Tackling poverty through investment in village farms

The world of investment is made up of varied channels of investments, from capital market investments, to trust funds, and on to investing in business opportunities of various areas.
But in this period of financial hardship brought about by the global economic meltdown in the world today, going back to the village to invest in agriculture could be a panacea to solving the problem in Nigeria a country that has long abandon his first love and first source of national income-Agriculture.
Investing in this village present to us a good opportunity to make a lot of money which can be used for both personal development and national development.
Sitting on the bench facing the large Yam Market in the bristling Friday afternoon sun with market men and women moving up and down the market Alhaji Isiaka Ibrahim points towards the market “We prefer to have private investors and private organisations in our midst to help us than government because they have failed us several times. We have the land for development and farming here is very profitable” he said talking about the market and the viability of the yam business.
The village head of Ipao village in Ikole Ekiti local government in Ekiti state continues “We have so many lands that if the government have been more responsible we should be more developed than this” describing the Oja Isu owode Ipao as one of the biggest in the state while accusing the government of neglect.
In a similar situation is the palm oil rich Alabidun village in Ona-Ara local Government are of Oyo State. When it comes to Agricultural product, Alabidun village has got it all. Name it; Palm Kernel, Cocoa plantation, plantains, oranges, mango and many other plants and fruits abound in this solitary.
“In this place we have a lot of cash crop waiting to be tapped. Take for example the palm kernel seed, you can extract a lot of things from the single seed. Apart from Palm oil you can also make soap from the waste. In fact there are a lot of way money can be make from investing in palm kernel seed” said a missionary to the village Evangelist Jeremiah Williams which was corroborated by his colleague Pastor Adebayo.
The palm oil industry in this village is been operated by old women who daily swerve and toil come rain, come sun and mostly in their 50s, 60s, and 70s complained about the profit and are calling on people in urban centre like Lagos to come down there and invest not only in their palm oil business but in all the other agricultural products they have.
“The profit we get from this stress is nothing compare to the stress we pass through”. The women who usually toil and swerve under the scorching sun trying to extract as much oil as possible from the hundreds of palm kernel seeds scattered on the ground lamented. They number over 20 women age ranges from 30 – 70 years.
Other villages in the same local government and situation like Alabidun include Eleta village and Eleserin village. On the other end of the state is Eleyele Oko village with a population of over 347 struggling for development. Others are Elere-Adeogun, Agbemo village, and Onifufu village all in Idi-odo local government in Oyo State.
Further away in the cassava producing village of Adebiopon village in Obafemi-Owode Local Government area in Ogun State the farmers are beginning to cry awol for what they called unfair treatment from land developers. They said instead of investing in their rich farms and lands and building agriculture industries various estate developers scattered across it and the surrounding villages are busy buying the lands and fencing it round to be used as estate which will add no values to their lives as villagers.
“They have brought our lands including the ones we used to cultivate cassava which has led us to increase the price of a basket of garri to as much as N1, 500 from the N200-N500 price we were selling it before. Still at that we are not getting the desire profit” a woman who produces garri said while sifting the garri on fire.
One thing that was noted and which the farmers that our correspondent had an interaction with is that the rate of return on investment is very high for the investor considering the high cost living in big cities as long as they are paying them (the farmers) well “…they can make a lot of money from here” one of the farmers in Alabidun village said.
But before venturing into the village to invest into the various agricultural produce of these villages it is important to know what produce could fetch you the kind of money you desire.
One Agric produce that can give you fast return on your investment is Yam. Yam Business Opportunities will offers you a wide range of investments form planting, harvesting, processing and marketing at various stages and in various business sectors, be it advanced technologies or simple consumer products.
The diversity of opportunities in Yam marketing and cultivating allows you to opt for the type of investment you find most suitable. For example in Ipao village, one of the market women explained that with an initial investment of around N100, 000 one can be sure of getting over N800, 000 in return.
To ascertain this, a visit to the Yam market shows that ten tubers of yam go for as low as N450 – N500 which ordinarily will cost around N300 per yam in big cities like Lagos. A wheel barrow of yam goes for N1,000 to N1,500 you know how much that will go for in Lagos.
No doubt investing in Yams in places like Ipao in Ekiti will give big time return as the villagers show their readiness to give land to whoever wished to invest in the yams and at the same time developed their village economically.
Cassava no doubt will never go out of existence. As we know garri is the staple food of millions of Nigerians. As we know Eba is the favourite food of so many Nigerians. So, investment in cassava is a huge investment that one should not miss.
Though the cultivation of these staple foods of millions of Nigerian is been threaten as a result of encroachment on the land by various estate developers who bought the lands at cheap prices and sold it off at exorbitant prices.
To invest in cassava production, this point must be note to get the best yield and highest return on investment. To reduce cost of production and attain high yields, government agricultural agency recommends that land preparation be fully mechanized. A power tiller can be used if the total land area under cultivation is not more than 250ha.
Production cost for one hectare of cassava to ensure yield of 25 t/ha and above are as follows.
1 Land preparation 10,000.00
2 Cassava cuttings (60 bundles @ N300/bundle) 18,000.00
3 Planting (8 pd* at N500/pd) 4,000.00
4 Pre-emergence herbicides (5 liters at N1000/l) 5,000.00
5 Fertilizer (20:10:10, 9 bags at N2500/bag) 22,500.00
6 Insecticides (2 liters at N1000/l) 3,000.00
7 Application of herbicide 3,000.00
8 Application of insecticide 3,000.00
9 Application of fertilizer (8 pd at N500/pd) 4,000.00
10 One weeding (20 pd at N500/pd) 10,000.00
11 Harvesting (35 pd at N500/pd) 17,500.00
The total investment will be 100, 000.00 this could turn into millions by the end of the year. Also note that for cassava the farm labour wages rates may vary by location
Cassava as we know can be used for a variety of purpose of investment in such can be likening to a gold mine.
Palm Oil which Nigeria vastly blessed in is one big investment area that will continue to be so for a very long period of time. Not only does the palm represent a pillar of a nation like Nigeria but it is a catalyst for rural development and political stability.
Many social initiatives use profits from palm oil to finance poverty alleviation strategies. Palm oil is a very common cooking ingredient in Nigeria and other Africa countries.
Its increasing use in the commercial food industry in other parts of the world is buoyed by its cheaper pricing, the high oxidative stability of the refined product and high levels of natural antioxidants.
Cocoa was the main stay of the Nigeria economy before the advent of oil. The advent of oil brought about the collapse of the Agricultural sector and ultimately led to the death of cocoa farm in Nigeria. Nigeria was formally the world largest cocoa producer but now the story has changed.
But still at that thousands of Cocoa plantations are scattered across the country waiting to be harvested. From the west to he east to the south they abounds. Like a gold mine waiting to be tapped.
There is boundless opportunities in investing in cocoa production. In most cocoa areas, the main harvest lasts several months. Another harvest – the mid-crop - lasts for several additional months. Changes in weather can dramatically affect harvest times, causing fluctuations from year to year, even on the same farm.
Many Cocoa farms are lying fallows across the country with nobody to come and invest in them. Beverage companies and even health companies are the biggest customer for Cocoa product. It is a veritable investment options for wealth. It is estimated that the number of number of cocoa farmers, worldwide 5-6 million but the number in Nigeria has dwindles while the number of people who depend upon cocoa for their livelihood worldwide is between 40-50 million. Annual cocoa production worldwide is 3 million tons, Nigeria account for less than 1 percent of this figure. The annual increase in the demand for cocoa is rising every year, it is 3 percent per year, for the past 100 years.
The current global market value of annual cocoa crop $5.1 billion and it could be more if countries like Nigeria are investing heavily in the crop. The percentage of cocoa that comes from West Africa stood at 70 percent while the length of time required for a cocoa tree to produce its first beans (pods) five years. The duration of “peak growing period” for the average cocoa tree 10 years.
Cocoa is one of the most significant crops in West and Central Africa occupying between 5 and 6 million hectares in the coastal humid zone. 90% of which is grown on nearly 2 million small family farms, the majority with land holdings of 2 hectares or less. Investing in cocoa might look uncertain but the waiting that an investor will have to endure is worth it considering the huge returns that will come after the harvest and marketing of the crop.
According to a 2002 report of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
284,000 children in the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon working in hazardous tasks on conventional cocoa farms, according to
Other produce that are good investment any time any day are fruits . Fruits such as bananas. Bananas are widely consumed. Yet, they represent a wide variety of inter-related issues, from environmental, economic, social, and political. Nations and regions, such as the US and EU have in the past battled in a trade war over how bananas are exported and imported, affected the poorest in the producing countries the most.
So many resources are poured into the banana industry, and like the sugar and beef examples, there is a lot of unnecessary use of resources that could otherwise be freed up to help local people in a way that is also less degrading to the surrounding environment. Planting starts in April and can be extended to October.
Plantains, carrot, orange, cashew, palm kernel seed, and kolanuts are other good examples of fruits that one can invest in these villages.
One important factor to consider when attempting tom invest in these villages is to observe the principles of fair trade. When investing in these villages, the principle of fair trade should come to play. The villages of the villages mentioned earlier are few of the cases of the seller getting poorer and the buyer getting richer.
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods.
It focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries, most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, chocolate and flowers.
Fair trade's strategic intent is to work with marginalized producers and workers in order to help them move towards economic self-sufficiency and stability.
It also aims to allow them to become greater stakeholders in their own organizations, as well as play a wider role in international trade. Fair trade proponents include a number of international development aid, social, religious and environmental organizations such as Christian Aid, SERRV International, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Catholic Relief Services, and Caritas International.
In 2008, Fair trade certified sales amounted to approximately US $4.08 billion (€2.9 billion) worldwide, a 22% year-to-year increase. While this represents a tiny fraction of world trade in physical merchandise, fair trade products generally account for 1-20% of all sales in their product categories in Europe and North America.
In June 2008, it was estimated that over 7.5 million producers and their families were benefiting from fair trade funded infrastructure, technical assistance and community development projects.
Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South.
No single intervention can help them all. But reducing poverty, mitigating climate change, and building resilience to climatic and market shocks means empowering these farmers and their communities to identify the investments that will best meet their needs.
According to the UK based organization Oxfam International $70 billion is the amount African countries could generate if their share of world exports increased by 1% - approximately five times what the continent receives in aid.
No doubt people will continue to eat, hence, food production will continue to increase as population increase so investing in rural areas where agricultural product abound is a wise choice for every one that loves investments. But the villagers apart from investing in their crops want a change lives.
They want the money they will get from the investment to be enough to send their children to school, to pay hospital bills and to afford all other basic necessities of life. These should be consider when planning to invest in the farm lands of rural areas scattered across the country.

Lost in Paradise

It is a hot Monday morning in Oko-Arafemi Anglican School Adebiopon Village in the western Nigerian State of Ogun State. Headmistress Mrs. Awoyemi is busy taking care of the pupils whose age range from 5 – 12 age. They had trekked for almost 45 minutes from their different villages tired and worn out. “They have to rest for one hour before we start teaching which has always been the case” Awoyemi explained. As the clock strikes 10 am, the pupils moved wearingly to their different dilapidated classes. “Many villagers will not bring their children to school because of this situation despite the fact that it is the only school serving the 11 villages in this locality” the headmistress lamented
Five kilometres away from the school is a serene and quiet village-Adebiopon Village. A woman sat down sifting cassava flour on the fire popularly called “garri” while the children look on as the mother asked them to go into the bush and fetch more cassava for the production of the garri. “The land we use in cultivating the cassava has been brought over by people from Lagos and other people from the urban area, we have little land left to plant the cassava” Garri is now expensive because of this situation” she lamented, pointing to a basket of garri she said now cost N2, 000 but formerly was not up to N1, 000.
Farther away from there is Maba village which is very close to the expressway but is hardly taken note of probably because of the remoteness, hence, the neglect of the village. The only source of water for the entire village for many years before a well was constructed for them by a missionary body is the highly polluted stream made up of faeces washed down into the river from nearby bushes. All they have to do is sheaved away the dirts from the surface of the water.
These cases above were just few of the picture of life and times of villagers in Obafemi-Owode Local government area of Ogun State which is about an hour drive from Lagos. So close to Lagos were these places but yet far away from it when it comes to development that works. The villagers in these villages are living in obscurity they only come into focus when election is drawing nearer, when politician we find a way to get there and secure their vote.
These people are obviously living in poverty the type that is generally refer to as abject poverty. In the year 2000, 189 countries come together and agreed to create a world where people are less poor. A place where women have the same opportunities as men. Somewhere where anyone can get a good education and healthcare. A planet and a people which has a sustainable future. These are the tenets of the millennium developments Goals (MDGs) for 2015 but six years away from 2015 Nigeria and indeed many countries from Africa are far away from making desire progress.
To ascertain if any progress is been made at all towards achieving the MDG poverty goal and if not proffer a new way or better approach that is needed to be on the road to progress in the Nation’s fight against poverty a group of young Nigerian called “The Voice” with the sole interest of the Nation development at heart decided to visit remote and hard to reach rural settlement across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria by starting with the closest state to Lagos where the group is based and their finding surprised them and was a challenge to them. This they believe would enable them understand the plights of these people better
If places that are close to Lagos the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria are living in such penury, then we should imagine what the lives of those that are far away from urban area will look like. This people long to be set free from the shackles of poverty, they long for a primary health centre where they can treat their minor ailments, they want a school that will close enough for their kids to attend, they want a clean source of water to drink from. But these desires seem unlikely to be answered.

Their three days of mingling and interacting with the people of the five villages they visited proved worthwhile and eye opening as they were able to identify those problems confronting the people. The group first stop was at Ogunronbi where they used as their base for the three days from where they trek to other nearby villages some taking as much as an hour trek.
The group met a missionary who took them round the villages and also accommodate them for the three days. The missionary Pastor Sunday Bakare was full of lamentations as to the situation of these villages and what he himself had gone through as a missionary which was truly pathetic. “This place is like a darkness, you don’t know what is going on” he said “At least in Lagos where you came from you still have power supply though irregular but here there is nothing like NEPA or PHCN” he lamented.
In one of the group visit to one of the villages, Kori-Okude village one reoccurring theme on the lips of the village leadership is health problem as a result of the stream water they use for cooking, washing and drinking. The men complain of abdominal pain while the women also have their complains. The only thing they seems to yearn for more than anything now is a primary health centre that will be close to them which they can always visit anytime they developed a minor illness rather than working the whole miles to the general hospital in Abeokuta.
The group other destination was Adebiopon which is over 100 year old whose people major in cassava production and that is been threaten by the chuck purchase of the lands which is threaten the only source of income for the villagers. Most of the youths have left the village in search of greener pastures in the town and only come home during festivals or meetings. Health problems that the group was able to identify are water borne diseases and rashes.
At Orisoyode village, the group was meant by a hostile people who had a strong distaste for the word “government”. It took the group some time before the villagers could listen to them. This distrust the people have for the government at some point led them to doubt us. The villagers longed for water, school buildings, farming equipments, and electricity.
“They come here to buy us off with stipend, they adopt the use of fraud to take money through the medium of buying land without making proper use of the lands” the village head Chief Salau Oduntan said pathetically. They also urged the group to please relate their plights to the appropriate quarters and pleaded for the group to come back which they believe will show that some people still cares for them.
The last village visited by the group was Daguja village and true to it name it was really a “battle front” for the group. They seem to be satisfied with their poor state since according to them they have complained many times to the government but all to no avail and have therefore resign to faith. All along the group discussion with them, they look uninterested until the group explains what their aims are and promised to make sure something is done for them before the group will rest before they calm down and give the group some audience.
“It was an exhilarating moment with the villagers as it took the group about 45 minutes to convince them of our plans and how exclusive it was.” The group spokesperson Adediwura Aderibigbe said. To them the group is definitely from the government who has always promise them and do nothing in return, it was when they explained to them who they were and what they came to do that they (the villagers) became a bit receptive. Explanations came from the angle that the group was free from government interference and 100% selfless service.
Another problem that was identified was the unleveled road that leads to the entrance of the village and the area of education which the villagers don’t count as important.
Education is the bedrock of the development of any nation, the group with this in mind decided to visit the only school that is serving the over 11 villages in that area Oko-Arafemi Anglican School founded in 1955. The school is under the leadership of Mrs. Awoyemi with 145 students.

She complained bitterly of the condition of the students whenever they arrive from their various houses some as far as 12 km as explained earlier in this story. The children are mostly between the ages of 5-12 years. They are given about 20-30 minutes to rest in their classes due to the stress that they would have passed through when trekking from their far distant homes.
According to her “at times I would have to use my car to pick them from their various homes just to motivate their parents and guardian because most of these villagers do not appreciate education as they have always said that they don’t see the importance of it” she said.
The problems of the school are numerous and there seems to be no help in sight for the school as government has virtually abandoned the development of the school. Here, the available chairs and desks are not enough for the children in their various classes. The roof of the school building is almost caved in, the first aid equipment are outdated and the headmistress complained that the school management is having some problems with the land where the school is built on, as they are always disturbed by people that claims to have bought some portion of the school piece of land and that those in the government are not ready to assist them, thus the existence of the school is in jeopardy.
Just at that moment a Toyota Camry drive pass the sandy road, she pointed at the car exclaiming “Those are the people that are buying the lands; that is how they come and go”. The group in solidarity donated some writing materials to the school as their own little way of contributing to the development of the school
It is a known fact that every developmental problems come under poverty, if poverty is tackled from the root then every other development problems will be easy to solve. The year 2009 as been declared a year to fight poverty where the fight against poverty will be taken more seriously, in their report the group head explains “we at ‘the Voice’ believe that if we continue to tackle poverty the same way we have been doing before which has not generate the kind of effect we desire, our success in the fight against this scourge will only be a mirage.”
“What we just did is only a small phase of our long term work which is to visit all the six-geopolitical zones of Nigeria, places that are remote but are part of the country. Our discovery from this visit gave us a hint as to what to expect when we hit the road soon. We expect more harsh condition, we expect to meet more people who are distraught and have resigned themselves to fate. People that poverty to them is a life.” he said
The group therefore recommends that the government should always take time to visit these villages in order to understand their plight and know what they want instead of remembering them only during the lection period. It should try as much as possible to provide all the needed facilities by the people such as pipe-borne water or any other better source of water.
Medical centres should be established that will be closer to the people where they can always go to treat minor health problems such as malaria, rashes, cholera and all other health problems under the primary health care initiatives. Those buying the lands of the villagers should be more honest in their transaction with the people putting into consideration that most of them are illiterate or semi-literate. The land should not be left fallow for a long time and they should try identified lands that are meant for framing and those that are be farmed on.
These villages need to be opened up to more commercial activities, hence, the need to provide road access to the villages. Modern and basic farming equipment should be provided to the farmers and also they need to be educated on the latest farming techniques. Pest control is highly needed by the farmers and electricity is one development they longed for and would appreciate if that can be done for them. The governments in summary needs to gain back the trust of these people.
One question that lingers the mind of members of the group was speaking for the poor. How can we speak better for the poor ones, why can't they speak for themselves, an African proverb says that "All lizards walk with their stomach but we don't know which one has a stomache"
To fight poverty head on, the group believes that the poor should be given the chance to speak for themselves because they are the one that know where the shoe of poverty pinches most. They should be visited and allowed to speak their minds with that we can understand better how to help lift these people free from the shackles of poverty and that “the Voice” group has vowed to do.

A REPORT ON THE “THE VOICE” POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROJECT TOUR TO FIVE VILLAGES IN OBAFEMI OWODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ODEDA LOCAL GOVERNMENT, OGUN STAT

A REPORT ON THE “THE VOICE” POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROJECT TOUR TO FIVE VILLAGES IN OBAFEMI OWODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ODEDA LOCAL GOVERNMENT, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA. UNDERTAKEN BETWEEN FEBRUARY 21 – FEBRUARY 23, 2009 & 10 VILLAGES IN ONA ARA LACAL GOVERNMENT, IBADAN, OYO STATEUNDERTAKEN BETWEEN MAY 21-25, 2009

INTRODUCTION
Poverty-this is arguably the most common word on the agenda of most international developmental organisations and even government all over the world especially those of the developing world. Poverty is the cause of underdevelopment. Poverty is the reason why a school age child cannot go to school, poverty is the reason why many living in the developing world don’t have access to health centres, poverty is the reason why a farmer cannot equate his sweat with the yield. In fact in today’s world, it is believe that poverty is the cause of everything that has gone wrong with the Africa continent and indeed other developing nations.
Having identified poverty as the cause of the underdeveloped nature of Africa, the question then is how have we been able to confront this age long foe of ours? Have we been sincere enough in the fight? Every year billions of dollars are sunk into alleviating poverty across the world yet the figures of people living in abject and relative poverty keep increasing. Pope Benedict XVI got it right when he said in his New Year message that eliminating poverty can and would be bring peace into the world.
To access how effective the world and our government effort has been in the fight against poverty the group “The Voice” decided to undertake a project titled “From the Horse’s mouth” with the long term aim of accessing the level of development and how widespread poverty is in Nigeria and Africa in General by visiting mostly remote and hard to reach rural settlements across Nigeria and allowing the rural settlers to talk with their mouth on how best they think their problem can be solved.
We living in the urban areas cannot say we understand the word poverty than those experiencing it first hand. Hence, the group adopting this approach to bring the voices of these people to the fore and use all the media and non-media platform to project their voice to those concerned such as international development organisations and various government.
This report therefore highlights part of the first phase of the project in which the group visited 15 villages in Ogun State and Oyo State. There problems might look a bit different but their plea is the same. The group long tern plan is to visit over 100 villages across the six geo-political zones of the country and strongly believe that if such an holistic approach is applied in tackling poverty millions of our people we be lifted out of poverty.


REPORT ON “THE VOICE” TOUR TO FIVE VILLAGES IN OBAFEMI OWODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT, OWODE, OGUN STATE NIGERIA. UNDERTAKEN FROM FEBRUARY 21 – FEBRUARY 23, 2009

The group left Lagos on Saturday 21st,February 2009 for Obafemi-Owode local government in Ogun State with seven members namely:
Makinde Tosin
Ashogbon Adenike
Aderibigbe Adediwura
Adeboyejo Aderemi
Kasali Shukurat
Adeniyi Olajumoke
Lawal Khalil

The following villages were visited in a space of three days;
Ogunronbi Village
Debiopon Village
Kori-Okude Village
Orisoyode Village
Dagunja Village
The departure time was 1:00pm and we arrive Ogunronbi village at 2:45 pm. We rested for about 45 minutes before hitting the road to start work.

FIRST VILLAGE VISITED - OGUNRONBI VILLAGE

Ogunronbi was our base from where we took off to the other villages. Our host, Mr. Sunday Bakare, a christian missionary has been a resident in that village for the past three years alongside his wife Mrs. Oluwatoyin Bakare and three daughters Precious, Oluwaponle and Stella.

Mr. Sunday gave a detailed history of the village and the local government, there are 11 villages in the vicinity including Ogunronbi, a name derived from a native god. People were worshipping the gods, Ogun and Esu when he got there and a portion of the land he acquired to build on used to be their shrines. After a tussle he implored them to at least move the shrines to the edge of the land which they later agreed and he left the portion for them.

Lack of potable water, education and electricity are the principal needs of Ogunronbi. The only available source of water is the stream which serves all purpose. Thee are about 30 persons living their.

THE SECOND VILLAGE - DEBIOPON VILLAGE
The distance of this village from Ogunronbi is about 50 minutes on foot, the village has a population of a little over 100 people all living in mud houses and thatched roofs, their major occupation here is cassava flour production and sales of local alcohol. The village shares the same problems with Ogunronbi. It has been in existence for over a century according to Chief Samson Oriyomi, the Baale of the village.

THE THIRD VILLAGE - KORI- OKUDE VILLAGE

Having listed the same problems, lack of potable water, accessible road and the like, the Baale, Chief Rabiu Sumoni also pointed out that there is no medical centre which is needed urgently by the people as the villagers suffer from recurrent malaria fever, abnormal swellings in the private parts, button aches and so on.
The agriculture products they are knows for are cassava and maize is being threatened by encroachment.

The only clinic they know of and which to them is useless is about 5 miles from them and lack most of the necessary medical facilities. Mr. Mesioye further revealed that despite the fact that they pay tax from the petty things they are selling at the market, government still collects tax from them and yet have neglected their village as though not existed.

THE FOURTH VILLAGE - ORISOYODE VILLAGE
The group met with the Baale of the village, Chief Salau Oduntan and his own story was a very vast and different one but also included the deficiencies of the government in the areas mentioned by the previous villages.

He complained of the massive purchase of land by the urban settlers who promise the village heaven and earth when they are about to buy them like building of industries that will facilitate developments and create employment for their youths and reduce the high cost of living in their localities but usually don’t do anything after purchasing the lands.

This distrust the people have for the government at some point led their doubt of us. The villagers longed for water, school and equipments, electricity. “they come here to buy us off with stipends, they adopt the use of fraud to take money forcefully through the medium of buying land without making proper use of the land” he said pathetically.

THE FIFTH VILLAGE - DAGUNJA VILLAGE
This village was the farthest of the villages visited. It took the group about an hour to get there from Orisoyode village. It was an exhilarating moment with the villagers as it took the group about 45 minutes to convince them of our plans and how exclusive it was. Explanations came from the angle that the group was free from government interference and 100% selfless service.

The reason for this was that they believe that the group was coming to serve as a spy and advocate for government. They said that government only visits them when they need their assistance which is only during election period and head count (Census).
According to one of the elders of the village, he said he personally wrote a letter to the local government council but was disregarded.

Education is nothing to write home about. Apart from the fact that the children risk their lives whilst crossing the express road where the only school is located, it is also very far.
They admonished the group on the project, describing it as a resourceful one if it is done without the interference of the government.

They also asked of the range or period that the project would be in manifest, and the group replied saying that when they get back, they would try their best to put their plight to those concerned and would not relax until when things get done.


A VISIT TO THE COMMUNITY SCHOOL THAT SERVES THE 11 VILLAGES, OKO ARAFEMI ANGLICAN SCHOOL.

The school which is under the proprietorship of Mrs. Awoyemi with 145 pupils, was founded in 1955.
She complained bitterly of the condition of the pupils when they arrive from their various homes some as far as 12 km. The children are mostly between the ages of 5-12 years. They are given about 20-30 minutes to rest in their classes due to the stress they would have passed through while trekking from their far distant homes.

“At times I would have to use my vehicle to convey them from their various homes just to motivate their parents and guardians because most of these villagers do not appreciate education as they usually say that they do not see its importance” she said.

The following are some of the problems highlighted by the headmistress:

Lack of chairs and desks in the classes (furniture): She said the pupils go through inconvenience in sitting in their various classes as there are no enough seats.

Land problem: she complained that the school management always have the problem with the land where the school is built on, as they are always disturbed by people that claims to have bought some portion of the school piece of land and that those in the government are not ready to assist them, thus the existence of the school is in jeopardy. The large expanse of land that surrounds the schools are been bought at a fast pace.

Lack of medical facilities in the school: she said the last time they were given drugs was about six years ago.

She said that if only the leaders are conscious and God realistic people that always consider their masses as very important not just when they need their votes as citizens of the state things would have been better.

The group donated some writing materials to the school in its own little way of contributing to the development of the school.


A BRIEF ON THE GROUP ONE DAY VISIT TO MABA VILLAGE, OBAFEMI-OWODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ON 12TH FEBRUARY, 2009

This visit was necessitated in order to know of places that are close to Lagos but far away from it in terms of development. The contact person Evangelist Jeremiah Williams took us round the village and explained to us that there are many more villages that are worse than Maba in this local government. Evangelist Williams has been living in Maba since 1992

In Maba, though there were signs of development which one might quickly conclude was made possible by the government but in actual fact were self help development project that were undertaken by the villagers. This was made possible when they took the pain to sell their landed property at give-away prices.
The only damn-like stream that serves as source of water for the village is highly polluted and contaminated but for many years that was the water that the whole village uses for all purposes until a missionary group constructed a nine-rigged well in Evangelist Williams house in 2004 that is now serving the whole village but yet not all of them do come to his house to fetch water but go to the stream because of the distance. The non-tarred road that leads to Maba was constructed by a block industry situated deep into the community.

REPORT ON “THE VOICE” TOUR TO TEN VILLAGES IN ONA ARA AND IDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT, OYO STATE, NIGERIA. UNDERTAKEN FROM MAY 21 – MAY 25, 2009

For this trip, a lot of preparation went into it as the contact we needed was not like that of Ogun State. Only five members embarked on this trip namely,

Makinde Tosin
Ashogbon Adenike
Aderibigbe Adediwura
Adeboyejo Aderemi
Lawal Khalil

Departure (Lagos): 4:00pm
Arrival (Alabidun Village, Oyo State): 8:00pm

FIRST VILLAGE – ALABIDUN VILLAGE

Our first point of call was Alabidun village located in Ono-Ara local government area of Ibadan, Oyo State. If you must visit Alabidun it is advised that you leave in daylight because the roads leading to this place are so bad, hence most transporters would don’t want to ply that road at night.
It was unfortunate that we arrived there at night. Normally, the journey that should have taken us two and half hours but we ended up spending four hours. Alabidun is a good example of government misplaced priority as there were make believe government intervention which in reality is non-existence.
The electricity poles scattered around the village might give a first timer that there is government light here but the poles are just there with no light on them and has been like that for over 10 years.
When it comes to Agricultural product, Alabidun village has got it all. Palm Kernel, Cocoa Plantation, Plantains, Oranges, Mango and many other plants and fruits abound in this solitary village. There exists a local palm oil processing filed in the village all manage by old women workers who will have to wake up as early as 4:00am in order to get a tangible quantity of Palm Oil.
According to the women, the amount they are getting from the work is nothing compare to the stress they are passing through. They had to go through a highly rigorous process of manual work everyday.
Conveying the good to the town is also one major headache confronting the people here. The road is untarred which has made it very difficult to move the goods to the town.

SECOND VILLAGE – ELETA
A visit to this village must surely strike a cord of emotions in a heart. Though a bit small with a population of around 150, this village lack anything called development. The children don’t attend school as according to the mothers they cannot afford the school and apart from that the only school available is very far from them.
A look at this children show they are malnourished and with a bleak future if nothing is done to help them now. They were only dirty pants that are even torn. The scene here is highly pathetic. Like the others the women here are farmers and have nothing else to do than farm and bear children.

THIRD VILLAGE – ELESERIN
This village though have a political earnings with the local government chairman mainly because the chairman is an indigene of the village and also a titled chief but to them he is a disappointment as he has left them to the faith.
According to the Chief Ayoadeorin the chairman constructed a pipe borne water for them about five years ago which is no longer working again but on a closer look by the group it was discovered that the pipe borne water has nothing to do with the Local Government it was actually an abandoned project by the World Bank. They were made to believe it was done by the LG.
The village is filled with abandoned project such as poles with wires on them but no light, they have been waiting to be connected to the grid for many years and have no idea when it will happen. The stream is very small and dirty.

FOURTH VILLAGE – ELEYELE OKO

We left Alabidun on Saturday and headed for the other end of the state where Eleyele Oko village is located. We don’t know anybody here before but were warmly received by one Mr. Alani Amosu. We didn’t spend much time in this village which is very close to the express road that leads to Eruwa. According to the last census, the population of Eleyele Oko was 347 but evidently they have really surpassed that figure as people from different parts of the country reside there. We were lucky to meet a couple of traditional leaders of the neighbouring villages who were delighted by our visit. The elders made us realized that despite their pleas, government has refused to come to their aid. In 1960, the community built a medical centre to cater for the villagers. It was renovated in 2004 when the government took over the administration but since then, it has been abandoned. Surprisingly, chairman of the ward of the ruling party lives there and according to him he has tried all he could but proved abortive.


FIFTH VILLAGE – ELERE-ADEOGUN

It was one of the traditional rulers who oversee three villages made our task less tough because he took us round the neighbouring villages. In this village, to get to where the only water is, they would have to trek for close to one mile. When asked what would be the most important problem they would like to get solved, to our amazement, they said road. And road it was as we have to mount a bike in order to get to this village and even had a minor accident on our way because of the bad and uneven state of the muddy road. They decried that the road is worse during dry season and nobody dares access the road in the rainy season.
Following the unavailability of schools, the villagers said those who have little money and know the value of education have sent their children to the city so we only saw a few children in the village. “The hardship is so much that we can akin it to being in wilderness” said one of the villagers, Mr. Adeleke Adeokun. “In order to get assistance from the government in the form of loan for the farmers, we have spent close to 50,000 and got nothing,” said Mr. Kadiri Tiamiyu, Chairman of cocoa farmers association

SIXTH VILLAGE – AGBEMO VILLAGE
One this that was constantly on the lips of the people living in this village is Road. “The major thing we need is road to convey our agricultural products to the town, nobody wants to come here because of the road” the farmers said. According to them before the produce such as tomatoes and vegetables would get to the market they would have perished hence fetching them little money for the big stress they have put into cultivation.
One other development they clamoured for is school for their children. The only school they have was constructed by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in 1955 and is about 3 miles from them dilapidated. “During rainy season we cannot move around” the chief Najimu Akintunde said.” “They have not taken a single step to help our situation; we have simply resigned our self to faith”. The population of this village and the surrounding villages was estimated at 2,000 people.

SEVENTH VILLAGE - OLOPADE VILLAGE
In this village just like in Agbemo, one thing they clamoured for more than anything is road that will make the village accessible to traders and open them up for development. Here, you will probably think you back to the 16 the centuries Nigeria as thatched house made of palm front abounds, even some of the houses were built on farm lands. “Road is our basic need here, if we want to go to the market, there is no road, we need health centres butif there is no road how do we get to the hospitals” the Baale, Chief Iliami Akintunde said.
The village also is constantly under attack by erosion during heavy downpour as the little brick bridge they constructed by themselves is being threaten by the rising level of the Ogun river which is the village only source of water.

EIGHTH VILLAGE – ONIFUFU VILLAGE
Onifufu can be described as a good example of self development at the low ebb. According to the traditional head Chief Yekini Bankole the only school for the village was by them as they have complained to the government several times on the need for them and the surrounding villages to have a school but all to no avail. According to him it is only during election period that they come there after then they will be no where to be found.
The school is the effort of the villagers. It has three teachers, a headmaster, assistant headmaster and a teacher. It is only the headmaster that is always available the two other teachers hardly come to school because of the distance. The population of the pupils is 350 and is like a seasonal school because during the rainy season very few of them attend school only those whose villages are close enough will come to school.
They are calling on the government to provide more teachers and more classrooms away from the four classrooms that it is currently made of and for more chairs and desks.


REPORT ON “THE VOICE” TOUR TO VILLAGES & SETTLEMENTS IN IPAO, IRELE AND AYGBAJU TOWN, IKOLE LOCAL GOVBERNMENT ARAE OF EKITI STATE, NIGERIA. UNDERTAKEN FROM WEDNESDAY JULY 29 – SATURDAY AUGUST 1, 2009

OBSERVATION

OVERALL OBSERVATION OF THE STATES OF THE VILLAGES VISITED

It was observed that government has rendered the people in the rural areas irrelevant who they only remembered during elections or census.
Roads leading to thee villages are hardly passable and mostly impassable whenever there is heavy downpour.
Due to their low standard of living, the rich from the cities purchase their land with the pretence of building industries which would provide job for the villagers especially, the youth but all they do afterwards is buy to keep; to the extent that they fence the portion which renders it unavailable even for cultivation.
The fact that more and more land of these people are being bought is threatening agricultural activities in this area, especially cassava production which is the main agricultural product that is produced by the people. This trend has in no doubt increase the prices of farm products in surrounding urban areas.

Despite the fact that government claims the reason why they collect tax is for development yet the tax collected from these poor people do not make any difference in their environment. We were able to convince them we have nothing to do with the government, that this is a selfless service by young Nigerians for the development of our nation.
On education, we discover low enrolment in the primary schools. One primary school is serving over 11 villages in its vicinity. T he reason is premise on the fact that the school is far away from the villages and more like a seasonal school i.e during dry season the attendance is high but during the rainy season the attendance is always low. The last village we visited for example is about 7 km from the road which itself is about 2km to the school. Also the parents seem to lack the orientation required to know the value of education.
In one of our researches and observations during and after the visit we discovered that virtually all the villages we visited are under extinction due to the fact that they are being sold and bought by people from the urban areas. For example, 700 acres of land in Abuleori Village was bought at N400, 000 per acre while 400 acres of land in Dagunja Village was bought at N400, 000 per acre, both bought and sold by Denmark Land Estate and Surveyor Nigeria Ltd under the name Prime and Royal Masters Estate with office in Owode-Ofada.
Another estate, Yotomi Estate is selling the land at Adebiopon Village at N400, 000 per acre and already bought 70 acres of land in the village. 90 acres of Abuleori was bought at N400, 000 per acre. The question we ask ourselves is how big are these villages? Not that big. This land is been bought with the agreement that the lands will be developed for industrial activities which will in turn lead to employment for the youths and eventual development of the villages but reverse has been the case as the land are left fallow all in the name of increasing the land values.
In all, the government has created a lot of distrust in the mind of these people. They don’t believe in the government anymore. They have more or less resigned to faith; we virtually spent most of our time convincing them to believe us that we will not stop until something is done for them before they could grant us audience.

RECOMMENDATIONS
From what the group saw and based on their interaction so far with the people of the 15 villages visited, the following recommendations are therefore advised in order to reduce the rate of poverty among these people.

v In virtually all the villages visited by the group the most basic need that was clamoured for was road which they believe will make easier for them to transport their produce to the town and also open up the villages for developmental works.
v In this harsh period of global meltdown, agricultural development holds the key for the survival of developing countries like Nigeria and where else to turn than the rural areas. Here if the farmers are helped in all ways the effect will be of benefit to all.
v Conditions for giving out loans to the farmers should be very lenient and if possible should not be required.
v On the area of education a situation where we have one school serving over 10 villages with a population of over 500 children is uncalled for. There is need for more schools and more teachers.
v Primary Health Care centres should be established close to the people.
v Provision of pipe-borne water or any other source of clean water will go a long well in ensuring they live a healthier life.
v Empowering these people to be self sufficient is highly recommended.

BUDGET AND LOGISTIC FOR TRIP TO OGUN STATE

S/N DETAILS AMOUNT(N)
1
Writing Materials 15, 000 2 Feeding (3 Days) 20, 000 3 Transport (Lagos-Ogunrobi, Ogunrobi – Lagos)
15, 000
4
Equipments Maintenance
8, 000
5
Cash Donations
3,000
6
Film Editing
10,000

Total Expenses
71,000

The total expenses incurred in undertaken the trip to Ogun state was N71, 000

BUDGET AND LOGISTIC FOR TRIP TO OYO STATE
S/N
DETAILS
AMOUNT(N)
Transport (Lagos-Ankara, Oyo State: Oyo - Lagos
30,000
Feeding (5 days)
37,500
Equipments Maintenance
8,000
Cash Donations
5,000
Gift
20,000
Film Editing
10,000
Total Expenses
110,500
The total expenses incurred in undertaken the trip to Oyo state was N110, 500

The place of the Nigerian youth in Nigeria polity

It is no longer news that for a nation to develop in all facet of its existence the role of the youth cannot be over emphasised. All the great leaders the world has known both dead and living achieved fame and fortune at a very young age which adversely brought about the needed development of those nations that every nation is now envious of. The roll call is exhaustive, we can’t forget people like Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Thomas Edison, George Washington, Winston Churchill, Thomas Freeman, John. F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Nelson Mandela, Kenneth Kaunda and so many other great politicians, philosophers, and achievers of the 18th, 19th , and 20th century who we could say are the reason while the world is as developed as it is now.
They achieve all their feats at a young age. They were involved in all decisions that concerned the development of their countries. In short they were not left out, attempt to shut them out always led to protest.
The countries that are called developed in today’s world achieve that developed status as a result of active youth involvement in the countries political, economic, social, and moral life. They shaped their world to become what it is now. But in developing countries like Nigeria, the reverse is the case. The youths are virtually left out.
Granted, we have people that have shaped our history achieving fame at a young age such as Nnamdi Azikwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro and few others but their activities if we are to face the truth have not taken the country to the place we all dreamt of. The same old folks that started our national life are still the same set of beings controlling us decades later. The question is where are the Nigerian youth of the 21st century? Where is their place in the scheme of national policies?
Most youth in this country have little or no knowledge about the programme of government for them and they are not asking for it. How many Nigerian youth know the name of the Minister for Youth and Social Development? How many Nigerian youth know the content of the National Youth Policy? How many Nigerian youth know what the National Empowerment and Economic Development Strategy (NEEDS) entails? Very few we must agree. And it seems we are not even ready to make any attempt to know where we belong in the developmental programmes of this government.
Take a look at the lingering ASUU strike, who is suffering? The lecturers or the students? It is obviously the students who represent the youth and their voice in the issue have had little effect, the Niger-Delta crisis is another area where the youth of this country has performed below par. It all seems that the youth of this country are obsessed with making money and think little of the development of this nation.
We have so many youth organisations in this country, but what is the level of their impact on the social, economic and developmental life of the country. Very little progress has been made. It is high time we take actions that would make the government take us more serious. Our present crop of leaders are not creative we have to agree.
A research by a US based research organisation states that anybody that is over the age of forty will not be as creative as they were before clocking forty. Isn’t that true of our present crops of leaders. There is need for more Nigerian youths to be involved in the running of this country.
The needed creativity and idealistic approach that is needed to solve the problem of this country is lacking and is evident in the way our leaders are handling our problems.
I, therefore through this piece, we like to call on the immediate and urgent organisation of the gathering of Nigerian youth through the many youth organisations we have in the country across all strata to deliberate on issues affecting our lives and how we can contribute to make our nation better. It is time for this government to know that the youth are ready to run this country the way it should be run in the 21st century.
We are gradually trailing the path that our failed past leaders followed as a youth. We must rise now and challenge this government. They need to take us more serious. It is the youth that can solve the problem of this nation, the government should take it as a point of necessity to involve more youths in our national development programmes and see if the result will be better and for the youth- The future of Nigeria is in the hand of the Nigeria youth. Period!

AFRUCA set to curb child abuse in Nigeria

The issue of children trafficking and child servitude as well as their molestation is getting more and more appalling in many African countries. So many people don’t see anything wrong in having a child as a maid or house help since they believe the child is being paid for the service rendered.
In a bid to promoting the rights and welfare of African children, the African Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA) founded in 2001 with the aim of promoting the rights and welfare of African Children is set out to tackle this problem. In this interview with Tosin Makinde and Adenike Ashogbon, the President and founder of AFRUCA, Mrs. Modupe Debbie Ariyo delve into the issue and the organisation’s plan to set up an office in Nigeria in order to cut the evil of child servitude, and trafficking in the bud…
What is AFRUCA all about?
Africans Unite against Child Abuse (AFRUCA) was set up in May 2001 with about 95% of our activities in the UK. In this environment it is called a Non governmental organisation (NGO) but over there it is called charity. The idea to us is to be able serve rather than just obtaining the funds that is available. Over there, there are laws and regulations laid to ensure that you implement programmes for which the fund is meant for.
In early 2000, a lot of young people were discovered to be coming from different Africa countries most especially Nigerians. The environment they are coming from is not good and they find it difficult to cope. Some of them are eventually killed by those who are supposed to look after them or by young people especially in areas like Peckham where there is a high crime rate.
There is nothing in place to protect them from the criminals. One thing that we also noted then was that there was nothing on ground, no Africa charity to advocate for these young people that we have them understand the environment. That was why we set up the organisation in May 2001.
In what ways are have you been passing across your message?
In 2003, we did a conference in London on child trafficking, the only conference of such since then. We have realised that we are doing a lot of work in the UK and even have an office in Manchester now. So we decided to come back home and set up an office here in Nigeria so that we can fully understand issues surrounding child abuse and trafficking in Nigeria.
I can give an example of such areas where we want to work such as child servitude and trafficking which is very shameful. The second reason is on the issue of child education where you have case of teachers sexually abusing children that were put in their care. In the UK you cannot as a teacher be with a child until you have been cleared by the office to work with children. They make sure you have not committed any crime related to that; I don’t see that happening here.
We are also looking at ways we can work with other NGOs, government for example the Lagos state Government to effectively address these issues. There are many NGOs working on child trafficking we want to be able to collaborate with them in order to create an impact.
What has been you major challenge?
The challenge is that when you are trying to make some radical changes, you will always encounter a lot of opposition. A situation like domestic servant or child abuse where most people don’t see any reason why they can’t beat their child so we try to explain to them the emotional consequences of such act. Some would even say what is the point and even accused was that it is our way of getting money. I would say that is our main challenge.
How do you intend to tackle the root of this problem when you get to Nigeria?
I have lived abroad for a long time; I have seen a lot of people like me. Actually, it is better for you to be back in your country. I have see a lot of my colleague here who are successful in their endeavours, you see what I ma trying to says is that it is just unfortunate that Nigeria is becoming a society where money is what matters. Otherwise we should be able to convince a lot of our young people that is not all about money. There are lot of people here who are successful without having to travel abroad.
A lot of them think they can just get to the UK and start living good life, they don’t know what is happening in the UK. They don’t know that a lot of young ones like them are living in abject poverty they are squatting with pole who can throw them out at anytime, they can’t have good job in fact they can’t have jobs. Because now the competition is very serious, for every single Nigerian who is going into the UK, you are competing with about 20 people who came form European countries. White people who will be more likely to be employed than as Nigerian because they have opened their door to Europe. They don’t even need a visa or work permit to work.
What I am actually saying is that all those years you will be struggling to settle down in the UK you will have done something better with your life back home. There is nothing wrong in travelling abroad but you must think about it very well.
I used to be very negative about Nigeria but since I arrive I have learnt that it is not as bad as I thought. So, there is hope that is my message. It can be achieve all we need is to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.
Can you tell us a bit about your biography?
I finished from the University of Benin in 1989 and I travelled out of the country to the United Kingdom in 1991 which about 18 years precisely. I left Nigeria after UNIBEN had a crisis which led to my set not going for service so I left without undergoing the Nigeria Youth Service. I leaved most of my life in the UK.
What does Nigeria tends to gain from AFRUCA in Nigeria?
We want to add another value to NGO work. We want to build on the credible work we have done in the UK, an organisation that people can rely on our trust. If we say we are working with children, then we must have the power to change genuinely children that would come to us for nay kind of help. So, there will be a justification if we say we are working with children. I know therefore our coming here we make a lot of different. That is the benefit we want to bring down to Nigeria. We want a lot of people to see what we are doing and would want to be like us.

Trip to Ekiti

From July 29 to August 2nd, tghe voice group members embark on a tour of Ekiti state, South west Nigeria in futherance of its project on new way to tackiling poverty in the country in order to met the millenium developmnet Goa numbe one.
Just like the othe trips it was eye openingnad re veal a governmnet misplaced priority. More imnformation coming soon. Watch out for the Sedmianr coming up on Octorber 10, 2009 "From the Horse's Mouth"