The cock has inadvertently shown the fox it lacks the power the fox attributed to it. Unlike the case in my childhood story, the south needs not do the extreme, but only use this realisation to fortify and strengthen its comparative advantages. This being the case, the erstwhile conception of powerlessness should lead to more protection for farmers all over Nigeria.
The space between the two buildings within a compound in which I grew up as a child in Ijebu-Ode was our play area. It was for football and running around during the day, and a knowledge sharing spot in the evening. It was where we learnt critical thinking through Yoruba stories and proverbs. Without knowing it, as children, we were learning Yoruba philosophy and worldview in a play mode. Out of interest, an older man would share different stories. His stories were more exciting because we participated in them, as he got us to sing in accompaniment to the narratives. At the end of each story, he would ask all of us children what lessons we had learnt from the tales. I learnt about the fox and the cock during one of those knowledge sessions.
The fox used to be fearful and was constantly running away from the cock. One day, the cock crowed unto the fox, asking it to stop running away. The fox responded that it had to constantly run away because it did not want to get burnt by fire. The cock was shocked and asked where the fire was. The fox pointed at the beautiful flowery comb (ogbe) adorning the head of the cock like a crown, and stated that the cock was carrying fire on its head. The cock invited the fox to come closer, that it was just a comb and not fire and that it is only meant to attract hens. Hesitatingly, the fox came closer and touched the comb and discovered the truth. Upon the discovery that the cock had no fire, the fox swiftly grabbed the cock, killed, and ate it. We were then asked to draw lessons from the story. The one lesson I remember from that session was that we should be very skillful in life and not disclose our source of power to strangers.
My Sagamu-based retired engineer friend wanted to reinvent himself by becoming a farmer. He sought to provide progressive political leadership to South-West farmers to make them produce more food. He invested a lot on farming in the Yewa part of Yorubaland to produce plantains. He got to his farm one day and found cows eating up his fnewly growing plantain suckers. He shouted. A Bororo herdsman asked him why he was shouting and disturbing the feeding cows. He told me that he meekly left as he was worried that the herdsmen could burn the nearest village, with no recourse to law enforcement, if he stood to defend his interest on his farmland. He decided to stop farming.
Many farmers in the South-West growing maize, beans and other crops have similar stories to tell. The timid governors in the Yoruba states, like scared foxes, have been of no help to their people. They all want to be president, vice president or, at least, ministers of Nigeria, and are ready to compromise the real interests of their people for their ambitions. The governors have a feeble advisory relation with the Police. The Police structure is under the control of the cow-loving and cow-owning President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB).
The more powerful South did not realise its power as the fox in Nigeria, but was afraid of the core North, thinking its flowery cock comb was fire, until a Sunday Igboho went after the Sarkin Fulani of Igangan and the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) went after Iskilu Wakili. Both had allegedly been terrorising and destroying lives and farmlands in the South-West, while the Police waited for instruction that apparently never came from Abuja.
Actually, the foxy southern Nigeria has more unrealised power. The foreign exchange earning black gold is in the South. The South is not landlocked. It also has arable farmlands. It has more forests and lush greens and lesser dry and dessert lands. It has the seaports. It is more open to investment. ‘Mr. Nigeria’ or the real owner of Nigeria sited his petroleum refinery and petrochemical plant in Lagos instead of Kano. It was a practical, profit-motivated decision and not borne out of love for the South-West. This major investment gives him more power, as it also gives Lagosians counter-power. Mr. Nigeria has a strong interest in making sure Nigeria avoids war. It is generally known that one can prevent a war by being prepared to fight one. But power is not only from the barrel of the gun.
Videos and pictures of piles of tomatoes and onions rotting away in just one week ruined many farmers who were not interested in the political quest for power of control over food security in southern Nigeria. It was too unfortunate that a few greedy individuals could take a very irrational, thoughtless, decision to blockade their compatriots.
There’s ample soft power in the South-West. It was realised that the North-Central axis of Nigeria grew a lot of food that middlemen brought to the south. The core North provided onions and tomatoes, as well as cows, sheep and goats. Some food is being produced in the South but the value is always discounted when the Yoruba speak among themselves.
Garri, the real staple food in southern Nigeria before rice, is made from cassava tubers largely grown in the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria. Yams and other tubers are grown in the South. There are plantain plantations all over the place, with a small production of beans. Palm oil, fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, were grown before the huge investments in river basin authorities all over the country. The North-West portion of Nigeria did very well by realising a tomato and onion revolution. Protein was largely derived from livestock (goats and cows) from the North or, better put, from across northern Nigeria to Chad and Niger Republic. It is a myth that Nigeria produces a lot of cattle, goats and sheep. Sure, northern Nigeria produces some but the larger portion is imported from Niger Republic and Chad.
The recent weeklong food blockade that saw the food transporting middlemen from the north of Nigeria clamping down on the southern part proved so many things. Inadvertently, the cock as middlemen, who regularly drive cows, goats and rams to sell in the South showed to the South that they can survive without the so-called food from the North. Equally, it showed that the growers of perishable onion and tomatoes in the North, as well as tubers and grains producers in the Middle Belt, do not have the same identity of interests with the middlemen cattle sellers.
It is normally said that the consumer is King. This truism was an uppermost lesson that can be derived from the one-week blockade. Nobody begged the middlemen, except one or two jokers who were searching for national relevance and who claimed that they prevented a civil war. As I said, Mr. Nigeria, borrowing a lot of dollars for his refinery, cannot afford a war. His interest is to keep his protected market at whatever exchange arrangement he prefers (forget about the Central Bank of Nigeria that pretends to be making such decision), as he exports under African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to other African countries.
Videos and pictures of piles of tomatoes and onions rotting away in just one week ruined many farmers who were not interested in the political quest for power of control over food security in southern Nigeria. It was too unfortunate that a few greedy individuals could take a very irrational, thoughtless, decision to blockade their compatriots. Attempts to divert food products to sell in neighbouring countries failed woefully. None of those countries, or even a number of them pulled together, has the purchasing power of Lagos.
Of course, the reduced availability of farm produce resulted in higher prices that were willy-nilly absorbed by consumers. In effect, the readiness of Lagosians to purchase onions and tomatoes from the North should not always be taken for granted. More organically grown onions and tomatoes can be easily increased and this should be done by individuals returning to their farms with self-help defense, if necessary. I must hasten to note that self-defence is not how to run a country but with the resistance on state police and the crippling of Amotekun by the Federal Government and state governors, self-help is becoming welcome, even though we must accept it as a road to warlordism that is best avoided if there are alternatives. Unfortunately, we are moving in the direction of Somalia.
In the aftermath of the blockade, people in the South must begin to look inwards, and the nature of the dependencies and interdependencies should be examined in the light of the intentions behind the blockade, their consumption patterns, while demands could be tamed to explore substitutes, and options available around, as subsistence farming for individual families should be embraced more.
“All stakeholders and members of the Amalgamated Union of Food and Cattle Distributors of Nigeria (AUFCDN) in our nationwide strike are glad we achieved what we wanted to achieve. Since Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello begged us on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, we agreed to call off the nationwide strike today” declared the AUFCDN President, Muhammed Tahir, in calling the blockade to a close.
In the aftermath of the blockade, people in the South must begin to look inwards, and the nature of the dependencies and interdependencies should be examined in the light of the intentions behind the blockade, their consumption patterns, while demands could be tamed to explore substitutes, and options available around, as subsistence farming for individual families should be embraced more.
Finally, integrated ranching should be beefed up. The southern governors can use some of the percentages of their revenue to beef up on alternative protein production arrangements. Ogun and Lagos States are foremost in the production of poultry products in Nigeria. This can be easily doubled by redirecting many unemployed youths into poultry production. In a more civilised and well thought out manner (a characteristic of the Yoruba people), the South could find a way around these issues. Nutritional research, awareness, and enlightenment can be used to draw attention to viable and more nourishing sources of protein. Chicken broilers can be all over the place in just three months. With the fecundity rate of pigs, pork that is hygienically grown can be on the tables of those who want it in roughly six months. The successful Ijebu poverty reduction initiative, which has been on for some 20 years, can be easily doubled, if not tripled, at its current site, if capital support is extended by Ijebu people without waiting for the government. This can be duplicated in many southern states.
The old Western Region ranches created by the Awolowo-led self-government in Ibadan, Shaki, Ikun, Agege, Ikare, Akunu, Oke-Ako, Ikorodu and Imeko are mostly in ruins today; the same way the Obudu ranch lies in waste after being abandoned for many years. Those old Western Region ranches used to be stocked with cattle imported from Mali and Argentina to form a crossbreed that was OK in the humid environment. The ranches were built with good facilities, including dams. In Oyo State, about nine ranches in different parts have been abandoned, with full facilities for farm settlements, segments for animal husbandry, fishery, poultry and piggery, and the part for growing fodder and crops. Over 16,000 hectares of land dedicated to cattle ranching in Oyo State, 5,000 hectares for the Ikere Gorge Dam, another 5,000 for Ibarapa ranch, are all in ruins today. They can be easily revived. Ogun State is not different: In Imeko sits an abandoned ranch of 4,000 hectares; the same goes for Oke-Ako in Ekiti, with about 12,000 hectares lying in ruins. Recently, the governors of Oyo and Ogun States announced intentions to revive these ranches. Individuals should step forward with proposals to have these Awo legacies revamped. The respective state governments should be visionary and reasonable enough with these individual investors.
Meanwhile, as Loupa Pius pointed out, in Nigeria, on the basis of sizes varying from the small to the giant, the prices of cattle range from N60,000 to N450,000 ($1,089.25). In Somalia, cattle with an average body weight of 300kg is sold at about USD300. The most current price of cows in South Sudan is about $307 – $460. In Uganda, it is $246. The south has a chance to renegotiate prices by importing beef in the frozen state or on the hoof. I read a compatriot writing about President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) when he was General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) banning the importation of beef. I do not know if this is fake news. Fake or not, the situation today is different. Nigeria’s obligation under AfCFTA makes the importation of food and livestock a kosher business. Before the ranches become operational in two to three years, Botswana and South Africa are alternative sources of supply.
The cock has inadvertently shown the fox it lacks the power the fox attributed to it. Unlike the case in my childhood story, the south needs not do the extreme, but only use this realisation to fortify and strengthen its comparative advantages. This being the case, the erstwhile conception of powerlessness should lead to more protection for farmers all over Nigeria.
Babafemi A. Badejo was former deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia.
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