What are the other objectives derivable in this agreement?
This agreement holds very promising blessings for the development of this country. As expected, Nigeria will inch towards self-reliance in sugar production because the sugarcane production will be massive. Again, animal feed will be available and affordable to water-down the herdsmen/farmers restiveness in the area. We believe that as more animal feed becomes available and affordable, the more clashes between herdsmen and farmers will settle down.
Thirdly, ethanol fuel energy to generate power will also be achieved, and finally and very importantly, 1.5M jobs will be created across Kebbi State. These jobs are available to all Nigerians and you can deduce the positive impact in the area of security, industrialisation and socio economic stability this will have on the survival of our country.
In the area of electricity generation, it is expected that about 75 megawatts will be generated.
Kebbi State has become an important player in the realisation of the agricultural revolution in Nigeria. What are these potentials?
Kebbi State is naturally endowed with human and natural resources. These two are very important in the pursuit of the kind of ambitious agricultural policies of becoming self-reliant in rice production which Nigeria has set for itself. Kebbi State is blessed with rivers that have criss-crossed the state and made the land very available and suitable for rice, wheat, cassava and sugarcane cultivation. We have the River Niger which stretches 175 kilometres across more than 10 local government areas of Kebbi State. We also have River Rima which criss-crosses for about 150 kilometers into many local government areas of Kebbi State. Don’t forget also that River Zamfara has also stretched into our state. Out of Kebbi’s 21 local government areas, only three or four are bereft of river endowment. In other words, the whole of Kebbi is endowed with the land and fadama resources to produce rice in the quantity enough to feed the whole of West Africa.
At what point did the Atiku Bagudu administration start to key into these objectives?
It started in 2015, with a wake-up programme called “Ka tashi” which is based on our desire to take advantage of irrigation on one hand, as well as harness our human and natural resources.
Again, under the decisive Federal Government policy, Kebbi was chosen as a pilot state for massive rice production. Under the Anchor Borrowers Programme, we were asked to produce 70,000 farmers within two weeks. You can imagine the challenges and the difficulties associated with this, but because our governor had prioritised rice farming, we were able to deliver the 70,000 farmers within the timeframe. Out governor quickly put all the required machinery in motion and within the two-weeks timeframe, extension workers; project monitoring teams; hundreds of motorcycles and other heavy logistics and allowances were mobilised and sent to zones and local government areas to register willing farmers, educate them, mobilise them and get them ready for the take up of the project. I am proud to tell you that today we have produced thousands of millionaires under that programme.
What exactly are the issues you wish are addressed to enhance rice production to the level that we no longer import?
I am sure you are aware that Nigeria has reduced the importation of rice by about 80 per cent, and these was achieved within two years. If the problems identified are addressed, Nigeria will become fully independent in no time. The biggest problems include the bureaucracy involved in securing lending facilities at the appropriate time. Agencies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should take into account the need to be very timely in the preparation of processes. Certain conditions that are very time-consuming and are a drag in prompt provision of assistance should be waved, while the states that have the potentials but are marginally participating in the Anchor Borrowers Programme should be forced to buckle up.
Also, loans in the agriculture sector should not be at more than one or two per cent because this is the practice in Asian countries that we wish to copy. Fertilizer should be made readily available and affordable in such a way that the cost of production will be lessened to the farmer in order to make it cheaper to the end consumer.
Fuel scarcity where a litre of fuel is sold at over N200 should also be looked into because it makes rice farming more expensive. This can affect the prices of rice to the end user.
Kebbi State has witnessed upsurge in the establishment of rice mills. Is this a product of the new policy?
Of course, it is a product of government’s intervention in the sector. Private sector investment is very critical in sustaining profitable farming activities. In Kebbi, we already have Labana Rice Mills in Birnin Kebbi and Wacot Rice Mills in Argungu. In Jega, there are three other smaller mills with a capacity of 30 tonnes per day each. Dangote Group is working on establishing one big mill in Yauri, while another indigenous businessman is establishing another mill in Kamba. As we speak, quite a number of inquiries from local and international investors are being attended to and we believe the future is very promising for Nigeria as regards attaining self sufficiency level in rice production.
Are you in partnership with other states in the country in order to have a common objective in this programme?
We interface between ourselves. Some states do come to Kebbi to see how we do our things and they learn a thing or two in order to adopt. We also receive visitors from outside the country who also look at how we are able to achieve the much that we have achieved. States like Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Niger, Imo and others have, at various times, made inquiries or visited and we interfaced with them.
Rice institutes from outside the country have also made similar inquiries. High level officials of one of such institutes from Burkina Faso which handles rice issues for Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo and Burkina Faso itself, have visited and when we took them to a very small rice field in Jega, they exclaimed in utter disbelief. I remember one of the officials saying, “This is the headquarters of rice farming in West Africa.” I just laughed because I know if he had seen our true potentials in Suru, Argungu, Yauri and other places, he would have described us as the world’s headquarters of rice production.
Mechanised farming is critical in ensuring high yield. Are you thinking along that line?
It has started in Kebbi already. It is a gradual process because we just started getting very serious about rice farming. It will come in naturally as more big players come in. Many farmers have embraced mechanised techniques in land preparation, harvesting and thrashing. The rice mills are coming in and those involved in rice farming must be abreast of modern techniques to keep pace with the demand. We would reach there In Shaa Allah.
