AN OPEN LETTER TO THE EXECUTIVE CAHAIRMAN, KAIAMA LOCAL GOVERNMENT, KWARA STATE; HONOURABLE SADIQ ABUBAKAR. Actually, this letter ought to have been a closed one sent through post mail, but certain reasons have compelled me to choose this medium to send my message across. Please kindly bear with me Sir. I could not decide which address to use to send the letter across to you that would make me believe that you truly receive the letter at the appropriate time. My reasons for doubting the address are, one; because of the fact that you are so much committed in serving your people that you might not even have much time to stay in office at the local government headquarters, and two; with the coming of council elections in the state, coupled with the yet-to-be-confirmed information that you are going for second term, and even if you are not re-contesting, you still have the huge task of ensuring who succeeds you; these dual mission would definitely not allow you to effectively carry out your administrative responsibilities which implies that my letter will scarcely get any necessary attention if I sent it through the conventional medium. Hence, I opt for this medium believing and praying that even if you do not see it yourself, someone else would surely see it and get the message across to you. Lest I forget, if truly you happen to be re-contesting as mentioned earlier, I do sincerely wish you success, if you comparatively appear to be the best among other aspirants. That being said, the crux of this letter is, I fear you are in abreast with recent happenings in the community as regards the agricultural sector, which supposedly the government of the day should by now be strategizing efforts at balancing the unforeseen hazard that looms the food supply of the people. Like you are aware, the people of the community had sometimes ago experienced an acute lack of rainfall for about a month plus. This misfortune happened at a time when farmers needed rain the most, because it was immediately after they planted their various crops. Sir, the damage would have been bearable, but you are conversant with the fact that the bulk of the population of the community are farmers; both subsistence and commercial alike. Consequently, the effect of this misfortune is and might be very devastating which therefore seriously require your unavoidable intervention. At the moment, if the cost of the current implication of the damage were to be measured, I have no doubt it would runs into millions of naira being lost by these people who even scarcely have enough to spend. Moreover, a critical look at the issue would revealed that it is worse than just a financial lost; it is about people being likely to face shortage of food supply, it is about subsistence farmers who would have only little to eat, it is about commercial farmers who would have only little or nothing to sell, it is about farmers who might have little or no seed stock against next planting season. What readily comes to one’s mind is for one to ask; how do we overcome these predicaments? This is owing to the fact that the people had already invested almost all they had in this year planting season, and all or most of which had gone down the drain. The only easy way the people could get succor is through the intervention of the immediate government which is the local government, because it is closer to the people and should therefore understand and feel their plight. The local government could intervene by purchasing in large quantity, storing and selling at subsidized prices the kinds of crops affected by the temporary drought. This is to prevent the likely food scarcity that is to come and the high cost this scarcity might bring about. If this is done, the council would succeed in “killing two birds with a stone”. It has made food supply possible when it would have been scarce and at the same affordable when it would have been costly for the populace to buy. In addition, the local government could also make seeds available (even at a subsidized cost) to the farmers during next planting season. All these aids summed together would go a long way in alleviating the likely sufferings of the people. There is no better time the people of this community need the support of the leadership of the local government than now. Yours faithfully, Mohammed Salihu.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 01:26:37 +0000
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