By Oluwakemi Ishola
The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) Oyo State Chapter, has decried unfavourable regulations and dispositions of Governor Seyi Makinde-led Oyo State Government, and ban on importation of maize by the Federal Government. It warned that if nothing urgent is done to reverse the seemingly obnoxious policies, Nigerians may pick up arms against the governments to protest unending hunger, poverty and insecurity ravaging the land.
The farmers, on Tuesday, converged at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat – Iyaganku Ibadan, to register their grievances over egg glut, perpetual increase in prices of inputs as well as multiple levies and taxations by the agents of Oyo State government.
The association at a press conference adrresed by its state chairman, Gbemisoye Agboola, said the agencies and individuals in the name of the Local and State Government agencies are making daily trips to poultry farms to harass farms for several illicit and other arrears of levies and taxes.
Speaking on how the association was affected by the poor policies of the government, Agboola said: “As we speak, Agencies and individuals in the name of the Local and State Government agencies are making daily trips to poultry farms to harass farms for several illicit and other arrears of levies, taxes etc. We know every government supports agriculture globally for obvious reasons but not so in our own Oyo state.
“The covid-19 lockdown has sent several farms to early grave and some poultry concerns already on the verge of collapse. The price of maize which was N80/kg in March 2020 has crept to N180/kg today and is still increasing. That cannot be said of the price of poultry products. As if that is not enough, we now have the ban on importation of maize.
“Maize constitutes between 50% to 70% of chicken feeds. It is the cardinal input of poultry business. Due to high demands for maize by humans, there has been an unhealthy competition for this all important staple food. The problems of insecurity and flooding has made it impossible for farmers to go to the farm. The few tonnage of maize has been hijacked and cornered by speculators, opportunists and political jobbers who also think it is their birthright to dictate the going in the industry.”
Speaking on the implication of the poor policies, he said: “Between March and July this year many poultry farms have either down sized or fold up because they either cannot get maize to produce feeds or cannot afford to buy finished feeds to feed their chicken.
“The seeming proactiveness of the Federal Government was the release of few tonnage of maize to states. We read about the much publicized release of trailers of maize to Lagos state poultry farmers, we are still expecting those meant to cushion our hardship in Oyo state. However, it must have gone the usual route to office poultry farmers.”
He therefore appeal to the federal government to relax the ban on importation of maize and ensure paliatives are given to the farmers to cohesion hunger in the country.
He said: “Oyo State Branch is using this opportunity to call on Mr. President to relax the ban on importation of maize for a period, to use this time to release the grain reserved across the country and to release all available palliatives to cushion the effect of maize scarcity to teeming suffering grass root farmers. This is to allow this essential grain to be available for feed production while we increase local production to meet up with the demand of maize.
“This appears to be the only way out and the most assuring pivot that the government is serious in revamping agriculture in this country. We know that some individuals are feeding the presidency and state government with false information that the country has enough maize as of now to satisfy the demand of both human and livestock, but the present hardship has proven this wrong.”
