By Otunba (Dr) Abdulfalil Abayomi Odunowo
Nigeria cannot afford to treat agriculture as merely another sector. It is a fundamental pillar of national security. A country that cannot reliably feed its own people is inherently insecure. We devote vast resources to defending our borders and maintaining internal stability; we must recognise that hunger, collapsing farm output and the chronic impoverishment of farmers also threaten national stability.
Our farmers belong in the national security architecture. The smallholders growing cassava in Ogun, maize in Kaduna, rice in Kebbi, yam in Benue, or vegetables in Plateau are not simply running private businesses. Collectively, they sustain the country’s food system. Yet after bearing the risks of land preparation, seedlings, fertiliser, labour, transport, pests, weather and credit, they can harvest a crop only to see prices collapse at the farm gate, ending up poorer despite a successful yield.
The cassava experience should end complacency. Nigeria needs a National Food Security Guarantee: transparent, pre-announced Guaranteed Minimum Farm-Gate Prices for strategic commodities, declared before planting begins.
Government should not replace the market. When prices are healthy, farmers sell freely to processors, traders and consumers. When prices dip below the guarantee, the government and accredited strategic off-takers step in as buyers of last resort. The harvest is not wasted. Grains go into strategic reserves. Cassava feeds starch, flour and ethanol industries. Tomatoes become paste. Milk enters dairy processing. Stocks support schools, hospitals, the military, and emergency programmes. Surpluses, where appropriate, can support exports.
This creates a complete agricultural security chain: Produce → Protect the farmer → Aggregate → Process → Store → Distribute → Protect the consumer.
Consumer protection matters as well. Targeted mechanisms must deliver essential foods to vulnerable households at affordable prices without forcing farmers to sell below the cost of sustainable production. The goal is not permanently cheap food but affordable food for the consumer and viable income for the producer.
Ogun State is well placed to pioneer the model. An agricultural price-stabilisation and strategic-reserve framework, backed by farmer registration, production forecasting, aggregation centres, warehouses, cold-chain facilities, processing plants and guaranteed off-take, can give farmers visibility before they plant. We must ensure young people are drawn to agriculture as a dignified, predictable and investable profession, not a path to ruin after a bumper harvest.
Our soldiers protect the borders. Our security agencies protect the communities. Our farmers protect the tables. All three are essential to national survival.
Nigeria needs a new doctrine: no farmer should be punished for producing the food the nation needs.
Food security is national security.
Signed by
Otunba (Dr) Abdulfalil Abayomi Odunowo
National Chairman AATSG
Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu support group
