Insurgency and Insecurity Backbone of Poverty in Nigeria

Insurgency and Insecurity Backbone of Poverty in Nigeria

By Bello Rufai Wali

AREWA AGENDA – Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations revealed in the recently released 2020 report that existing insecurity conditions and large scale population displacements continue to severely affect agricultural activities, hinder access to fields and access to agricultural inputs in the conflict affected areas of the northeast, north central and northwestern Nigeria. In these areas, it is likely that most farming households will not be able to cultivate in 2020.

According to the 2019 population estimates and projections of the World Bank, Nigeria’s population hits about 200 million with an annual growth rate of 2.6%; this means that the population may rise with about 5 million people yearly. Agriculture is the workforce that employs majority of the northern population and 36.5 percent of the entire labour force of the federation, thereby serves as a great medium of earning good livelihood. The 2018 factsheet of the FAO revealed that around 88 percent of Nigeria’s farmers are considered small family farms. They depend on a diverse range of crops, livestock and fishes. Despite their importance for the domestic economy and due to the sector’s productivity limitations, more than 72 percent of Nigeria’s smallholders live below the poverty line of USD 1.9 a day.

In 2008, Nigeria was the 3rd largest producer of millet in the world with a highest production capacity of 9 million metric tons after India and China. It was the leading producer in Africa followed by Niger and Mali. Sorrowfully, after the advent of Boko Haram insurgency and the severity of terror attacks in 2009/10 upwards, the amount of production dropped to as low as 910,000 metric tons in 2013. The major millet producing states are Borno, Yobe, Kano and Kaduna amongst which Borno, Yobe, and Kano state were majorly affected by the insurgency while Kaduna was majorly affected by the insecurity of Farmer-Herder clashes coupled with ethnic conflicts, kidnappings among others.

Zamfara state was nicknamed “farming is our pride’ which signifies that the major occupation in the state is farming. It has a population of about 5 million people with 14 local government of which Gusau is the Capital. The recent insecurities in the state that erupted about 3 years ago, posed by cattle rustlers, kidnappers and bandits grossly affected the agricultural productivity capacity of the state which increased the level of unemployment and poverty rate of its population. It was also suspected that illegal mining of solid minerals such as gold and iron ore encouraged illicit acquisition of arms used in terrorizing the state. Insecurities in Katsina state was as a result of border closure or government policy that bans illegal importation of rice and vehicles which gave to a rise in local rice production and the nation’s revenue generation respectively. The policy also increases the chance to maintain the lead as Africa’s largest producer of rice and thereby improving the nation’s food security and Africa at large.

To curb the menace of the increasing level of insurgency and insecurity in the federation especially in the most affected areas of the Northern Nigeria, the federation should employ and deploy more, well trained police officers to the affected locations, approve the finance autonomy of local governments in order to promote ‘Bottom to Top’ sustainable developmental approach, include local government elections in the nation’s general election so as to eliminate gross election misconducts, improve agricultural financing by removing interest and simplifying its access by small holder farmers, improve digital inclusion in agricultural value chain and finally, Northern Governors as a matter of a major responsibility should apply all necessary principles in maintaining the peace and harmony of their states for sustainable development to prosper in the entire nation.

Arewa Agenda is a Publication of young writers from Northern Nigeria towards Peaceful Coexistence and National Development through positive narratives