By: Bayo Obalende

Dr Phillips Nto, Economist, agric expert,  former finance Commissioner in Abia State, and DG Agribusiness, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, in this interview with select media, including Nigeria panorama speaks on Nigeria’s economy and the way out of present economic strangulation, among others

Excerpt

Recently, you faulted the move by the National Assembly, specifically, the House of Representatives towards the conversion of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, MOUAU, to conventional university, …?*

(Cut’s in). I am against it and I am sure it’s not in the best interest of Abians. Look, Abia needs a second institution, so why convert a special institution like  MOUAU? That does not make sense. Why  amend the Act setting up MOUAU trying to convert it into a conventional University. ?

The action will not only be counter productive but will deepen the marginalisation of Abia State in the siting of federal institutions and even in appointments. I have already given a press statement on my position on this issue. We should at every point weigh our actions to know whether it’s productive or counter productive. Something may seem good in its face value but when you subject it to critical analysis, you will find out it’s not in the best or majority interest.

As I emphasised in my press release, what Abia State needs now is a second federal university as being obtained in surrounding states and not to tinker with the structure of MOUAU as it is currently constituted.

What is shocking is that it is the Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu, who hails from the state, that is sponsoring this Bill. He is expected to know the implications of such bill given his vintage position.

The bill in my view, is ill- conceived as it will not add value to both the University and the State generally.

Converting MOUAU to a conventional university will not attract additional funding from the federal government, and neither will it accelerate development in the state the way a brand new university will. And that is the truth.

What it shows is that the sponsors of the bill are out of touch with the Abia people as they did not even deem it wise to consult widely to ascertain the real needs of the people before rushing the bill to the House.

For me, it is inconceivable that  at a time the administration of President Bola  Tinubu is harping on food security through agriculture, those who claim to love him are impeding the process for the realization of such laudable goal.

What we are witnessing as I have already noted, amounts to misplacement of priority to switch over to conventional University at this challenging period the country and the South-East zone are battling food and insecurity.  I believe our founding fathers had a cogent reason for making it a university of agriculture. That vision was well-thought out.

What we should be calling for is adequate funding of MOUAU and scholarships for graduates of agriculture to embark upon agribusiness activities as a means of making the institution more relevant and not a conversion to conventional university .

It is worrisome that while lawmakers from other states are vigorously and consciously canvassing for the setting up of even the third universities in their states, those from my state, Abia are pushing for the  conversion of the ony federal University in the state. I can’t comprehend it.

What Abia needs is a brand new conventional University not upgrade. A new university will attract a new take-off grant and fresh employment.

This is even a time we should place more emphasis on agriculture given its huge potential to generate employment for the youths of the country.

What agricultural universities in Nigeria needs at the moment is a law for special and adequate funding so as to attract more students to agriculture and not the conversion of existing ones to conventional university

*As the DG, Agribusiness Incubation. Centre ,Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, do you think the budgetary provision for agriculture in 2025 budget is realistic, given our challenging food security?*

My concern is not the provision for agriculture and other sectors of the economy but the implementation of the budget itself.

The 47.90 trillion naira budget allocated about 826.5 billion naira to agriculture, 4.9 trillion naira to defence and security while the sum of 4.06 trillion naira, 3.52 trillion naira and 2.48 trillion naira were allocated to infrastructure, education, and health sector respectively. A little review and analysis will show that all those sectors have direct bearing on agricultural productivity. If the budget for defence and security is well implemented, security will be restored and farmers in the IDP camps in the north will go back to the  farm. Also, the amount of money spent on infrastructure will ensure a well-developed transportation system and a well-developed energy sector. This will enhance agricultural productivity.

To achieve food security, all the ancillary sectoral budgets should be well-implemented so as to stimulate growth in the agricultural sector. You do not necessarily need to put the money directly into the agricultural ministry to achieve food security and independence as other sectors provide the required stimulant and catalyst. For me, the provision in the sector is realistic as what farmers need from government is not acquisition of land or labour but security, good road and transportation network, uninterrupted power supply for processing and storage as well as good health sector. In short, all that’s required is enabling an  environment.

Luckily, agriculture is in the concurrent list, so  all the 36 states and 774 local governments ought to provide support to develop the agricultural sector.

*How can the nation achieve the much touted food security?*

I feel ashamed when we continually talk about actualization of food security in Nigeria. This is a country that did it before independence and immediately after independence. This is a country that is blessed with enormous agricultural potentials contrary to what is obtained in other countries that were able to achieve food security. I like comparing Nigeria to Israel that prides herself as land flowing with milk and honey. Nigeria has 70 million hectares of agricultural land while Israel has 410,000 hectares with a  population of about 210 million and 9.5 million respectively. Israel is in an arid or semi-arid region but depends on water recycling while Nigeria has good climate condition and water for irrigation. Everything favours Nigeria in terms of agriculture as against Israel but ironically, Israel ranks 24 while Nigeria ranks 107 in global food security index. The difference is that Israel uses their brain while we depend on oil in Nigeria. To achieve food security, Nigeria needs to formulate the right policies. I am a teacher and researcher in an agricultural university. Can you imagine that departments like soil science, animal science and agricultural extension get only about 2 or 3 students in a session? How do you achieve food security when young people don’t want to study agriculture? Everybody wants to study medicine, law, engineering, etc yet you want to eat every day. Let the  government stimulate the sector by granting full scholarship and bursary awards to those studying agriculture. NELFUND can do it just like Tetfund is also  granting special encouragement to agric universities. Those who graduate can be given incentive to start their agricultural business. Let the  government pay serious attention to the agricultural sector. Money from the oil sector should be used to develop agriculture. What is required is the  right policy . Some of us that  have vast  experience and knowledge can assist, so let the government provide us with a platform like Agricultural Summit.

*Recently,  the federal government gave waivers for importation of some grains, including rice. Does such a policy not negate local production?*

As I said earlier, we have the potential to grow any crop in Nigeria. As a politically sovereign nation, we should also aspire for agricultural and food sovereignty. I am not against granting waivers to import those food items we don’t have comparative advantage on; but not rice that can grow in so many parts of the country. I conducted a survey on rice production in the southeast; I discovered that Abia and Ebonyi states have a lot of land for rice production that can sustain rice consumption in the whole Southern Nigeria. What is required is just government’s support. Obviously, the policy of granting waivers will negate local production as most of the local farmers do not have technology to compete with rice farmers in Asia. Let the government put in efforts to develop the agricultural sector.

*How or what should be done for farmers to accelerate food production in Nigeria?*

I stated this earlier, security,so  that farmers in the north that are now being sheltered and fed in IDP camps can  go  back to their farms. In the south, where you have inter and intra communal clashes, state government should take steps to resolve them without shifting such blames to National Boundaries Commission. If you have security, you have good infrastructure, even in the rural communities with good school and hospital obviously, food production will be stimulated. So many rural farmers migrate to urban areas not in search of greener pasture or quality life but to run away from being conscripted to join community militancy or fight communal war. Also, local government authorities can curtail  livestock destruction of crops by herders as it was before.

*Experts are pessimistic over the pledge by President Tinubu to bring down inflation to 15 percent. How realistic is it?*

Hahaha!! (laughs) I want to be optimistic in this case. I want to be positive so that the government will be spurred to act in a manner that will help in the realization of the 15 percent inflation. But the question remains how inflation can drop from over 35 percent depending on the sector to 15 percent ?

Has the government laid the foundation? How is it possible when we depend on importation for virtually everything we need?  According to my secondary school economics teacher, inflation occurs when there is more household income so that there is a  rise in consumer spending; I believe that the current inflation in Nigeria defies my teacher’s postulation. I don’t think there is an  increase in household income. I don’t think that household spending has increased. I also don’t think that there is too much money in circulation. But i think there is  a gross decline in food items. The current inflation is induced by lack of productivity especially in the agricultural sector. The current inflation also has to do with over-dependence on importation which has weakened our currency.

To realize 15 percent inflationary rate will be a mirage if we don’t go back to agriculture. It will be an  impossible task if we don’t encourage local production so that naira can be strengthened through export to balance our trade. Recall that during the Agricultural era, ships used to come from Europe, Asia, America etc empty to carry Agricultural raw materials back to their countries but ironically, the reverse is the case now. Ships that bring goods to Nigeria go back empty.

*News coming out indicates that manufacturers are no longer borrowing from banks as a result of high interest rates. How can these economic issues be resolved based on the Tinubu reforms* ?

There is a wrong implementation of economic principles and theories. Borrowing at a high interest rate to manufacturers discourages formal lending. I see misapplication of economic theories on the side of the Central Bank of Nigeria in the issue of pegging interest rate to the lending banks. The possibility is  there that CBN may have adopted monetary policy of raising interest rates so as to reduce money supply, which in turn will reduce the amount of money in circulation and money demand by manufacturers. This has serious consequences on the economy.

When manufacturers borrow at high rates, it will increase the cost of their products.

The federal government should set up  special intervention funds for manufacturers especially, micro, small and medium enterprises.

The intervention should be disbursed to genuine manufacturers with known addresses and guarantors as well as areas of business.

It should be a revolving loan that should attract a low interest rate. Such will boost economic activities and create jobs.

The beneficiaries should know that the loan must be repaid and thus should not take it as their share of national cake.

Banks are a business venture, so they can not offer tangible loans that can help small manufacturers.

Other forms of low interest rates borrowing can be activated from bank portfolios to micro,small, and medium manufacturing enterprises as I know that large manufacturing corporations can survive under any interest rate regime. High interest rate encourages importation as foreign manufacturers get funds at low rates. Let CBN also float interest rate as it is done in exchange rate since  the country is heading for liberal economy.

*Nigerians feel that the Tinubu reforms are harsh and the cause of hardship in the land. Are the reforms what we need, or is the problem with  its implementation?*

Nigerians are suffering unimaginable difficulties.  Many families go to bed hungry and depressed.  The poverty and unemployment rates are ascending in geometrical progression.  Nigeria is unarguably the poverty and hardship headquarters of the world. No doubt some of the Tinubu’s reforms are good but there are some that are not necessary for now.  You can’t carry out reforms in all the sectors of the economy at the time. It leads to economic woes to withdraw subsidy from petrol and at the same time ‘s exchange rate for a country that is import dependent. Citizens pay virtually for everything whether for production or consumption. Every aspect of our consumption or production life is taxed. POS operations that recently provided employment for teeming youths are being charged exorbitantly.  I believe that to achieve economic reality, the reform is imminent, but there is a need to give it a human face. Recall, a surgeon operating on a patient,  must give anasthesia  to reduce the excruciating pains temporarily, by implication,  the pains are gradually introduced while pain relivers are frequently administered to cushion the painful situations that arise from the surgery.  Harsh economic policies or reforms take the same pattern. The economic team should realise that many may have  died before the reforms start yielding fruit. So many things need to be put in place before the reforms. All these policies throw more people below the poverty line.  Poverty they said is defined as those living below one dollar per day, but by this definition,  it is clear that more households can not provide N1,600  for a day. With the current inflation of 40 percent , the one dollar or its equivalent of N1,600 can not sustain an average household. President Tinubu may have good intentions, but members of his economic team may not be vast in the implementation of his  economic policies.

*What are the hanging fruits for the government in her efforts to bring a turn around on the economy?*

So many! I said so many low  hanging fruits. Agriculture and agribusiness are  number one. From my findings since my appointment as Director,  Agribusiness Incubation Centre by the visionary Vice Chancellor of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike,  Prof Maduebibisi Iwe, so many people have shown interest in agriculture.  During our advocacy over the radio programme tagged Farmers Friday , we get a lot of feedback.  The questions Farmers ask encourage us more, but getting support from stakeholders becomes a challenge. Let the economy be diversified towards the agricultural value chain. Agriculture and agribusiness provide a long value chain.  The money that  is borrowed from multilateral bodies should be ploughed towards agricultural development, not to poor viable sectors with low revenue generation index.

Another low hanging fruit is  youth development through education.  Nigeria has enterprising youthful components, and they constitute the majority of the population.  Nigerian youths are good in ICT, sports, entertainment,  entrepreneurship, etc. Let the government formulate policies and programmes to develop the innovation spirit of our youths.