1. Agriculture was once the mainstay of Nigeria's economy, but the discovery of oil led to agriculture being neglected and replaced as the main industry. Young people abandoned farms for cities. 2. Oil wealth created a new corrupt political class that appropriated wealth for themselves while most Nigerians lived in poverty. Infrastructure and social services declined while corruption increased. 3. The document calls for restarting Nigeria's agricultural sector to diversify its economy away from oil. It recommends government support for farmers through loans, improved transportation, and freeing up land. Reviving agriculture could make Nigeria self-sufficient in foods like rice, fish, and sugar.

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THE OIL CURSE: MAKING A CASE FOR AN AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
IN NIGERIA
Agriculture was the mainstay of the Nigerian state. Our senior citizens can look back
nostalgically and recount to us the magnificent groundnut pyramids of the North, the
sprawling cocoa and big-time rubber plantations of the west, the extensive oil palm
cultivations of the south which were being exported in very large quantities. All regions of
Nigeria were actively involved in agricultural production.
Alas, petroleum was discovered! The western world's insatiable desire for petroleum and
its products, owing to the rapid growth of its industrial complexes fuelled the automatic
upgrade of petroleum production and its attendant result; the relegation, infact,
displacement of the agro and allied industry to the background. Agriculture was not only
shoved to the back seat, it became a thing of shame and embarrassment to be identified as
an agricultural worker in the country. The strongest and most virile young men began the
mass exodus; abandoning the rural countryside where agriculture was the main occuation,
since agriculture had become analogous with rural or country- dwelling, stark poverty and
illiteracy.
The sudden oil wealth created a new class of Very Important People (VIP) whose
membership spanned coast to coast within the Nigerian territorial boundaries. They
hijacked the instrument of state power, empowering themselves to enjoy extremely
bounteous government largesse. They held Nigerians hostage by ensuring reverse
colonialism and subjecting the masses to themselves. Expectedly, with them a new group of
charlatans and sycophants motivated by pecuniary and avaricial ends, self-aggrandizement
and a demonic drive for political 'relevance' evolved.
Nigeria has suddenly become a society where morality and virtues are for the naive,
lily-livered and uncivilized. Nigeria, as we know it today ''excels'' in all Corruption
Perception Indices (CPI). Whereas, citizens in more civilized and saner climes seek power
to help contribute their own quota to the sum total development of their homelands,
Nigeria's politicians seek political power solely for the purpose of unfettered access to the
state treasury. They would rather prefer to be onlookers as the vast majority of Nigerians
are suffering amidst poverty, squalor, disease, and dearth of adequate social infrastructure.
I daresay that less than 1% of Nigerians, belonging to the aristocratic class have
appropriated to themselves 99% of the common wealth. Sickening!
There is practically no area of infrastructural development where Nigeria has lived up to
world-class standards. The huge wealth that has so far accrued from the nation’s oil
resource has been stolen, squandered and laundered by a corrupt and insensitive

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government with no welfarist tendencies whatsoever. Their cohorts are not left out of this.
My heart cries out; for how long will we remain in stagnated underdevelopment and
poverty amidst great wealth?
As if this is not enough woe for us already, the government has consistently abdicated its
constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property. It has successfully
transformed the country into the kidnapping and armed robbery capital of the world; a safe
haven for the worst kind of criminally-minded elements and radicals. The Boko Haram sect
and Niger-Delta militants come to mind here. The police and other armed forces
inadequately empowered, ill-prepared and affected by the transcendental nature of the
scourge of corruption have become toothless bulldogs in carrying out their responsibility
of nipping 21st century crime in the bud. Even as we speak, the unrealistic expectation that
foreigners would keep coming to Nigeria with their hard-earned capital for investment and
the onward transformation of the Nigerian economy continues to hold sway.
The time is ripe for the highest-ranking officials in the government to sit down and
proactively strategize on ways and means to move Nigeria out of this quagmire. We are in
urgent need of a far-reaching economic diversification blueprint, away from the
mono-product economy we currently are. The Nigerian government at all levels must begin
to show a sacrosanct commitment to putting a stop to the mindless rape, loot and
aggressive assault on the commonwealth of Nigerians. They must now focus on providing
adequate infrastructure for a much-needed industrial revolution. Energy, which has
become one area that has consistently made glaring the ineptitude and loopholes in the
Nigerian government must now be revamped. It is indeed a well known fact that a sound
manufacturing foundation can never be established in Nigeria without a stable and efficient
supply of power which has remained epileptic over 53 years after independence. Our ailing
health sector has to be awakened. The rot, hence decline in standard which has continually
manifested in the educational sector needs to be arrested, else we continue down the steep
slope of abysmal educational quality.
One of the ways to help diversify the economy is to look at areas of competitive advantage.
One of such is AGRICULTURE. Over the years, billions of foreign currencies have been
pumped into this almost moribund, underperforming sector with nothing actually trickling
down to the real providers of value themselves - the farmers. Rather, they have ended up in
the pockets of a select few. Research institutes have been established where agricultural
scientists have developed brilliant research findings that other nations are applying.
Agricultural produce, some of which formed part of our advantage over other nations are
now being imported steadily and expensively into the country. Oil palm from Malaysia
comes to the fore here.
This is a sector that has the potential, if maximum capacity utilization is achieved, to feed

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the entire black continent. But then, we all know what becomes of potential that is not put
to action. I, for one, recognize and appreciate the exemplary and visionary leadership of the
Honourable Minister for Agriculture, the brilliant and charismatic Prof. Akinwunmi
Adesina in this regard. The successful commencement of the Agricultural Transformation
Agenda (ATA) is indeed a laudable one. Also, the Youth Employment in Agriculture
Programme (YEAP), whose overall agenda is aimed at creating jobs and laying a foundation
for Nigeria’s economic growth as well as getting young farmers and school leavers to take
up agriculture as a business is a good one.
These commendable programmes notwithstanding, there is a whole lot of work to be done.
The National Assembly, Federal, State and Local governments should put in place policies
and programmes to help the cause of this impending agro-revolution. The aim of this
should be clear- to encourage potential and current farmers to take the initiative and perch
their tents with food production. There is an urgent need to arrest Nigeria’s perennial
transportation problem, construct roads into the hinterland where majority of farms are
located, revamp rail transport which makes for easy transportation of agricultural produce
to value-exchange locations.
Agricultural production costs, hence prices, plummet drastically when transportation of
agricultural produce is made easy and comfortable. The government should provide
incentives in the form of loans and grants, highly subsidized, optimum yield, pest and insect
resistant varieties of plants to farmers. In addition to this, the government, which is
constitutionally empowered to be in possession of land, should release same in large
expanses for extensive agricultural production.
We do not need to import sugar when we can cultivate sugarcane plantations, harvest,
process, and store for sale. Why import fish when we can construct fisheries, process fish
and store in cold rooms for sale? Is it financially expedient to continue rice importation,
which gulps billions of Naira annually owing to its staple food status? Rice is good for
cultivation in the swamps, which we possess in abundance as a natural gift. We could
construct processing and storage facilities for rice for onward transfer to that market
woman who would sell at a considerably low price and still make a fair take-home profit
for herself. We, in essence, do not have to keep enriching the pockets of a "privileged" few;
saboteurs who will stop at nothing to keep our systems dysfunctional for their own selfish
ends; who will make a profit at the expense of the masses and the state.
Another area, which the government needs to look into in its drive towards economic
diversification cum transformation, is that of electricity/power generation. Nigeria, located
in the hot, tropical climate that Africa is, is blessed with abundant solar and hydro resouces.
Several major rivers, of which the Niger and Benue are the most prominent, exist. These are
not being properly harnessed for power generation. Statistical evidence has it that even

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with a population of about 170 million people, Nigeria produces a mere 5000MW
(Megawatts) of electricity. This is very different from that of South Africa's, a nation who
with just over a fourth (49 million) of Nigeria's population produces more than enough
(40000MW) to drive domestic, commercial and industrial activity. As if the vast solar and
hydro resources are not enough blessings already, Nigeria has a vast reservoir of Natural
Gas deposits, which pitifully a very large proportion of is being flared annually by upstream
petroleum development companies, rather than being put to profitable use.
Personally, as individuals and corporately as a nation, we need to exhibit a sincere and total
commitment to changing the status quo; harnessing maximally, these abundant natural
resources for the production of electricity for communal benefit, stemming the tide of
erratic power supply in our dear nation. Power, as we know, drives industrial revolution. It
is like a colossus that bestrides the economic, social and educational landscape. Power is
needed to push manufacturing. It is needed to revive the ailing health sector; it is a
prerequisite for commerce and trade. Infact, if we are to display any seriousness about our
much-touted Agricultural Transformation Agenda, it is pertinent to pay close attention to
energy production. It is estimated that at the very least, Nigeria needs 200000MW of
electricity to successfully position itself among the 20 leading economies by the year 2020.
The government, recognizing clearly that it cannot achieve this on its own and the fact that
our economic system (mixed) provides for it should consider profitable partnerships with
the vibrant and efficient private sector to bring back the light to our homes, businesses,
schools, churches and mosques. When power supply is constant, cost of doing business in
the country would be reduced considerably. This augurs well for our economic indices
which are ludicrously low as I write.
I have a firm conviction in my heart that the ideas herein presented, will greatly enhance
economic diversification, if studied in-depth and religiously implemented.
IBIKUNLE OLUMIDE ADEDEJI
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