Last week, I commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for declaring a state of emergency on food security and for being the only President who had gone the extra mile to demonstrate his seriousness in tackling the monster of hunger. It is the hope and expectation of Nigerians that President Tinubu walks his talk to avoid the catastrophic consequences of food insecurity. I must also commend President Tinubu for answering the call I made two years ago in my column of 9th June 2021. I said “Nigeria must declare a state of emergency in Agriculture; the government at various levels (Fed, State, and LGA) must invest heavily in agriculture, if possible, through legislation to galvanize agricultural revolution through the use of improved technologies, equipment, and expertise”. Now the first part has been done and the second part is the complement of the “state of emergency”. What are the challenges and the way forward to achieving food security in Nigeria?
Browsing: Prof. MK Othman
The Titanic crash of 1912 was among the four most calamitous tragedies of the 20th century in the history of humanity. The others were World War I (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), World War II (1939 to 1945), and the Challenger STS Explosion of 28th January 1986. World War I and II claimed millions of lives and properties worth inestimable trillions of US Dollars principally caused by human conflicts oiled by power greed, colonialism, selfishness, and muscle-flexing among the so-called superpowers and their allies. However, the Titanic crash and Challenger explosion claimed less than 2,000 lives and properties worth a few billion US Dollars were caused by human unforeseen errors that eroded the confidence, which was created by human intelligence and advancement. These two tragedies, the Titanic crash, and the Challenger explosion shocked the world, brought out the fallibility of human technologies, and reinforced the conviction of some of us that Nature has omniscient power, which is auto-galvanized by the Almighty.
Mr. Xnopia (not a real name but a true story) was (un)happily accompanied by his wife and younger brother on euthanasia tourism to Switzerland. Mr. Xnopia had decided that nothing matters anymore and the time has finally come to just end it all. Assumingly, a due consultation was done between Xnopia’s family and friends and a painful(?) decision was reached that Mr. Xnopia should finally end it all in a legally permitted and assisted suicide. A designated place for such services was approached. Lethal drugs were given to Mr. Xnopia, he willingly accepted after his last handshake with his younger brother while the wife was massaging his hand and assuring him of taking care of his wishes after his death. The lethal drug administrator, a lady, was professional in this life-ending service as she meticulously helped him to his last breath. In a matter of less than ten minutes, Mr. Xnopia was no more, he peacefully and sadly passed away in the presence of his wife and brother who were in black attire symbolizing their planned and expected grief. This death or suicide mission is not monetarily costless, there is a price tag for it.
ASUU strike was forcedly suspended in October 2022. It was suspended not ended but can be ended in this new dawn. The nation is suddenly breathing the enviable fresh air of hopes for a glorious future under the able leadership of shrewd but consummate politician, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT). As a testimony, BAT was a 2-term governor of Lagos state (1999-2007). His stewardship as governor was (still is) the most highly rated performance of a governor in Nigeria since the inception of the current political dispensation. He touched every sector of societal development particularly the economy, education, power, and the rest. To date, Lagos remains the startling example of good governance and excellent leadership under BAT’s tenure. Can he replicate it at the national level? Time will tell.
Law is an ass, idiot, and an insane blind woman with a sword, ready to swing in any direction. Like a pregnant woman of those days when nobody could predict the sex of the fetus but today’s technological advancement has invalidated this maxim. The complexity and limpidity of the law have created a dreary concern to many whenever a judgment is to be pronounced. The regimented and conservative court procedure with its perceived supreme power has distanced the common man from the court, which is opposite to the adage “last hope of the common man”. Self-esteem and superiority complex of the law practitioners, the lawyers further compound the misunderstanding of the law by the generality. I remember when a lawyer was assigned to teach us a topic “company’s law” as part of a course called “Engineer in Society” in my undergraduate days, one of his first statements was “I am sure you aware that we lawyers are ‘learned people’ while all of you are educated people”. We were silent as we lacked the argumentative capacity to challenge his audacity. We all gazed at him with a big question mark, what is the difference between learning and education?
I was taught and have taught/still teach in many institutions of learning within and without but two of such institutions are uniquely occupying the center stage of my heart. These two are so dear to me that I can give all I have to advance their causes. Government Secondary School (GSS) Funtua and Ahmadu Bello University Zaria are the two exclusively pricey schools I cannot but continue to hold close to my heart. Coincidentally, my age and the age of these two schools marked our Diamond age in 2022 as they were established in October 1962 while I was born three months earlier. I paid a glorious tribute to ABU Zaria, titled “ABU@60: Giant, Still Briskly Walking in the Right Direction” published on 13th October 2022. This article can be accessed via my blog; https://deepthoughtwithmkothman.blogspot.com/2022/10/abu60-giant-still-briskly-walking-in.html
This article attracted mammoth reactions from my readers. It is a sign of goodwill for the Katsina State governor-elect, Dr. Umar Dikko Radda, a round peg in a round hole, an agricultural extensionist in an agrarian state dearly craving salvage. What a timely happening. In the next few days, he will be inaugurated as the first PhD holder, democratically elected to occupy the seat of Katsina state governor. Can he make a positive difference in the lives of Katsina people? Can he outshine others who came before him? He has a catalog of overwhelming challenges but he is also well groomed, educationally, administratively, and experience-wise. May the Almighty Allah see him through. Now, here are selected readers’ comments on the Article, “Irrigation Glorious Future for Katsina State”. Happy reading.
This week, I honored an invitation sent to me in November 2022. I was invited to make a keynote address at the 48th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Society for Plant Protection, tagged “Kano -NSPP 2023” with the title “Plant Health, Crop Improvement, and Sustainable Food Security in Nigeria”. I was hesitant about accepting the invitation but the caliber and personal relationship with the members of the organizing committee could not allow me to reject it. With all the eggheads in crop protection and plant science around, why invite me, an agricultural engineer to talk as a keynote speaker? I later realized the wisdom behind the invitation, someone outside the profession should tell the professionals, his impression, thoughts, and the impacts of the profession on society. It is also an opportunity to talk about the GMT, the question of safety, and so on. This opportunity came on Monday, 15th May 2023 when I faced over 200 participants in the Plant Protection Conference and presented my thoughts on GMT, Food Security, Biosafety law, and public discourse on GMT.
Confessionally, Katsina state is among the luckiest states to have acquired five multi-billion Naira irrigation projects littered across the state. Conservatively, these projects – Zobe, Jare, Dallaji, Sabke, and Jibia dam projects have gulped over 150 billion Naira from the Federal government in the last three decades. For instance, Zobe water supply project Phase I and II alone was appropriated N3.227 billion in the 2017 Appropriation under a budget line, FMOWR64053426. This is in addition to the “little chip in” by the Katsina state government, “now and then”. For example, in August 2003, the then-governor Umaru Yar’adua’s government allocated a princely sum of N317 million for funding a 16-kilometer supply of water from Zobe Dam to Dutsinma town. One can only appreciate the staggering huge resources allocated to these projects after going through their financial audits. These projects, like all other civil engineering projects, have lifespan whether utilized or unutilized, and it will be a colossal loss of public resources, and a disservice to the nation if they attain their lifespan without reaping the expected benefits. Katsina state government must do everything possible to derive the maximum benefits from these projects. So, the major concern is how to make these underperforming, almost abandoned projects perform excellently for the benefit of Katsina state and the nation at large.
Peter Gregory Obi, a 1984 graduate of Philosophy from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka is a dogged political fighter and appears to be a committed nationalist struggling to take Nigeria out of economic doldrums and developmental stagnation. His political sojourn is full of ups and downs, with each down making him a stronger and more ferocious fighter for the next round of fighting. As written in this Column, a few months ago. His tenure as the governor of Anambra state was marred by upheavals. Obi’s victory in the 2003 governorship election of Anambra was awarded to Ngige, which was overturned by the Court of Appeal on March 15, 2006. Obi assumed office on March 17, 2006, but was impeached On Nov. 2, 2006, by the State House of Assembly after seven months in office and was replaced by his deputy Virginia Etiaba. He was re-instated on Feb. 9, 2007, by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu. In April 2007, Obi was removed from office after a new governorship election was held by INEC, but the judiciary intervened again and ruled that he should be allowed to complete a full four-year term. In 2010, he won re-election for a second and final term in office as the governor. Despite these happenings, Obi was able to perform “wonders” in Anambra. His testimony is full of fantastic stories.