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As a Nigerian and an agriculturist who has invested heavily in the growth, food security, and economic survival of our dear country, I find it painful to watch our rural farming communities bleed. Agriculture is the heartbeat of our nation, yet those who wake before dawn to till the soil and feed millions are left to navigate a daily nightmare of abandonment, violence, and systematic neglect.
The Federal Government’s deployment of security frameworks, such as the Agro-Rangers and the Presidential Forest Guards initiatives, was initially greeted by the agriculture sector with a glimmer of hope. We hoped it signaled a turning point where the government would reclaim our bushes, forests, and agrarian belts from criminal elements.
However, looking at the sharp contrast between policy on paper and reality on the ground, the results have been grossly underwhelming. While federal directives speak of bolstered security and troop deployments, most farming communities remain devastated. The sheer scale of Nigeria’s agrarian landscape means that specialised units are often thinly spread, underequipped, or reactive rather than proactive.
Rural farmers continue to feel a profound sense of neglect. Many agrarian settlements have been deserted because farmers realised that security pronouncements in urban centres do not translate to protection when they are face-to-face with armed elements in the fields.
If kidnapping and banditry are the fatal blows to our food systems, the persistent, widespread stealing from farms, frequently reported across the daily newspapers, is the slow poison draining the life out of smallholder farmers.
When national dailies report on harvested crops being stolen, storage barns raided, or entire fields deliberately grazed upon and vandalised before harvest, it represents more than just a financial loss. It represents:
The Death of Investment: Many farmers take commercial loans or cooperative inputs to cultivate land. When criminal elements steal or destroy produce right before harvest, the farmer is left with crushing debt, bankruptcy, and zero capacity to plant for the next season.
The Cycle of Hunger: Farm theft directly triggers local food inflation and artificial scarcity. When farmers cannot secure what they grow, food prices skyrocket in urban markets, pushing basic nutrition out of reach for the average Nigerian family.
We must look beyond the statistics and newspaper headlines to evaluate the human cost of this crisis. Every number representing an abducted farmer, a slain agriculturalist, or a looted barn is a human being with a family, a community, and a dream of contributing to national development.
It is heartbreaking that individuals who are willing to embrace agriculture to diversify Nigeria’s economy are punished with terror. Young people and prospective investors are choosing to stay away from farming, not out of laziness, but out of self-preservation. Who wants to invest millions in land cultivation only to be kidnapped for ransom or watch their livelihood wiped out overnight?
For food security to move from a government slogan to reality, security architecture must be localised and intelligence-driven. Community leaders, local vigilantes, and grassroots farmers must be actively integrated into security frameworks alongside federal forest guards. Furthermore, protection must cover the entire agriculture value chain—securing the planting phase, the growing season, the harvest, and transit to the markets.
If we truly want a self-sufficient Nigeria, we must protect the hands that feed us. Neglecting the safety of the farmer is, ultimately, an indirect threat to the survival of the entire nation.
Michael Adedotun Oke,
Plot 232 Kaida, Along Old Kuntunku, Gwagwalada,
P.O. Box 11611, Garki, Abuja
+234 802 714 2077, +234 805 271 9697 [email protected]
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