Some Stakeholders of the South west region in Nigeria have charged the Federal Government and governors of the region to address the spreading hunger in Yorubaland and make agriculture more attractive to the people of the region.
They stated this at the end of the Yoruba One Voice, YOV’s quarterly conference, which was recently held virtually with no fewer than 500 participants from across the six continents of the world.
The conference which was themed: “Rescuing Yoruba Nation from hunger, your task, my task” was a wake-up call to both the Federal Government and the South West Governors to devise a better approach to make agriculture more attractive to the people of the region.
In his opening remarks, the convener of YOV, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, said the reason for the YOV’s quarterly conference is to impress it on the government at all levels to work on the best approach to solving the problem of hunger in Yoruba land.
Adams said: “In Nigeria today, acute hunger across the country does not know tribe or region. It does not know the colour of our skin and the dialect we speak as a race. It is a general issue that needs urgent solution.”
“Nigeria is a blessed country and Yoruba land is even the greatest beneficiary of God’s blessings. This is evident in the way we plant our farm produce. Within a few days, you see your seed grow with pride. All over the world, agriculture is a global business, whether micro or macro agriculture.
“The success depends largely on the need to expand the scope and advance the technological and mechanical advantage in agricultural production.
“Today, Nigeria and the South West are no longer the largest producers of cocoa, but we can still dictate and drive the market if the governors can do a reform that can help our agricultural sector.”
The guest speaker, Prince Adeyemi Omisakin, in his address, called for support for the farmers, saying that: “There’s a need to focus on not only the need for the present Yoruba societies to return to the lands but how to also conduct productive farming activities effectively, even at cheaper rates, to rescue our already degenerated societies from the pangs of present hunger and to regain our nobilities among the comity of nations.”