By Atabor Julius, Lokoja.
The present APC led government of President Muhammadu Buhari’ s policy to diversify the nation’s dependence from oil to agriculture and to guarantee food security for the nation through Anchor Borrowers Scheme may have hit the rocks in Kogi state as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has allegedly exited the state from the scheme over intractable crisis of input repayment.
The scheme, as it is provided by the CBN, created a platform for both the state, corporate organisations and individuals to access loan for farming which would be repaid with the proceeds from the harvested crops.
Some states, such as Kebbi, Lagos, Ebonyi and other states which have tapped into the scheme have become the bride of the country in rice production. Unfortunately, while these states provides labour cost ranging from #220,000 , a cleared acres of land and all other essential inputs to their anchored farmers, Kogi allegedly provided a consultant to supply the inputs, leaving the farmers to bear the brunt of labour, the situation that has shrouded the scheme in the state in controversy.
The trouble was said to have started when over 1600 dry season rice farmer’s groups who were anchored by the state government through Ministry of Agriculture collected input worth millions of Naira meant to assist them for bumper harvest but reneged on the net-off of the cost of the inputs supplied by a consultant in consultation with the Project Monitoring Committee (PMC).
This reporter reliably gathered that the dry season rice farmers could not get the needed financial support as promised by the government due to the inability of the government to resolve their dispute with the CBN.
However, the state was able to secure a consultant who supplied the input to the farmers waiting to net off his cost after harvest, but that was not to be when the farmers allegedly introduced twist into the repayment.
The inputs, according to investigation, included: bags of paddy rice for planting, fertilizers (NPK), water pumping machines, herbicides, scaring nets, liquid fertilizer (Agrolizer) and fertilizers (Urea) whose repayment has become subject of controversy.
Speaking to this reporter, the spokesperson of the dry season rice farmers association and the coordinator of Success Group, Francis Angulu said their failure to repay the cost of the inputs was government’s lack of commitment to the scheme and their plight as they reneged on their promises to support the farmers financially.
According to him, “We went to Okumi in Lokoja Local Government Area of the state, got ten hectares of land waiting for the money to clear the grasses. We were told to use our money for the clearing of the land while waiting for the money.
“I went to Zaria in Kaduna state and hired 15 labourers to clear the land. Officials of the Central Bank, Bank of Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture came and inspected the farm. The Ministry of Agriculture gave us tractors, but the fueling, which we bought 50 liters per day of diesels and the cost of repairing the trators, if it breakdown and the feeding of the drivers were borne by us for two weeks. No kobo was given to us by the Ministry even as they were inspecting the farm on daily basis.
“After the clearing of the land, we were waiting for the money to commence planting. We were promised big pumping machines that can pump water from the river Niger to the farm, which were not given. Later, we were called to come and collect inputs for the planting of the dry season rice.
“We were also directed to open accounts with the Bank of Agriculture, which we used two thousand five hundred naira (#2,500) to open. We waited in vain for the money, and already I have spent over #500,000. The officials from CBN, BOA and the ministry inspected the farms, but ministry later changed the promised from #2m, to #500,000, to #75,000, and still nothing was forthcoming, so, some of us decided to sell some of the inputs to do the planting”, he disclosed.
He added that when the money and the big pumping machines were not forth coming, they have to wait for the first and second rain to fall to plant the rice, while alleging that most of the input chemicals were fake, instead of killing the grasses becomes manure for the grasses.
“They gave us inputs four months ago, inputs meant for the dry season farming. And because we planted in the raining season instead of dry season, flood has taken over the farms. Even before we were given the inputs , officials at the Agricultural Development Project (ADP) had to extort money from us.
“They were bringing various forms for us at a cost and still, the promised money was not given to us and now they are chasing us around to return the inputs. Most of the inputs given to us were inflated . Yes, some people who did not farm were returning their inputs , but we that have spent our money to farm , where will we see the inputs to return,” he queried.
As the crisis lingered, the CBN, might have refused to anchor new set of wet season rice farmers and cassava out growers making the state the only state in the country that is not presently on the anchor borrowers scheme of the Federal Government.
Irked by the controversy, the governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello had allegedly gave a marching order to the commissioner, Mr. Kehinde Oloruntoba to bring all those concerned in the scam to quickly rectify the discrepancy or risk of being clamped down.
It was on the strength of this stern order by the governor, that the commissioner of Agriculture, Honourable Kehinde Oloruntoba, commenced clamping down on the defaulting farmers and some unscrupulous ministry officials at recouping the inputs without success, as some of the farmers are threatening litigation.
In his response, the commissioner dismissed the claims of the farmers with the waive of hands saying the group led by Francis Angulu were only telling lies to paint the government in bad light.
“The anchor borrowers scheme is a CBN programme, it is a loan and not a grant. When you take a loan, you have to pay back the money. We gave them the inputs on 26/1/2017 and the paddy rice has four months from planting to harvest. If actually they planted the rice at the time inputs were given to them by June, which was four months after the rice could have been ripe for harvest. Our team visited Okumi farms and discovered that many of them did not farm, while few others actually planted during the wet season and these are the farmers returning the pumping machines.
“They thought it is business usual. In the past regime, they would collect the inputs and would not pay back, as they would say, it is their own share of the cake. We will use available means to collect the inputs back no matter the intrigues and blackmail. They have to pay the input suppliers.
“The allegation of over inflation of the cost of inputs was not correct because representatives of the farmers, CBN, BOA, the ministry and the inputs suppliers met and agreed on the prices. Nobody was coerced to accept the inputs. They willingly collected the inputs, but introduced a twist when it was time for repayment.
It was reliably gathered that some insider collusion might have given rise to high rate of ghost dry season rice farmers on the scheme, as over sixty five percent of farmers who collected the inputs which runs into multi million naira have no farms.
“They were brought in by their friends in high places just to get what they termed national cake, as this was the practice in the past,” said a source.
The source stated further that the government is willing to shift ground from arresting defaulters but have to come up with four propositions at solving the impasse.
One is for the farmers to return the pumping machine and government will write off the other inputs and be exited from the scheme. Two, those who have actually farmed should bring the paddy rice and the pumping machines no matter its condition and to remain on the scheme. Three, the farmers should feel free to negotiate with the ministry on a staggered mode to defray the cost and be exited while the fourth, is allegedly coming from farmers, that the ministry should allow the genuine farmers to return to the farm using the former inputs which will be repayed at the harvesting period.
While waiting for the quick resolution of the crisis, the nefarious activities of some ministry officials and members of over 1600 dry season rice farmers’ groups have put thousands of wet season rice farmers and cassava out growers in a tight corners as CBN would not shift ground to accept them as the state government Anchor, thereby putting the state at risk of food insufficiency and hunger.
Flooded Rice Farm at Okumi, Lokoja
