Segun Ayinde, Abeokuta
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticized African governments for their failure to maintain continuity in agricultural policies, a key factor he says has contributed to food insecurity across the continent.
Obasanjo made these remarks during the launch of Okun Rice Mills at Asero in Abeokuta, Ogun State, according to a statement released by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Thursday.
Obasanjo emphasized that inconsistent agricultural policies have significantly hindered food production and development, contributing to the hunger crisis in Nigeria and other African nations.
“If the culture of policy continuity on agriculture for food development and food production were sustained, hunger crisis in Africa, particularly Nigeria, would have been a thing of the past,” he said.
“Every citizen of the continent would have food sufficiency for storage and to feed on.”
Obasanjo urged African governments to create enabling environments for agricultural production and other business ventures to thrive, in order to achieve food security at both national and continental levels.
He stressed the importance of policy consistency, stating, “Part of our problem in Nigeria and Africa as a whole is lack of continuity, and this is very bad for every development at family level, state level, national level, and continental.”
The former president pointed out that the lack of continuity often leads to leaders claiming to introduce new initiatives, when in fact, similar projects had been implemented in the past.
“What I found so ridiculous is that because there has been no continuity in so many things we are doing, you will hear people saying ‘for the first time ever,’ as if Nigeria is just beginning today whereas the problem is lack of continuity,” Obasanjo noted.
He called on governments to focus on creating the right conditions for agricultural success rather than being directly involved in production.
“The primary duty of the government is to provide the enabling environment for agricultural production and other business enterprises to thrive so as to achieve food security,” he said.
Obasanjo praised the Chief Executive Officer of Hyst Global Business Limited, Dr. Biodun Onalaja, for his investment in local rice production through the Okun Rice Mill, highlighting it as a key contribution to food sufficiency in Nigeria. The former president also encouraged Onalaja to prioritize local rice farmers by sourcing paddy rice from them.
Onalaja, in his speech, credited Obasanjo’s leadership and support as instrumental to the success of Okun Rice Mill. He revealed that the mill has the capacity to produce 100 metric tonnes of high-quality rice daily in various packaging options, from 1kg to 50kg, and will be available for purchase starting in mid-November. He urged rice farmers to bring their paddy rice for processing.
The CEO also thanked Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun and other officials for their partnership and support.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Bolu Owotomo, lauded the project as another success story of the Public Private Partnership initiative of the state government.
The event highlighted both the challenges of food security in Africa and the potential solutions through private sector innovation and government support.