By Salif Atojoko
Prof. Banjo Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, Adviser to the African Development Bank President on industrialisation, says federal and state governments can end hunger and poverty in Nigeria by embracing the Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) programme.

Oyelaran-Oyeyinka said this in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the SAPZ Implementation Acceleration Dialogue and States Steering/Technical Committee Workshop, in Abuja.

He said Nigeria needed an industrial revolution to transit from hunger and poverty to the realm of self-sufficiency in food production.

He urged the government to toe the example of Europe and the Americas that were taken out of poverty over 250 years ago by industrial revolution.

He said that India achieved green revolution 80 years ago, precisely in 1964.

“Within three years, a country that was begging for food from America suddenly became an exporter of wheat to England,” he said.

He said the revolution in India spread throughout the whole of Asia, where suddenly the likes of Bangladesh became self sufficient in food production.

“South Korea was engaged in a bitter war with the North Korea. In fact, there was a time South Korea had a military leader called Park Chung Hee, and he just took the country by his iron fist.

“People were saying, we just want to eat. He said, Oh, I see a different vision. I see a brighter future. I see a country that will dominate Asia. And that was what happened,” he said.

He said Nigeria would need to overcome its lethargy and accelerate the implementation of the SAPZ programme to transit from hunger and poverty to self-sufficiency in food production.

He lamented that  in five years of SAPZ implementation in Nigeria, only about 1.2 per cent of the $538 million fund had been disbursed because people did not meet the critical conditions.

According to him, Nigeria’s slow implementation of the SAPZ programme and inability to access a substantial part of funds is due to human barriers.

“In fact, what I find the most difficult is the human interventions, sometimes negative human interventions in the course of complex projects.

“You know, I cited two years ago when just one individual held us up for almost nine months for no reason at all. You know, this carry me along syndrome.

“So, we know that a complex project like this will have its own enemies. Some people’s personal objectives tend to override national objectives,” he said.

But he said in the current situation, where Nigerians were suffering from hunger, the country could not afford to fail in terms of accelerated implementation of the SAPZ programme.
“So, I believe we have a better understanding of what we all need to do. And we have set a hard deadline of December 20.
“I have seen that about three, at least three or four of the states are playing by the rule, or trying very hard to play by the rule,” he said.

He said if four out of five states, that’s 80 per cent, succeeded in implementing the SAPZ programme, that would be a success at the end of the year.

Oyelaran-Oyeyinka said a critical pillar of SAPZ was the agro industrial hub, the space for both cultivation and for processing, which all the adjoining villages would also benefit from.

“So, what we do is to also build agric transformation centres in those adjoining villages and communities.

“SAPZ is actually about localising development within communities. In those agric transformation centres, you have pre-processing facilities, drying, storage and all such things that ensure that you reduce post harvest losses.

“With that you also ensure high productivity with farmers receiving high yielding varieties. We promote mechanisation, best farming practices that include fertiliser and knowledge acquisition,” he said.

The professor also canvassed training of stakeholders to maximise the benefits of the SAPZ programme.

“You know, one of the most critical things in life, in industry, in agriculture, is knowledge.

“For example, someone who does not know could be planting something that is not suitable during the raining season, or planting something that’s suitable for dry season in raining season.
“So, knowledge is crucial. One of the pillars of SAPZ is critical training of all of those people within our communities and those ecosystems,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma