Tinubu Media Support Group advocates massive investment in agriculture to tackle food insecurity 

Tinubu Media Support Group advocates massive investment in agriculture to tackle food insecurity 

JOEL OLADELE, Abuja 

The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has called for the declaration of a state of emergency in agriculture and massive investment in the sector to tackle food insecurity and revamp the economy.

Speaking at the inauguration of the TMSG executives in Abuja on Tuesday, Chairman of the group, Barr. Jesutega Onokpasa, said that the easiest way out of the country’s present predicament was for President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in agriculture and invest heavily in the sector.

“We have long been brainstorming, looking to coming up with implementable ideas, policies and programmes with which to assist our government for a way out of our present predicament. 

“We have come to the conclusion that the easiest, quickest and most sustainable way out of the present situation is for our dear President to immediately declare a state of emergency in the agriculture and to thereunder immediately proceed to apply massive amounts of targeted investment in the agricultural sector.

“We are not talking of relative pittances such as what are effectively paltry budgetary votes for agriculture across federal, state and local tiers of government. What we are calling for is humongous investment in agriculture running into multiple trillions of naira per annum at federal level alone,” he said.

Onokpasa explained that agriculture is a sector that offers “return on investment”, noting that farmers can harvest crops within three months and start selling, unlike other critical infrastructure projects that take years or decades to deliver.

“You can build a huge refinery over five years and end up not even recouping the investment decades thereafter. Planting crops and rearing animals is a different kettle of fish altogether.

“You can plant a crop today and harvest and take to market within as early as just three months. You can hatch poultry on any given day and start selling mature meat products within a few months.

“God deliberately made it so because everyone must eat, nutrition being the number one need of humankind, way ahead of even such other crucial priorities as clothing, shelter education or healthcare,” the chairman emphasized.

The group also called for a renewed focus on agriculture, citing its potential to create jobs and stimulate economic growth. “Imagine if absolutely every village in Nigeria had just one tractor that farmers therein could share in cultivating their fields. That would actually be quite punny for a nation of 200 million plus people,” Onokpasa said.

The Chairman also referred to the opposition’s mockery of the APC’s campaign promise to make food sustainably available to Nigerians, saying that it was time to turn the tables by providing them with food under President Tinubu’s administration.

The TMSG’s call for a declaration of a state of emergency in agriculture was also supported by Hon. Sunday Oluwanifemi Okikiola, Convener of BATists Against Inflation (BAI), who emphasized the need for a renewed focus on agriculture to rescue the national economy.

The TMSG and BATists Against Inflation both acknowledge the challenges the citizens are currently passing through and urged them to be optimistic as the Tinubu led administration is determined to bring about a positive turnaround.

“While we must note the fact that they (economic challenges) were not caused by the Tinubu administration, we equally acknowledge the fact that it is the duty of the Tinubu administration to tackle them and improve the condition of our citizens.

“We therefore urge all our dearest fellow Nigerians to eschew despair, to be positive and to support their government to revamp our economy rather than yielding to negativity and hopelessness,” Onokpasa appealed.

The Tinubu Media Support Group, TMSG, is a group of progressives whose mission is to mobilise Nigerians behind the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu administration.