Plateau State: A case study of our national insanity!

By Bolaji O. Akinyemi.

Please, I plead with you to read till the end. Nigeria can work if we agree to walk and work together.

We are gripped by the fever of iWalk; a million iWalkers from all the 774 Local Government Areas is a tall dream for a group that is not on Government’s patronage but we are determined to make the statement and if possible, convince Nigerians that Nigeria can work.

In the midst of brainstorming by iWalkers, analysing Nigeria on a state by state basis and reviewing the need for a peculiar approach to use in each Local Government Area came the news of a kidnapped and later killed monarch of Gobir in Sokoto state. Revealing again our worries, that security can only be effective and sustainable if our security structure is federated. Local Government police, State police and Federal police as it is under the Federal Structure of the USA, Sheriff for County (LGA), State Police for State and Federal Police for Federal. A pragmatic fall back to the need to lift the suspension of the 1963 CFRN and incorporating confab report of 2014 is sacrosanct.

Plateau State for our example is described as the home of peace and tourism. Home to tourism yes, but how do you tour around in a once peaceful place that has become the most unsecured state among its other 35 counterparts? Peace, once lived on the Plateau but not anymore!

Bothered by the state of the nation in general with respect to economic and financial activities of Nigerians complicated by politically motivated insecurity, PVC Naija, the NGO am privileged to serve as the BoT Chairman rose up to the daring challenge of bringing awareness of the economic and financial creativity potential available to rural dwellers in Nigeria ahead of the implementation of the Local Government autonomy. For if Nigeria will be great, it will, by the prosperity of her people. The National Economy is simply the collective pull of individual citizens’ economic activities and the taxes derived thereof as a major source of cash flow into the purse of the Government. It is about time that both the Government and the people should see national prosperity not from the mystery of iniquity that NNPC has become but from the economic contribution of every citizen and role of finance in the economy.

This birthed the direction for iWalk 2024. iWalk; independent walk is an annual walk of the NGO designed to stir and steer citizens towards nation building by creating a value to walk for. This year, Economic and Financial Creativity for a greater Country is the value on the table for iWalk, which simply put, is iWalk for EFCC!

Our economic potential is not in doubt, particularly through agriculture but for the disruption of farming related activities. A nation that can feed the whole of Africa is finding it hard to feed herself. A serious Government must therefore see the need to guard against the disruption of economic activities in every way possible, especially in agriculture. Constitutionally, the primary responsibility of the government is to provide welfare benefits as well as the security of lives and properties of citizens.

Concerned about the need to take attention away from Oil as the mainstay of our economy, because prospects for national prosperity exist at the grassroots levels; we thus chose Plateau State as a case study of the model that Israel has become globally in agricultural productivity. For example, Israel with a population of 10,000,000 and a land size of 22,145 square kilometers, of which 21,671, is land area with an annual rainfall of 400MM generates an average yearly income of $145 billion per annum from agricultural exports.

Nigeria, a nation of 230 million people, with a land size of Israel multiplied in 42 places, average rainfall of 1,295MM annually and a fertile arable land size of 910,770 has 53.9% or 125,447,884 of her inhabitant are urban dwellers by 2024 statistics. Meaning urban migration is one of the confrontations of our Republic; behind this, is insecurity that has driven over half our population from a more spacious place to contend for space where there is little or none. The median age of a Nigerian today is 17 years. The mobile, full of energy, ambitious youths of this nation must be given life where the space exists; our rural areas.
Shamefully, with the potential that our statistics portends, our average annual generation from agriculture is a meager $1.2 billion.

Let’s be clear about the prospect of earnings available to us first as individual citizens and collectively as a country before we zero down on Plateau State our case study.

There are 18 States out of our 36 States having land size more than the nation of Israel. Of all our 36 States and the FCT, only Gombe State has lower rainfall at 314MM as against Israel’s 440MM.

The Leadership of Niger State by His Excellency Gov. Mohamed Umaru Bago must be commended for making agriculture its priority area of investment; the state has a land size of 74,363 square kilometers and 1,196 MM rainfall. The potential of Niger State, if maximised will be more than triple the capacity of Israel. Imagine a new Nigeria where Niger State is putting $500 billion on the table. Living in at the mercy of Oil and the conspiracy that the institution of NNPC has become will be broken by the contribution of farmers from across the State.

Oil, where we focus our attention, has been through NNPC; it has put an indebtedness of $6.8 billion which is not up to what the tax inflow of Niger State to FG from Agriculture will be if the target of $500 billion is realised. That is a fraction of what our 18 States with land sizes more than that of Israel can provide without feeling it. Aside Gombe with 314MM rainfall, all the States in Nigeria has better rainfall than Israel. If the God of nature made Israel a promising land, the same God made Nigeria a nation of promising federating lands.

Squaring down on the potential for prosperity of our federating unit, iWalk chose Plateau State as our case study. A state with a land size of 26,899 square kilometers, a population of 5,000,000 and an annual rain fall on the average of 1,286MM, three times that of Israel. Plateau State is the worse hit by internal urban migration as a result of insecurity.

I arrived at Plateau State on Tuesday the 27th day of August 2024, and have had the privilege of visiting a few Local Government Areas and consultation with several youth groups, traditional council and intellectuals and political leaders from the State. A very ambitious yet content people who will give all it will take to achieve maximisation of their agricultural productivity. This is likely to be hampered however by insecurity from which the Local Government and State Government in reality are helpless.

The uncle of one of iWalk Coordinators was attacked on his way from the farm on Tuesday 27th August 2024; he was later found on the bush path unconscious and rushed down to Jos University Teaching Hospital where he later died on Sunday, 1st September 2024. Abwai Musa was also attacked a day after, on Wednesday 28th August 2024, one of his hands was cut off and he was pierced in the head, he died on the way, while being rushed to the hospital. During the preparation for James Maran Mammwan’s burial, the family was hit again and lost two youthful kinsmen, Mbarka and Charlie on 2nd September 2024. While still mourning, another attack occurred on Tuesday, 3rd September 2024 resulting in the death of six (6) youths, Gbiang Kenneth Alphonsus, Mafai Christian John, Mashat Labaran Sule, Mashumburu Mangai John, Abwai Mador Mapak, Agiliu Gambo. Shalom Enoch Amallam attacked along with the Daffo 6, who sustained severe injuries, is hospitalized and responding to treatment. Earlier the same Tuesday, what seems like a Pulpit and Pew political drama held at the COCIN Headquarters in Jos. Lead Actors in the drama was the Church President and The Governor of the Church who is a member of the Church, revealing the same pattern of insanity of our religious leaders and their political counterparts who in contest to hold their ground and sustain their influence often lose sight of the purpose of leadership which people when it really matter. From Tuesday till the moment of publishing this article neither the Governor of COCIN President have made a deserving mention of the Daffo attack where six (6) youth lost their lives. (Details of their drama will feature in my coming article; “My First Time In A COCIN Church Premises).

Local intelligence had pointed to a looming terror attack in the highly economic farming Community of Daffo, located just about 100 kilometers south of Jos, the capital of Plateau State in central Nigeria.
The gangster killing assault began at 7 pm local time on Tuesday in a commercial area west of Daffo town, known as Congo, just 300 yards from a military base according to residents speaking. The attack persisted for at least two hours according to residents.

Armed foreign militia in challenge of the Sovereignty of the Nigerian State invaded the community to disrupt economic activities of the locals and thereby sabotage the national economy. This has been the pattern of criminal gangster onslaught forcing the population to drift in rural – urban migration.

Hon. Zakka Akos, a former Local Government Chairman who hails from Daffo confirmed this pattern of assault on the people and insult on the Commander in chief of the armed forces and the command structure of the defense and security agencies.

Hon. Akos, subscribe to economic and financial creativity awareness of iWalk and believe that an initial platform of 1 million people exchanging information from the Local Government level will help address unreported attacks of economic nature being perpetrated against Nigeria and Nigerians. If the culprits according to reports are foreigners, shouldn’t we ask President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately review the leadership of the immigration service who man our borders.

Invasion of farmlands, rustling of herds are disruption of the economic and financial creativity of our rural dwellers by foreign militia. This is an economic crime against the Nigeria State for which all Nigerians must be proactive and our government must rise to its bidding of the social contract with citizens.

The situation on the Plateau is a revelation of the insanity that we have condoned as a Nation. Urban-rural drift is an unnatural pattern, hence, the activation of iWalk in all the 774 Local Government Areas; in this alone, lies the possibility of building a healthy federation through Local economic and financial creativity engagements.

iWalk for Economic and Financial Creativity for a greater Country; i.e. iWalk for EFCC.

To join the walk, register @
https://www.pvc-naija.com.ng/iwalk-2024/ and show up by 7:00AM at your Local Government Area Headquarters on Saturday, 5th October 2024. See you at iWalk.