By Biola Lawal
Ede (Osun State) Flowerbudnews: Osun state-based business Mongul, Alh. Rahman Tunde Olayiwola has advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to revolutionalise agriculture in Nigeria with grant-to-farmer option and not loan.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Flowerbudnews in Ede, Alh. Olayiwola popularly known as RTO, explained that most countries that have successfully achieved food security did so through direct state financial assistance to Farmers.
Alh. Olayiwola said that grant-to-farmer option had been adopted by developed countries to achieve stable food production both for their people’s consumption and for raw materials supply for industrial production etc.
Olayiwola, who owned one of the biggest poultry farm and an ultramodern chicken hatchery in Osun State, explained that all the government needed to do was to identify both small and large scale farmers in different areas of agriculture and farming and provide them adequate grant to enhance their Production.
He cited several examples of big-time poultry and crop farmers in developed and in some emerging economies in the world where the assisted farmers have helped their nation’s to achieve food security.
The government in advanced countries often went beyond the ordinary by ensuring that the farmers never suffered losses which could discourage them from food production.
‘RTO explained that whenever there was a glut, their government usually quickly buy up the suplus which they would send to countries in need or divert to other productive uses.
Alh. Olayiwola noted however, that for grant to succeed, President Tinubu must go beyond politics by identifying responsible, trustworthy and reliable Nigerians to be saddled with such farmers ‘ grant disbursement.
On how the president would identify such honest Nigerians, RTO advised that the president should turn to GOD and beg passionately to be guided to identify and select the right persons for such a national assignment to revolutionalise agricultural production in Nigeria (Flowerbudnews)
