Though farmers and the governments, at all levels, are agreed that there is the urgent need to increase food production in Nigeria, with a purpose to solve food insecurity, land is one thing that may stand between them. Farmers in the Obi and Awe Local Government Areas of Nasarawa State, which comprises nine communities, have an axe to grind with the state government. They do not agree that the land on which the government wants to site the 10,000 hectares of rice should be taken off them. They have, therefore, rejected the proposed agricultural programme on 10,000 hectares of land in the area.
The state government had mapped out the land in Agwatashi and Jangwa areas in both LGs to plant rice, sesame and corn to boost food security in the state. The latest development indicates that there may not have been proper consultation between the state and the communities.
Felix Upav, spokesperson for the communities during their peaceful protest in Udugh, Obi LG said the 10,000 hectares of land comprised 6,000 hectares under Obi LG while 4,000 hectares is under Awe LG, Upav mentioned the affected communities to include Angwan Anthony, Akala, Utsuwa, Udugh, Usula, Ayarkeke, Shamkodu, China and Ikyochiha. He said residents of the nine communities were mainly peasant farmers who relied solely on their farms, and if their farmlands were taken away from them, they may not be able to survive the harsh economic conditions in the country.
Mr. Upav said, “We are interested in knowing how the state government acquired the 10,000 hectares of land because no one came to us (Tiv farmers) for any negotiation to acquire it or talked about compensation with any of the communities.”
Emphasising that the farmers were not in anyway antagonistic to the state government nor opposed to its ideas, he said, “We are peace-loving people and law-abiding citizens of the country. We would like to know how the land was acquired for the agricultural programme.”
The communities want the government to guide against a situation where some individuals, including community leaders, would arbitrarily take decisions without considering the fate of the people whose livelihood depend on the same land. He said, “We heard that it was the traditional ruler of Agwatashi and the village head of Jangwa areas that told Governor Abdullahi Sule that there is virgin land in the area that is up to 10,000 hectares.
“While we appreciate the governor for bringing the agricultural programme to our area, we are appealing that it should be done somewhere else because the lands are only what our people (Tiv farmers) use to survive and settle their daily needs.”
“Our people have planted rice and other crops on the land which have started growing. But to our greatest surprise, some people from the State Ministry of Agriculture went there yesterday and today with tractors and started turning over our people’s farms. We are appealing that the governor should consider us and look into the matter.” Upav, therefore, implored the Nasarawa State Government to stop work on the 10,000 hectares of land to understand how the land was acquired and also to settle all disagreements among the indigent farmers in the area.
