STATES in the South have not been proactive in terms of food production, which is evident in their collective neglect of agriculture.
This was one of the fallouts of our general dependence on the monthly federal allocations from Abuja since the rise of our crude oil-dependent economy.
While Northern states continued to strengthen their commitment to agriculture and increasingly became the food basket of the entire nation, states in the former Eastern, Western and Mid-Western Regions shut down their once prosperous farm settlements and massive agricultural projects which fed their respective economic prosperity before the civil war.
The educated, youthful population migrated to the urban centres in search of white collar jobs while the less-educated ones also pursued blue-collar jobs. The result was a total abandonment of agriculture and the rural areas and further impoverishment of the grassroots.
The South increasingly depended on the North for the bulk of its food supplies…
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
