Shettima, Governors’ Unwarranted Trip to Benin Republic 

For Vice President Kashim Shettima and six governors to visit the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone, near Cotonou in the Republic of Benin, to understudy their agro-industrial model, shows how Nigeria’s ratings in agriculture and other indices of good governance have dropped to abysmally low levels due to the mismanagement of the country’s abundant natural resources by successive governments, Ejiofor Alike reports

It was quite shocking to many Nigerians when news broke last week that six governors visited the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone (GDIZ), in the Republic of Benin, and pledged to replicate the country’s state-level agro-industrial zones in their respective states.

Many believe that a country that prides itself as Africa’s largest economy should have reserved such a trip for relevant officials and agencies in the state and Federal Ministries of Agriculture, and not the vice president and the governors.

The governors, who were led on the visit by Vice President Kashim Shettima, had also vowed to adapt GDIZ model to revive textiles, process farm produce and create job opportunities.

Nigeria was already an agricultural giant in the 1950s and third-largest textile giant in Africa in the 1970s, operating about 180 textile mills.

Unfortunately, the country has slumped to the level where it is understudying the Republic of Benin’s agricultural and textile models, as part of the efforts to establish agro-industrial processing hubs, and revive domestic manufacturing.

Before Nigeria gained Independence in 1960, the three regional governments had recorded giant strides in agriculture, which was the mainstay of their economies.

When Action Group (AG) was formed by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in 1951, agriculture was one of its top cardinal programmes.

Reports had it that school children in the old Western Region sang a Yoruba song every morning, which was translated “Farming is the occupation in our land …. Any education without hoe is incomplete.”

Western Regional government was also said to have allocated different parts of the region, depending on the type of soil, for different types of cash and food crops.

According to reports, the Remo areas in Ogun State were designated for rubbers and cola nuts; Ijebu designated for forestry and palm trees; Yelwa designated for cassava, maize, rice and other cereal crops; while crops such as Cocoa trees were planted in the forest areas of the present Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, and Osun states.

Proceeds from Cocoa were used to fund free education in the region, and also build the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Osun State; Cocoa House in Ibadan, which was West Africa’s first skyscraper; Premier Hotel in Ibadan; Liberty Stadium, also in Ibadan; and other gigantic projects in the region.   

In the old Eastern Region, many Nigerians still cite the agro-industrial revolution of Dr. Michael Okpara in the 1950s and 1960s, which made the region one of the fastest growing economies in the world, alongside the four Asian Tigers – Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea.

Before the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantities, which led to the neglect of agriculture, farm settlements, plantations, cattle ranches and other livestock ventures were the source of the revenue, which Okpara used to transform the region into an industrial and manufacturing hub.

For instance, Aba in the present Abia State, was a manufacturing and commercial hub; Emene in Enugu State hosted asbestos factory; a cement factory was established at Nkalagu in the present Ebonyi State; Trans Amadi Industrial Layout was built in Port Harcourt; while the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) was established in the present Enugu State.

Hotel Presidential was also built in Port Harcourt and Enugu, among other projects.

In the old Northern Region under the late Premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello, agriculture was the backbone of the textile industries that made Nigeria to rank the third-largest textile giant in Africa, operating about 180 mills.   

The Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria (ABU) in the present Kaduna State; the Bank of the North; the Kaduna Textiles Limited established in 1957; and the Hamdala Hotel in Kaduna, were all built with proceeds from agriculture. 

Nigerians still remember the famous ‘Groundnut Pyramids’ in Kano.

It was therefore shocking that the vice president and governors in the same country that made these accomplishments in agriculture in the 1950s and 1960s could embark on a trip to Benin Republic to inspect an area, where cotton, cashew nuts, soyabeans and other agricultural commodities are processed into finished and semi-finished products.

Governor AbdulRahman  AbdulRazaq of Kwara State did not hide the shameful fact that the governors went to understudy the Republic of Benin’s models when he described the visit as an African peer-learning mission intended to help Nigerian states avoid costly mistakes and adopt tested industrial practices.

“We previously visited Ethiopia to study what they had done, and we are now in Benin Republic to learn from both the challenges and the successes of this industrial zone.

“We have examined the cotton, cashew and soybean value chains. What we have seen has been a tremendous success, and we will take these lessons back to Nigeria as we implement our own projects”, AbdulRasaq stated.

Also speaking, Jigawa State Governor Umar Namadi said the industrial zone had provided useful lessons for his state’s efforts to add value to agricultural production under Nigeria’s Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones Programme.

On his part, Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, subtly reminded Nigerians that the country was once a textile giant.

He said the visit revived memories of the once-thriving textile industry in his state, where factories, cotton ginneries and oil mills previously employed thousands of people.

He said: “My father was one of the owners of the Zamfara Textile Industry.

“At one point, the factory operated three shifts, with about 2,000 workers on each shift. Zamfara also had about 23 ginneries and an oil mill, where even cotton seeds were converted into oil.”

Also, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State said: “If this model is properly adapted in Nigeria, with every state building around its comparative advantage, we will create the prosperity and employment opportunities our people need.”

Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umar Radda, said the production systems at GDIZ could be reproduced in Nigerian states with strong agricultural value chains.

Speaking also on the lesson they learnt from the trip, the Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, stated that “the lesson is that this kind of success requires intentionality.”

Many Nigerians believe that relevant officials of the ministries of agriculture should have embarked on the trip to preserve Nigeria’s honour in the global community.

Analysts noted that for the vice president and six state governors to embark on this trip to a country that was far behind Nigeria in agriculture in the 1960s shows how Nigeria’s rating on agriculture and other indices of good governance has dropped due to the mismanagement of the country’s abundant human and natural resources by successive administrations.

Some years ago, after visiting Songhai Farm founded in 1985 by Father Godfrey Nzamujo in Porto-Novo, the same Benin Republic, some state governors adopted the model for integrated farming scheme to boost food production in Nigeria.

Years after, many Nigerians have not seen the impact of the visits. Even some states which started to replicate model, have since abandoned it. This is why they are hoping that the recent visit to GDIZ is not turned into another jamboree.