Anybody from the Kwara state? Who knows about the Kwara Agricultural Project?

http://www.kwaraproject.com/

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare1.com/News/zimfarmers.htm

http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/politics/p226042004.html

It's very ambitous to say the least!

The only problem with this project is that it's government controlled. If the white farmers came to Nigeria to buy land from us for the purpose of agriculture, I would see the project as a small step forward, and this expectation that the project should "work wonders for our economy" wouldn't exist. It would be just like any other private project.

I am from Ifelodun in Kwara state the government is just blowing itś trumphet there is wide spread poverty in the state the people are not empowered because they see empowerment as a threat to them they classified Kwara as a northern state the muslims can complain because there have islamised the state and any talk against the leaders means a talk against their religion well the generation that will retore kwara to itś proper place has been born my parent may have been quite but i would not!!! Out of the 12 states created the same time Kwara is the least developed!!!

Deep Soul:

I hate to sound pessimistic but they (they being the govt and its cohorts) all start up sounding "ambitious"! Where does that eventually lead us

2ndly, I took the paaaaaaaaiiins to glance through some of the articles and I couldn't help but notice the phrase "white farmers" laced in almost every sentence! And it just goes to further prove just how the average Nigerian sees the white man - as a sorta "mini god"! We have this mentally which I see as wayyyyyyyy backwards - the mentality of not being good enough or not nearly as good as the "white man". It can be seen everyday in Nigeria.

Walk into any establishment (offices, schools, even churches!) in YOUR country and u'r treated like u'r not important. And just maybe u aren't. Fine. The annoying part is how these same fellow Nigerians treat people with a different skin colour differently, like they deserve better! Even in our own country! U go to their countries and u'r treated like trash. Fine. Na u carry your leg go there. What I see as intolerable is when that same thing happens in my domain. I could go on and on about this and be able to write a 1 million page book!
I'm glad there is some form of opposition to this "idea" because like some senators rightly said, it WILL lead to racial discrimination and land wahala which I'm sure we had pots full of in the colonial era!

And no, I'm not forgetting the positive effects it might have on our economy, I'm only wondering why it didnt work wonders for the wrecked Zimbabwean economy! Imagine Zimbabwe being considered as "foreign", Oh puhleese!

(^_^) You are so real. Such a breath of fresh air here.

henryphyol:

I am from Ifelodun in Kwara state the government is just blowing itś trumphet there is wide spread poverty in the state the people are not empowered because they see empowerment as a threat to them they classified Kwara as a northern state the muslims can complain because there have islamised the state and any talk against the leaders means a talk against their religion well the generation that will retore kwara to itś proper place has been born my parent may have been quite but i would not!!! Out of the 12 states created the same time Kwara is the least developed!!!

Henry,

Are there any plans that you know of to create some programs so the students in the nearby university and polytech can take adavantage of the Rhodisian's, i mean zimbabwean's, "experience" and knowlge?

I am very interested to learn that,

I am from Ifelodun in Kwara state the government is just blowing itś trumphet there is wide spread poverty in the state the people are not empowered because they see empowerment as a threat to them they classified Kwara as a northern state the muslims can complain because there have islamised the state and any talk against the leaders means a talk against their religion well the generation that will retore kwara to itś proper place has been born my parent may have been quite but i would not!!! Out of the 12 states created the same time Kwara is the least developed!!!

,

@ henryphyol

It appears to me as if you don't really know what you are talking about as the Governor's wife, two ministers , some commisioners and several other people are christians so who are the leaders you were referring to. If you haven't got anything to say/type, it's better you just read on.

yeepa:

I am from Ifelodun in Kwara state the government is just blowing itś trumphet there is wide spread poverty in the state the people are not empowered because they see empowerment as a threat to them they classified Kwara as a northern state the muslims can complain because there have islamised the state and any talk against the leaders means a talk against their religion well the generation that will retore kwara to itś proper place has been born my parent may have been quite but i would not!!! Out of the 12 states created the same time Kwara is the least developed!!!

,

@ henryphyol

It appears to me as if you don't really know what you are talking about as the Governor's wife, two ministers , some commisioners and several other people are christians so who are the leaders you were referring to. If you haven't got anything to say/type, it's better you just read on.

Yeepa,

What do you know about the project? Are there any plans for the students at the local uni and polytech to benefit from the experience being imported?

[color=#000099][/color]Am from Kwara state my self but in all my years on Earth av never considerd the state a serious minded one, it is nothin but a fallacy!

As a foreign guest who has some experience of agriculture in Africa , why are respondents so pessimistic? I worked on a successful sugar project in Kenya where 9000 agricultural workers were registered for agricultural employment; there were 220 managerial and supervisory staff; the estate provided 60% of Kenya's domestic sugar requirement. How does this compare with the sugar industry of Kwara? Incidentally, there were 4 resident expatriates or 'white farmers' for those who prefer the label.

Comment:

3. A successful business provides benefits to a very wide comunity not just the shareholders.

2. Welcome and learn from incomers.

1. Labels are pasted on by observers, not the labelled.

@ anton

I also read about the projects online (Kwara State website) as I am not in Nigeria at the moment and my assesment is that, the project is moving and I also saw some pictures of some students learning from the expatriate farmers.

@jide_dapo

Can you read your response to this topic again? You don't sound like a serious minded person yourself. I believe if you things are not done properly by the elders, you think about better ways to do it. So I challenge, what do you think can be done to help Kwara. Your response will be appreciated.

@ Yeepa
It appears to me as if you don't really know what you are talking about as the Governor's wife, two ministers , some commisioners and several other people are christians so who are the leaders you were referring to. If you haven't got anything to say/type, it's better you just read on.

It beats me that you seem to pick on the islamised issue without addressing the issue of the state being the most underdeveloped in her ranks. Yeepa i am from that state and it pains me that we are being robbed of our heritage because of certain individuals. We are the largest ethnic group in the state Igbominas yet we are discrimanted against, Saraki's son is the governor and the daughter is in the NA So the state is a family affair abi Well like i said earlier the generation that will restore Kwara as one of the yoruba states and to her proper position has been born, Watch out,

This issue is very important to a lot kwarans who take pride in the development of kwara state.
Can anyone tell me , since the project began , have we seen result?, have we benefited in anyway yet?,
aren't we kwarans intelligent enough to develop our own land?.My opinion is let us the generation that can
make some kind of change begin to do something right now.our leaders will do what they see fit,wether we
object to it or not ,we need to begin to cultivate our minds to come up with new ideas and new innovations.
We can lament and complain all day about what is not being done and what our leaders are not doing but if we don't
get up and let our voices be heard and actions be known by having something to offer we are going to talk about this topic for a very long time.Our governor meant good but the approach was wrong.It should be to train kwara state
farmers to do what the white men kicked out of Zimbabwe are in kwara to do , educate them to use heavy machinery,teach them about the use of fertilizer. Kwarans are often looked down upon when it comes to education ,but
we are intelligent enough to know that kwara state agricultural sector can feed the whole of Nigeria .

I am a Karen in Diaspora who prides in seeing the state of kwara put on the map again.I want to see the state of kwara known for its unity and development in every sector.We do not need to give away our land , intelligence and our pride to foreigners because they are capitalizing on us like crazy.We need a new way of doing things, i am doing something about this myself guys ,i am coming home to do my part , i will start what will result to a change or make a change.

This pisses me off to no end. Why invite them? in a country of 140 million or more people are you to tell me that we cannot find a single BLACK industrial farmer amongst the lot of us? This is an extremely stupid move. I hope that they don't get the lease renewed once their 25 years is up. Africa's worship of all things white has let its government to hand over their economies to foreign countries and foreigners. I am sorry but whites from southern Africa are not good news. I do not care about how productive they are. They have these inbred sense of racial superiority that will eventually erode and eat away at any society they come in contact with. If these generals don't know how to farm then turn it over to farmers that know what they are doing. Not Rhodesians.

Hmmmm. With the way some are expressing anger here at the "white farmers", I smell the Zimbabwe experience no sooner than later.

Does it mean Nigeria has not started gaining from the "white farmers"?

naijacutee:

A couple of years on, I wonder how this project has progressed so far. Regardless of my earlier selfish post, I think that the initiative to invite experienced (Let us briefly forget their skin colour) farmers to use their experience towards developing the agricultural output of the state is a good one. Obviously, it would be even better if the government was more ethically conscious and local farmers weren't aren't neglected to make way for the new guys. I am not aware if they have done this but local farmers would stand to benefit from some sort of partnership with the white farmers. Be it initiation sessions, mentoring and general business development sessions once in a while - Isn't it a Yoruba proverb that says "A cord of 3 is not easily broken"?. Also, proper integration of the students into the initiative would be greatly beneficial to the state as a whole - especially in increasing productivity, curbing unemployment etc.

I have been following developments in the state and to be honest, the program is a big plus to the state and the country looking forward, local farmers are being trained and regular hold meetings with these farmers, you also have to understand some of them cant benefit as much, because they have no access to finance and equipment these farmers do.
The govt was involved in the last FG fertiliser scheme, apart from the FG discount they gave a further discount to farmers in the state about 15% extra with some local govt adding another 5%
The people of the region enjoy the benefit of govt special attention in the area-apart from 18-20hours of power experienced in the main city, they have new electricity stations and local health centres