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17-July-2002
KWANKWASO'S TRIP TO DENMARK
by
Ibrahim Ado-Kurawa B. Sc (HONS) M. Sc Zoology (Applied Entomology)
Director Research, Institute for Contemporary Research (ICR) Kano and General Editor Weekly Pyramid The Magazine
Kano, Nigeria
(majekarofi@yahoo.com
)
http://www.kanoonline.com/ibrahimado/
Like all politicians His Excellency Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso the governor of Kano State always publicizes his actions to gain the support of his teeming poverty stricken populace through his effective but largely discredited propaganda outfits Radio Kano and the government owned television which he renamed State Television. It is in pursuit of this propaganda objective that Kwankwaso’s media publicized his one-week trip to Denmark. The people were told that the purpose of the trip was to resuscitate agriculture. Just like the empty propaganda that Kano is the center of commerce despite the fact that Kwankwaso has not been able to solve the problem of fuel scarcity in the state neither has he done anything tangible to promote commerce. We are now being told that he will revive Kano’s pride in agriculture when it used to produce 500000 tons of groundnuts per annum.
The people of the state are constantly bombarded with propaganda that His Excellency has tackled the problem of education in the state in the first lap of his tenure and now he wants to concentrate on agriculture. It is on record that I commended his efforts in that regard and I was even cautioned for that commendation. Here too as an optimist I will begin by commending him more especially because during the course of formulating his agricultural policies he involved senior professionals such as Dr. Singh and Dr. Ahmad Mustapha Falaki. I do not have any ideas better than the ones he must have been given by these professionals and practicing farmers such as Murtala Nyako but I will venture to humbly state some facts on why his policies may fail as those in education are now failing.
Denmark is indeed a nice place to visit and also to learn agricultural techniques. It is a model of transformation from agriculture dependant economy to an industrialized one. But the trip by His Excellency and his retinue of courtiers was a wasteful adventure and it showed that his policies might fail unless he changes his attitude. And it is our responsibility to encourage him to change by constructive criticisms and not praise singing of courtiers in the state owned mass media.
The Denmark journey reminds one of similar trips by Princes in the medieval era. At that time it was a worthwhile venture. European Princes, nobles and scholars who traveled or studied in medieval Muslim territories burrowed the idea of college the precursor of the university as documented by George Makdisi and other scholars. Now it is more cost effective for any chief executive especially of an impoverished state like Kano to access the information he needs from the Internet and the relevant sources in Nigeria since he does not need to know everything because that is the work of the professionals in a modern state. Even if the government publicizes that the trip was essential then take a look at the entourage apart from the Honorable Commissioner for Agriculture the rest had no business going for an “agricultural trip”. Commissioner for Information, Director of Press Government House, Director of Protocol, ADC, Chief Detail, Chief Whip and one or two other legislators. Was His Excellency going to meet more fadawa (courtiers) in Denmark necessitating the Director of Protocol, ADC and Chief Detail? These guys were inconsequential once they flew out of Nigeria. Perhaps the Honorable Commissioner for Information and the Director of Press Government House were to take the pictures of His Excellency’s visits to farms and factories for local consumption in the discredited state owned electronic mass media. As for those legislators they shall be accountable on the Day of Judgment for conniving with the executive to waste our meager resources instead of checking such excesses.
I repeat without any fear of contradiction that the professionals in the bureaucracy (ministry of agriculture and KNARDA) and in the academia (state university and state polytechnic) are the ones who should make such trips if necessary. And if the government empowers them intellectually by providing them with the necessary facilities and training they could get such trips free by applying for sponsorships from international donors who are eager for qualified applicants. I had the privilege of interacting with the President of the Rockefeller Foundation some weeks ago during which he implored me to encourage Nigerians to apply for their programs when I return home. This foundation spends millions of dollars (free not loan) on many programs such as resident fellowships for scholars, food security, working communities, global inclusion and the African regional program whose goal is “to contribute to the revitalization of the African continent by building the required human and institutional capacity and by providing critical information that will promote effective policies and programs to improve the lives and livelihoods of the poor”.
Since our democracy is only in name we may never know the amount spent on this Denmark trip by His Excellency and his entourage. But I am sure the amount spent on the irrelevant members of the crowd is enough to train the relevant bureaucrats and professionals on new techniques of acquiring knowledge. I had made my suggestions public in The Triumph on how to improve the capacity of our people so that they could be good managers and also be competent enough to compete in the ever-expanding global job market, which is very hungry for young professionals.
It is most likely that His Excellency must have been informed that the researches conducted by the institutions in Nigeria are rarely implemented hence we shall remain in abject poverty. The first question anybody will ask is why have successive governments been reluctant in implementing these research findings especially in the field of agriculture? The first simple answer is precisely the attitude of our leaders who always want to seek for answers to our problems from outside when the answers are here. Denmark is one of the best countries in livestock farming especially dairy. His Excellency does not need to go to Denmark unless if he had exhausted all the findings, new techniques and breeds developed by the National Veterinary Research Institute Vom and the National Animal Production Research Institute Zaria. I am sure the research on goats alone is enough for him for the next four years if he is interested in improving the lives of the smallholders of these animals who are the majority in rural Kano.
His Excellency’s response to questions by a BBC Hausa Service producer was very disappointing. He could not give coherent answers to the problems of genetically modified seeds that he intended to import from Denmark. Probably His Excellency is not even aware of the progress made by the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) in developing seeds and technologies that are relevant to Nigeria with between 70-100% adoption rates. Dr. Misari the director of the institute has observed that:
“Some of these technologies are already being patronized by international organizations such as United International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). As much as these international organizations have recognized the significance of our technologies, it is sad to report that our indigenous entrepreneurs and policy makers have continued to show no interest in our appropriate technologies. Rather, they always resort to importation of similar machines and technologies with consequent colossal loss of foreign exchange to the country” (Misari, S. M. ‘IAR to break more ground in research’ New Nigerian Thursday, July 11 2002 p. 13).
In 1972 Dr. Polly Hill of Cambridge University made a pioneering observation that the Hausa farmers were too poor to farm. I think the farmers are now even poorer since the bureaucrats and the professionals who are expected to guide them have become poorer intellectually and materially that they cannot guide anyone. Some months ago there was another wasteful trip to China because there was nothing tangible for the talakawa (commoners). At the time Polly Hill made that statement China was in a worse shape than northern Nigeria but now the difference is clear. What technology did the last trip to China acquire? The amount of money Kano State government has allocated to the executive mansions in Kano and Abuja, which are a total waste and is enough to transform the lives of at least 100000 peasant families with Chinese technology based on the suggestions we made several times in www.gamji.com and www.kanoonline.com Over 70% of peasant farmers in Kano State cannot afford donkeys (worth N17000 per adult male). These peasant farmers must be empowered through interest free loans or whatever means. How on earth could the chief executive waste so much money for his comfort when the most productive sector of the population cannot produce because they lack rudimentary requirements? How many donkeys could have been bought with the amount spent on the irrelevant entourage of courtiers for the trips to China and Denmark?
One of the major problems of His Excellency is that he considers any constructive criticism as enmity but in reality the constructive critics are those who wish him well while the praise singers may lead him to hell. What is the fate of his education program and why is it is now crumbling? We have earlier discussed in www.gamji.com and www.kanoonline.com the adequate institutional reforms that will involve all segments of the dominant elites, which will last beyond any administration. But it seems people are only interested in ad hoc measures for propaganda purposes, which could be sustained by another wasteful venture of giving money to the propagandis media such as the N4million supplement to Newswatch and N1million to Tell. These amounts could have bought at least 400 donkeys for 400 rural peasant families instead of giving it to chop-chop journalists who will not only tarnish your good image in future but also that of your own people.
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