By Victor Nwegede, Abakaliki.
An Ebonyi-born industrialist, Architect Edward Nkwegu yesterday upheld that mechanized farming encourages massive food production and maintained that modern agricultural practices if adopted, would be the only antidote to Nigerians' economic challenges.
He urged the Federal government of Nigeria to enrol in a mechanized farming system to reduce the economic hardship and security challenges confronting the nation nowadays.
Architect Nkwegu who recommended this while interacting with journalists in Abakaliki, on how to combat the economic crisis in Nigeria, advised the government at all levels and the citizens to embrace farming to ensure food sufficiency in the country.
He observed that the Nigerians both those in the cities and the hinterlands of the country have a diverse share of harsh experiences emanating from the nation's economic crisis.
According to him, it is very difficult to see any Nigerian that will say all is well with us, just because of the economic hardship in the country.
"People are suffering both in the cities and the hinterlands of Nigeria but the reason be that, when a person, group, family, community or country buys more than they can sell, they're bound to suffer. As far as Nigeria is buying more than it is producing, it's bound to face economic problems.
"So, the solution to our problems as a country is to go back to our bases, that is production, we must go back to producing foods, to have food sufficiency.
"If we do not produce enough, we continue to have a deficit, then, the economic crisis can get to the level where it will be very difficult to control because a hungry man is an angry man. But with our enough arable land, we can go into food production, in large quantities to enable us to overcome the hardships in the country," he said.
Nkwegu noted that over 80 per cent of Nigerians into farming are peasant farmers using outdated tools such as hoe and cutlass, and however, recommended a mechanized farming system should be adopted to ensure massive participation and high food productivity in the country.
"We should go to farming and not just farming but a mechanized farming system. 80 per cent of farmers in the country are peasant farmers who are using outdated tools - hoe and cutlass to farm. We have entered modern age where cutlass and hoe can't boost our food production, and the outdated tools will not produce enough foods to take care of our population nowadays.
"Many people especially the youths have left our major occupation, before the era of the colonial masters because of the outdated tools that are still invoked. Many are running away from labour-intensive jobs because of the same problem. Some of them have chosen to do hawking, yahoo-yahoo business to solve their problems," the industrialist pointed out.
He also attributed the causes of the insecurity and other criminal activities in the country to neglect of farming practices by the majority populace, saying that introducing mechanized agriculture and all seasoning farming would be the last solution to the nation's economic and security challenges.
"We fight results instead of the cause of our problems. Malaria is a result. No matter the number of malaria drugs that are packed in your house, if you don't look at ways of protecting against mosquito bites you are bound to suffer malaria. And even if the Nigerian population becomes security agents, it can't solve the problem of hunger. Let's come back and look at the farming tools to remove and replace them with modern machines that can encourage food productivity and advancement in Nigeria. Adopting a modern farming system will maximize the income of every farmer, because kidnapping, robbery including fraud is a result of one thing or the other.
"We should understand that human nature is such that if one can't get a solution to his/her problem when pushed to the wall, he/she will use an Illegal way to solve his problem because of the fear of poverty," he concluded.
