Dear Editor
In the story with the headline “CBN records N53.8 billion fully repaid agriculture loans” in The Guardian, Thursday, September 4th, 2014, Chijioke Nelson reported that “The agricultural credit guarantee scheme of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recorded N53.8 billion fully repaid loans in August 2014, out of the N79.3 billion granted to farmers since inception”. And added that “the fully repaid loan covered 679, 408 of the 906, 845 projects since the inception of the scheme in 1977”. These are bone-dry statistics and no flesh.
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| Chijioke Nelson |
Nigerians would like to ask or know from the CBN the output per loan or production per loan or sales per loan, and also, want to know the output per project or production per project or sales per project. What is the impact of this loans and projects on food production? Nigeria still imports Rice, Fish, Chicken etc. Loans given to subsistence farmers cannot help us to feed ourselves and cannot bring about agricultural industrialization, or bring about agricultural revolution. Loans which can bring about self sufficiency in production of Rice, Fish, Chicken etc. are what we need. India was self-sufficient in Wheat and Rice in 1971. After 24 years of independence, India was self-sufficient in Rice and Wheat production. 54 years after independence Nigeria is yet to be self-sufficient in anything except crude oil production. Nigeria still imports petroleum products. It is shameful!
Our arable land is yet untapped for Rice, wheat and sugarcane production. Our coastal areas are not yet ripe for fish production. In short, our arable land and water are untapped for agricultural production.
Omohakpor Enaye, Oleh, Isoko South, Delta State.
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