Kunle Adelabu
-Canvasses for the need for govt to fund researches, tasks agric institutions
Former Minister for Works, Sen. Adeseye Ogunlewe, has charged schools to establish agricultural societies in secondary schools and grow what students will consume in boarding houses.
These,according to Ogunlewe who was also a former Pro -Chancellor, UNAAB, are ways of encouraging farming in our secondary schools.
He charged government to task agric institutions in the country on researches and adequately funding to achieve sustainable food production in Nigeria.
The chieftain of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) disclosed this at the foundation laying ceremony for the construction of the 100 bed hostels capacity being constructed by the Fadugba-Ogunlewe Royal Family of Igbogbo, at the Lagos State Civil Service Model College, Igbogbo.
“Every product in Nigeria has a research institution and yet, people are hungry”, Sen. Ogunlewe said with concern.
“My own idea is that anywhere in the world, intellectuals are the ones that rules and not mediocre because they have something to offer.
“We need the intellectual leaders to invest in research. It’s unbelievable that we can’t find garri that is the most commonly eaten nowadays.
“This used to be the least food that you can give your child in the morning. This is what the whole family usually eats when there is nothing again.
“Unfortunately, garri has become scarce and expensive”, he said.
Recalling his childhood days, Sen. Ogunlewe, who represented the Lagos East Senatorial District on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the Nigeria Senate, said that schools then used to engaged in farming.
He charged the administrators of Lagos State Civil Service Model Colleges, Igbogbo, and secondary schools generally, to go back to the days when students were made to farm to encourage farming and food production.
“Before in our schools, available lands were usually used for farming and gardens which were allocated to each student for agriculture”, he said.
“There was no land to waste as different crops like corn, cassava, and others were planted, and once they were harvested, the produce would serve the school instead of going outside to buy them.
“If you are serious (referring to education and school administrators), you can develop initiative to start cultivating cassava and other farm produce”.
While suggesting the establishment of agriculture society in the school, Sen. Ogunlewe also pledged to support farming activities with funds.
“If possible, raise funds towards this and I am ready to contribute”, he pledged.
“You can have an agric society with focus on farming in the school, but you will need money to do this and that’s why you will need to raise funds.
“It is what you plant that you will eat”, the elder statesman said.
Speaking with THE IMPACT at the event, Sen. Ogunlewe said that adequate investments on the existing 60 agricultural institutes in Nigeria, would improve food sustainability on the net one year.
He said further that the institutes and universities that major in agricultural researches, have what it takes to make adequate foods available but only needing funding and to be given a task.
“Imagine if about 60 agricultural institutes in Nigeria, are adequately funded and giving a marching order to make different food produce that are common to Nigerians available. Imagine what the output would be in the next one year”, he said.
