The Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu has called for synergy among all tiers of government for effective implementation of the new national agricultural policy – `Green Alternative’.
Adamu, who gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday on the sideline of his 70th birthday celebration in Abuja, said all hands must be on desk to reposition agriculture in the country.
Adamu said it appears that there is a silent conflict among the various tiers of government relating to the position of agriculture.
He said that the country has a constitution that placed agriculture on the concurrent list and because of “which government responsible for what is not too clear.’’
Adamu said the Federal Government has most of the funds that are available for the development of the various sectors, and also has most of the competent manpower to drive the economy.
The lawmaker explained that the Federal and State Governments on the other hand do not own land, saying that only the Local Governments own land on which agriculture must be practiced.
The senator said it is expected of the government at the centre to provide a leadership through crystal clear policy that spells clearly the role of State and Local Governments.
Adamu told NAN that it is the Federal Government’s responsibility to get practitioners in agriculture involved in developing a national policy for the sector.
He expressed gratitude to God for role of the National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria (NAFN) in organising a workshop in which farmers, processors, consumers, exporters, development partners, academics and consumers deliberated on the policy.
Adamu said the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development took the outcome of the workshop, organised stakeholders again to streamline the ideas and came up with this policy that would run nation’s agriculture for the next ten years.
“The Federal Government being the government at the centre should know how and where they want to drive agriculture and expects the states and local governments to follow.
“The linkages to make this happen are very weak and so you have policies that are not driven to the grassroots properly, the states are not keying in properly and nobody is saying hay! You must do this.
“Sometimes, to get results and to move the country forward, you need to tighten the screws; there is no reason why a national policy will be on board and a state will not key into it.
“I believe that these weak links in getting the message of the policy guideline for the development of agriculture must be strengthened.
“Our hope is that, having developed a road map, we would trek the road map, we would walk our talk, that’s my prayer,’’ Adamu said. (NAN)