By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
As the nation battles with acute shortages of foods leading to starvation and hunger, the President of Benin National Congress (BNC) worldwide, Amb. Aiyamenkhue Edokpolo, has dared to proffer solutions to it by urging the federal government to develop the political will to address the issues of Kidnappers and herdsmen if the problem must be solved.
He made the appeal while speaking on the topic: “Functional education and effective political leadership as a panacea to Africa’s growth and development : a social scientist perspective” at the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Democracy Dialogue 2024 held in Benin City.
Amb. Edokpolo said the reasons behind the high prices of farm produce is simply because there are now few persons risking their lives cultivating the soil to feed the larger population due to the activities of Kidnappers and herdsmen attacks in the various communities across the nation.
According to him “it is appropriate on the part of political leaders to pay attention to the deeply fertilized opinions of the downtrodden.
“During a gossip of our leaders by two market women in my street, they unanimously blamed the high prices of farm produce on ravaging impact of kidnappers and herdsmen on our farms in southern Nigeria especially.
“And this is sincerely not difficult to decipher. Our youths and elderly people have almost abandoned farming, so, we are faced with the tragedy of a tiny-few who persistently risk the farming occupation, because it is their last hope of survival.
“So, you don’t expect farm produce to be cheap from this very factual scenario the Oka Market women painted during their gossip of mistaken priorities of Nigeria political leaders.
“Simply, deploy the political will against kidnappers and herdsmen, then farm produce will flood our markets, and the supply chain will imply an inevitable crash of food prices, to such extent, that, the agitation for wage increase may witness an unprecedented reduction”.
The BNC President also called on the government at all levels to cultivate the political will to tackle the poor educational system of the country noting that, a very excellent education must come before aspirations for critical leadership in any public place in our country or continent.
