Some Thiughts on How to Gradually Drive Development and Higher Standard of Living in Present Day Nigeria

*Only God knows what they have used on us.*

We have become slaves to the Northern Farmers and slaves to the Igbo Traders. We keep buying and buying and only selling our lands and properties in return.

Our excuse for insecurity is flimsy. There is more insecurity in the North, yet they still manage to produce food that they send to us.

What is the technology behind Tomatoes and pepper planting as if we were not planting them as children in the past.

All our Governors are so fixated on Federal Allocation forgetting that they can get more funds in agriculture than what they are getting from Abuja.  It is a big shame on us in the South West.

We that used to plant cash crops for exports in the past are now finding it extremely difficult to plant tomatoes and pepper. What a shame, and the elders are looking at us.

750 million worth of pepper and tomatoes are bought in Lagos on a daily basis by the residents. In one month, the people in Lagos spend 22.5 billion only on tomatoes and pepper.

The farmers in the North will not mind the distance and bring these items covering over 700 kilometres to Lagos and go back with billions. Yet the 5 States that surround Lagos will fold their hands and watch helplessly.

There is no state in the southwest that will not be making more than 30 billion monthly as IGR if they can leverage their proximity to Lagos. We will sit down and generate all manner of excuses.

We are sitting on millions of Hectares of arable land, fertile land, and yet ‘EBI N PA WA’. Nonsense!.10,000 Cows are killed in Lagos every day. Let us use 400,000 Naira as a benchmark. That is 4 billion daily and 120 billion monthly. What is the rocket science in ranching that we cannot do in the South West to take advantage of this and many more.

Garri is expensive. Apart from Lagos, Ekiti State is the smallest State in the South West, we have 300,000 Hectares of arable land, Oyo State is more than 5 times our size, to achieve 100% supply of annual demand does not require more than 3% of our arable land.  We are sitting down doing nothing. It is a big shame

Without counting Lagos, if we put together the landmass of the remaining 5 South West States, it is above 74,000 Kilometre Square.

Remember, Israel is 22 Kilometre Square.

At this time, these 5 states put together have 3 million Hectares of Arable Land.

A Hectare of Land is about the size of 15 plots of land or about 2.5 acres.

1 Hectare will give you 50 bags of rice.

1 Hectare will give you 100 bags of Garri.

We can imagine the Quantities of Tomatoes and Pepper we can get from just 1 Hectare of Land.

Yet we have 3 million Hectares.

All the states in the South West Geopolitical Zone in total have 137 local government areas. Apart from Kano State, Oyo State has the highest number of local government areas in the whole of Nigeria next to Kano.

The local government areas are the 3rd tier of government, and they have responsibilities to the people as the lowest level of government. They also receive allocations from the centre apart from the IGR.

Let us use 300 million Naira as the average allocation per month. What the 137 of them are collecting cumulatively is about 41 billion Naira.

Let me also quickly add that there are some local government areas in the southwest that are collecting about 1 billion Naira monthly.

The Duties of the Local Government areas according to the 4th Schedule of the 1999 includes food production and agricultural development.

Imagine them putting 15% of their income into Agricultural Development. Cumulatively, we are going to have about 6 billion Naira monthly and about 72 billion Naira annually.

If the local government areas in the southwest age can invest 72 billion into food production in just 1 year, will the food inflation be like these?

Will there not be a massive creation of direct and indirect jobs, MSME development, industrial growth and development, etc.

We will sit down and make flimsy excuses.

Expecting the President to start growing tomatoes inside Aso Rock and sharing it to our homes.

"You" asked about" the "Location of Yoruba" in "the" Economy of" Nigeria

We are at the base of the ladder. We are not doing anything apart from Selling of Properties and Land.

Kwara State is another state that is like the South West States. Being largely Yoruba people, they, too, have our attitude to work.

A State Richly blessed with land, good weather, good topography, lying on the River Niger Basin.

Kwara State alone can meet 25% of the Rice Needs of Nigeria.

There is a local government in Kwara State that is bigger than Ekiti and Lagos States put together.

What are they doing with the land?

The local government I am referring to has over 500,000 Hectares of Land.

I once lived with an uncle in Sobi Barracks, Ilorin. It was there that I learnt how to grow Rice. We used to have 5 big bags of rice produced from our small farm. We were just 2 in Number. We only buy items like salt, palm oil, and a few items from the market.

Our Governors have a lot to do since the land use decree of 1978 had made them the custodians of the land.

 *CAN WE FORWARD THIS TILL IT GETS TO THE SOUTH-WEST GOVERNORS AND THE LIKES.*

Existing relevant Conditions, Considerations,Questions and Answers :

What is the basis for FAAC allocations to States and Local Government Areas in Nigeria? What are the criteria for making the allocations?

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in Nigeria is responsible for the distribution of revenue among the three tiers of government: federal, state, and local governments. The basis for FAAC allocations to States and Local Government Areas (LGAs) includes several criteria and factors, primarily driven by constitutional provisions and revenue allocation formulas.

Here are the key criteria used in making allocations to LGAs:

1. **Population**: A significant portion of the allocation is based on the population size of the LGA. This is intended to ensure that more populous areas receive more resources to cater to their larger populations.

2. **Landmass and Terrain**: The size of the LGA in terms of land area and the difficulty of its terrain are considered. This takes into account the need for infrastructure and development in larger or more challenging areas.

3. **Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)**: The capacity of an LGA to generate its own revenue can influence allocations. This encourages local governments to enhance their revenue-generating efforts.

4. **Equality of LGAs**: There is a component of the allocation formula that ensures an equal distribution among LGAs, ensuring that each LGA receives a minimum level of funding regardless of other factors.

5. **Social Development Needs**: Factors such as the level of education, healthcare, and other social development indicators can influence allocations to ensure that less developed areas receive additional support.

6. **Fiscal Efficiency**: Efficient management of resources and fiscal discipline by the local government can also be a factor, rewarding LGAs that demonstrate prudent financial management.

These criteria aim to balance the distribution of resources in a way that promotes equity, efficiency, and development across all Local Government Areas in Nigeria.

(Alaba Julius Babalola)

My Opinion

All things being equal

Questions :

What are the measures put in place to ensure that each State of the Federation and LGAs are able to generate revenue internally? 

Which governmental organization is responsible for developing and anchoring policies designed to guide and encourage state governments and LGAs to generate revenue internally?

To what extent can one say that FAAC allocations to States and LGA are presently used judiciously for the good of the people - in the provision of social goods and services* that can improve people's standard of living?

What are the measures put in place to guide and encourage State governments and LGAs to effectively channel funds received through FAAC and funds generated internally, towards the provision of social goods and services* that can improve the people's standard of living appreciably over time?

Which governmental organization is responsible for measuring and monitoring the extent to which State Governments and LGAs channel funds they receive through FAAC and funds generated internally, towards the provision of social goods and services* expected to improve the standard of living of the people in their state?

* By provision of social goods and services I basically mean the following :

1. Clearcut and effective mechanism for continuous job creation and clear access and procedure for access to obtaining jobs, not requiring nepotistic tendencies or undue favoritism.

2. Well thought-through, formidable and well funded system of education that can provide knowledge, skills and intellectual capacities that can directly lead to ability to produce essential goods and services locally, and that can be consumed by the local population, thus reducing the need to import what can be produced in Nigeria.

3. Affordable healthcare that is easily accessible, dependable and apparently devoted to caring for people when they are ill, especially for saving their lives in critical moments of emergency. It is sad to say that our healthcare system in this country is very much below standard, and people generally avoid it unless they don't have a choice in the circumstance they find themselves. Most people practice self medication or use unqualified medical services providers.

4. Standard, formidable and affordable housing for the growing young population.

5. Emphasis on Easy Priority Productive system for private sector and social development, for example in rural and urban agriculture, food processing and light manufacturing - much of which can be structured and developed locally - without the pressure of needing to import a lot of inputs.

6. Gradual and consistent infrastructural development - Roads - major and inner city and suburban, hospitals (local clinics and health centers to cover all sectional divisions, markets - decent, sizeable standard neighbourhood and mega markets, standard schools - primary, secondary and tertiary (community, technical, universities)

States and local governments should get involved with all these as appropriate, either on their own or in collaboration with the Federal Government. This is one way to drive a sustainable development and higher standard of living for the people.

Bablo Script©️