jensinmi:

@ Kobojunkie and all
Kindly note that this land on which we stand is our our greatest heritage and the only material legacy we can pass to the generations that come.
It is from this land that they will get their crude oil, their solid minerals, and their water and food.
We must not mortgage our future and that of our children just so that we can have more comfortable lives.

Here's something for you to sink your brain into. Your so-called 'greatest heritage' you have refused to use to even save your own lives. 10's of thousands of Nigerian die each year of malnutrition, of hunger, even with all that land. About 70% of what you consume today comes from farms, land in foreign lands, that are plowed by these foreigners so they can feed you and your family.

jensinmi:

I know that the land may have been sitting idle for decades, and some will say there is nothing wrong for us to give to them.
Please note that the reason it has been idle is because we have not been pushed to the wall. We still have options and plenty of oil money to depend on. It is this laziness for oil money that is causing us to overlook agriculture. A time will come when these things won't be available anymore.

What a rotten excuse to give. How in the world does not pushing you to the wall stop you from farming your own land, your so-called 'greatest heritage'? All you folks like to do is manufacture the most ridiculous of excuses and assume that if it makes sense when you think it, it will make sense to all. No it does not!

jensinmi:

If a tuber of yam starts selling for N1,500, nobody would tell Nigerians before they start investing in Agriculture. My point is that we still have what we consider to be other options that is why we are neglecting this resource. (Ayo lo n pa wa).

Balderdash!! I remember when a tuber of yam (we are talking about 10lbs of it) was still about N50. People swore that if the price went above N100, they would go back to the farms. It is more than 10 times that price today, and still no one is going back to their farms. The latest trend is to look to the highest bidder to sell that farm to. And you want to pretend only when you push Nigerians against some imaginary wall will you get them to move? Gosh dude, we have been pushed further than most and we keep coming up with excuses.

jensinmi:

Once we allow some foreigners to take our land, kindly note that this means that neither I,jensinmi or Kobojunkie's children or grandchildren will ever have the opportunity to participate in agriculture as anything more than glorified serfs (as stated by alpontif).

In essence, it is OK to purchase food from these foreigners but it is not ok to sell them land with which to grow food for us and maybe for others?  

jensinmi:

First it will be the Koreans, later na Saudi Arabia, then U.A.E, then China, and then before we know it, 20 years from now we won't have enough available land to feed our population that may have reached 250 million or more.
What do we do then?? Evict the Chinese?? Do we expect them to go back home without a fight?? Or would it just be easier for them to send their military over to keep us in check.

Again, you already allowed these people in. They already feed you, cloth you, and are propping your country up -- you may not acknowledge it but the day you decide to evict them all, reality will dawn on you then on how much you really depended on them for even the simplest.  

We already mortgaged your future we made the decision to leave our farms-- stop growing our own food, stop mining own resources, and feeding our own people-- and instead felt getting rich quick and paying others to do it for us will be the way for us.  If you need to fix the situation, start by using that which you have to your benefit.

Kobojunkie:

In essence, it is OK to purchase food from these foreigners but it is not ok to sell them land with which to grow food for us and maybe for others?

This is what blows me about the whole situation. So we prefer to actually import food rather than have it grown locally (even if by a foreigner)?

I don't get it. Nigerians don't want to invest in farming, yet they'll also block foreigners who would gladly do so?  I guess we should remain an importer nation forever 

Figure out a way to sign a short term lease of some sort. But the land must be made productive. We have no choice.

A wise man once said

"Never rise to speak till you have something to say; and when you have said it, cease."
- John Witherspoon

I've said all I need to say. We (Jensinmi, kodewrita, kilode??, Ezeuche, alpontif, aigbofa) have sent out our warnings and now, I shall cease with this -


Ekt_bear: Please note where the articles says:

The Korean business executive disclosed that SYNCTOP would buy all agricultural produce generated from the project.

What do you think that means??
They are not producing food for Nigeria.

In Everything we do in Nigeria, we are quick to make reference to USA and UK.

Agricultural land is not something to toy with. Rules and restrictions must be put in place by the Gov for foreign ownership of agricultural land lest the Ekiti state indigenes resort to land grabbing just like is happening in Zimbabwe.  

Rules and restrictions by states in USA
The following states, in addition to those noted below, have some sort of restriction on aliens owning land: California, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina.

Iowa:

A non-resident alien, a foreign government, or business incorporated in a foreign countryor majority owned directly or indirectly by non-resident aliens, may not purchase or acquire agricultural land, with certain exceptions. Agricultural land acquired under the exceptions is subject to reporting requirements.

Minnesota:

Only US citizens, permanent resident aliens, and business entities whose stock and beneficial ownership are at least 80 per cent held by US citizens or permanent resident aliens may own agricultural land.

Missouri:

Non US citizens and businesses in which non-US citizens own a controlling interest may not own agricultural land unless the non-US citizen is a resident in the US No corporation, Missouri or out-of-state, may engage in agriculture after 1975.

North Dakota:

A non-US or non-Canadian citizen who is not a resident alien in the US may not hold agricultural land.

Pennsylvania:

Foreign governments and non-resident non US citizens may not hold more than 100 acres of agricultural land.

South Dakota:

Foreign governments and non-resident, non-US citizens may not hold more than 160 acres of agricultural land. No in or out-of-state corporation may own agricultural land.

Guam, Indiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Wyoming Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Oregon - These states have some limitation on the ownership of real property and preference in the access to - or ownership of land.

Guam:

Alien owned businesses may only own or rent land through Guam corporations.

Indiana:

Limits amount of land held by aliens. Resident and non-resident aliens may acquire real estate but must dispose of any land over 320 acres within five years of acquiring it, or the excess acreage will escheat to the state.

Oklahoma:

Non-US citizens may not own real estate, in the state, with certain exceptions.

South Carolina:

Non-US citizens or corporations controlled by non-US citizens may not hold more than 500 000 acres of land.

Wisconsin:

jensinmi:

Ekt_bear: Please note where the articles says:

What do you think that means??
They are not producing food for Nigeria.

It isn't clear. There are some firms based in the middle belt that buy from middle belt farmers and resell locally. Rice for example is not subsidized in Nigeria. So why not sell locally rather than export? If it were me, I'd be targeting the local market.

Asian Investors, Wellcome to Western Nigeria. more to come.

There is no cause for alarm, one thing I know is that Nigerians are always ready to kill for land, if the Korean investors mess up, they will be seriously dealt with by the people, Ekiti people are even more violent than the average yoruba man, so it is a good investment, the governor just needs to put in place checks and balances, the price that the products will be sold should be negotiated annually, the advantage the Koreans should have is that they will always have first option on the produce, we need private companies to focus on this area, they need to look at the effect of land and water on the global economy.

jensinmi:

A wise man once said
"Never rise to speak till you have something to say; and when you have said it, cease."
- John Witherspoon
I've said all I need to say. We (Jensinmi, kodewrita, kilode??, Ezeuche, alpontif, aigbofa) have sent out our warnings and now, I shall cease with this -
Ekt_bear: Please note where the articles says:
What do you think that means??
They are not producing food for Nigeria.

Newsflash for you and your gang, many of us were on the same side as you all were back some 12 years ago.We were all for Nigerians handling much of the work. However, with the types of leaders we have worshipped and supported over the years, and the many moves to increase our dependence on foreign goods, rather than investing heavily, our oil money, on developing local industry as many other nations have been doing, it is clear that we are not ready to do much of it ourselves.

For pete's sake we are at 98% dependence on imports as we speak. Again, I have to stress this again, much of the fufu, amala, garri, rice, beans, etc, we consume in Nigeria is produced by these foreigners. Our manufacturing industry has been allowed to decay to point that we even import toothpicks from these same foreigners. We already depend heavily on these foreigners. . . they own-- get much of the money we have.

I can't see what the issue is here, I only see people scared of change and afraid their country will be taken over by foreigners. The koreans have said after 3yrs the land, tech, will be handed over to the state.are they the UN to come and provide food for you they are investors did u see where this investment can provide up to 125,000jobs at the end of the 3yrs all we need to do is study their proposal which sounds very ok to me, than remain on the same position because of sentiment on land that most likely is not serving any major purpose now. Kudos fayemi!

Doesn't surprise me. Even American universities are getting in on the act. It is estimated that the total size of land grabbed by foreigners in Africa is now thought to be twice the land size of the UK. source http://www.myweku.com/2011/06/hedge-funds-grab-land-twice-the-size-of-britain-in-africa/

nice 1

wow!,can't believe we are back to precolonialism where a british man decieve our farmer with an umbrella and take his son 2 london as savage. As we getting wiser or more foolish.Can't we invest on our land by ourselves and make profit?,will koreans come all the way from their country without knowing that 90% of the profit will be theirs plus undiscovered treasures?.And now,they know unemployment is our problem and want 2 use it as a weak point. Oh! Nigerians,think like ur enemy and u'll defeat him.

God bless fayemi. . . .for all those against this move. . . U av to start frm ur local govt and start chasing every foreign owned biz out, abi na?

i understand fully all the concerns raised.

but if the govt there is sincere,

1. this is initially for a short term

2. its export oriented, like most want big business to be in nigeria,( all the dependence on oul talk)

AND

3. HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM THE OIL SCENE?

cuz person wey see una dey yarn about landgrab will think nigerians are some of the smartest brightest cookies around. the crude oil na wetin? oil grab?   are nigerians in control of the oil?    IS OIL NOT EVEN SCARCE IN NIGERIA ITSELF?


abeg abeg, if u cannot think of a way to protect your economy and people whilst convincing foriegn wealth and knowhow to invest, then u deserve to be recolonised.  

ITS A DAMN GOOD IDEA, 125, 000 JOBS IN TODAY'S NIGERIA? WITH POSSIBLE TECHNONLOGY AND SKILLS TRANSFER? GREAT DEAL.

if ekiti cannot figure out how to win, too bad, then they should continue wallowing in inderdevelopment.


as for me, i can't wait to see the day other states will bev the focus of migration and not lagos

I do understand the clamour about how we will be exploited by leasing this lands to foreigners, but the major question here is can Nigerian government afford to make adequate provisions for its people when greed and selfishness has thrown most state into the brink of bankrupcy?

What i believe the wisest thing to do, is sit with this peole, and negotiate terms that are beneficial to both parties. Afterall, they have the money to invest and we the land to provide.
If we turn them back, is our government bouyant enough to carry out such plans immediately?
What they should consider is % sharing formula in both produce, employment and security provision. We cant cry thief to foreigners just becos its okay for the locals to continue to rob. Development must come, either by force from the western world, or by realisation by our own people.

I welcome the idea, albeit with alot of caution and protection to the Nigerian economy.

I do understand the clamour about how we will be exploited by leasing this lands to foreigners, but the major question here is can Nigerian government afford to make adequate provisions for its people when greed and selfishness has thrown most state into the brink of bankrupcy?

What i believe the wisest thing to do, is sit with this peole, and negotiate terms that are beneficial to both parties. Afterall, they have the money to invest and we the land to provide.
If we turn them back, is our government bouyant enough to carry out such plans immediately?
What they should consider is % sharing formula in both produce, employment and security provision. We cant cry thief to foreigners just becos its okay for the locals to continue to rob. Development must come, either by force from the western world, or by realisation by our own people.

I welcome the idea, albeit with alot of caution and protection to the Nigerian economy.

wow, I shake my head @ kobo, ekt_bear.
How on earth can you read that article and decide to ignore the flashing red light in the statement credited to the inestors, simply put;
"we will buy all the produce from the farmland, "

WOW! I say to Fayemi, chase these people away with those long traditional brooms for heaven sake! This is not investment, this is about South Korea food security at the expense of the good people of Ekiti.

To say because the land has been left uncultivated for years we should automatically sign off our tommorrow in the name of foriegn investment is absolutely absurd!

What freaky Korean $400million do we need when Bankole has a whoooping $1bn sitting in UBA? I dare say, we do not need ANY foriegn investor in the Agricultural sector.

We have the abilities -technical know how and the skills- to do it ourselves, only for now the political will that is the missing aspect and that we are fixing already with our resolve to have government that listens to US.

I submit, yet again, LAND does not have expiry date and if this generation of leaders sell OUR LAND for greed, I tell you, Zimbabwe will be a demo compared to the 'CLEANSING' that will take place when we begin to recover OUR LAND.

Why can't FAYEMI go to the BANK (say first bank or UBA)and borrow this amount this freaky wiggy rogues korean investors are wanting to use to steal OUR LAND and invest the money in massive agricultural projects.

Better still, draw these koreans closer, study thier model -which they claim is unique- then ve them kicked out, re-model their model and implement it!This is what the Chinese have been doing and Today they are an economic giant.

With Fayemi's claim to be an exopert in democratic studies and governance in Africa, I hope He uses that knowledge to reject this 'greek' gift! This is not the kind of investment we need.

Maybe this should now be a frequent sign at the entrance in every state;
"LAND GRABBERS STAY CLEAR: OUR LAND IS NOT FOR SALE"

God help us!

Omo_Tier1:

wow, I shake my head @ kobo, ekt_bear.
How on earth can you read that article and decide to ignore the flashing red light in the statement credited to the inestors, simply put;
"we will buy all the produce from the farmland, "

WOW! I say to Fayemi, chase these people away with those long traditional brooms for heaven sake! This is not investment, this is about South Korea food security at the expense of the good people of Ekiti.

To say because the land has been left uncultivated for years we should automatically sign off our tommorrow in the name of foriegn investment is absolutely absurd!

What freaky Korean $400million do we need when Bankole has a whoooping $1bn sitting in UBA? I dare say, we do not need ANY foriegn investor in the Agricultural sector.

We have the abilities -technical know how and the skills- to do it ourselves, only for now the political will that is the missing aspect and that we are fixing already with our resolve to have government that listens to US.

I submit, yet again, LAND does not have expiry date and if this generation of leaders sell OUR LAND for greed, I tell you, Zimbabwe will be a demo compared to the 'CLEANSING' that will take place when we begin to recover OUR LAND.

Why can't FAYEMI go to the BANK (say first bank or UBA)and borrow this amount this freaky wiggy rogues korean investors are wanting to use to steal OUR LAND and invest the money in massive agricultural projects.

Better still, draw these koreans closer, study thier model -which they claim is unique- then ve them kicked out, re-model their model and implement it!This is what the Chinese have been doing and Today they are an economic giant.

With Fayemi's claim to be an exopert in democratic studies and governance in Africa, I hope He uses that knowledge to reject this 'greek' gift! This is not the kind of investment we need.

Maybe this should now be a frequent sign at the entrance in every state;
"LAND GRABBERS STAY CLEAR: OUR LAND IS NOT FOR SALE"

God help us!

You Nigerian do not cease to amaze me.

Somebody is coming to invest on your land and they are handling over after three years, and you are crying foul.

Are they taking the land to their country?

Are they not going to pay tax on every profit they make on that investment?

the question really is not about conspiracy or not.it is not about how much money can be made it is really about knowledge,skills and technology transfer.
is that part of the deal.
what about value addition/processing industries will that be local or exported to korea.

ultimately like i have asked elsewhere since nigerians think they are so smart why don't we do this ourselves.
we are talking farming not making IPADS or jet engines. if we can't do this what can we do?.

if are smart we should encourage them to sign deals with state governments,invest and settle. later the FG can step in with export controls that force them to invest in the food proessing sector which is where the money is.

ultimately these guys are not coming out of the goodness of their hearts but if we are smart we should benefit.sadly we don't have a history of handling these deals smartly. last i heard the farmers from Zimbabwe defaulted on the loans guaranteed by kwara state which is now paying. the guys are still on ground cleaning up.

SMART nigerians

dodgy 

actually it is [b]cease [/b]tisha dont tish me nonsense

if you must teach be sure you know what you are talking about to seize is to acquire compulsorily

the other concern about this sort of project in southern nigeria is it will inevitably lead to eradication of forests permanently. the north is better suited to food farming and just need to raise the level of mechanization and other tehnology inputs .in the south we should be planting trees in plantations e.g palm cocoa,rubber, high value wood and other forestry based agriulture NOT cutting down trees

dodgy 

i am not emmatok

lol! 

i am bystander/passerby/onlooker

This is great for Ekiti, Koreans have a long history of doing great things for Africans.  The proposal states:

The proposed transformation of agriculture in the state is expected to generate not less than 25,000 jobs in the first year and help boost farm yield in the state.

wow! 25,000 jobs at the minimum wage, and it will boost the crop yeild too with their technology; Why can't all the education from Ekiti over the years cannot achieve that? Then it goes on to say:

Soo-Moon noted that the project is aimed at poverty eradication, food security and job provision adding that a minimum of 125,000 jobs would be provided under the scheme in four years. 

The Koreans are coming to reduce poverty for people in Ekiti, and create 100,000 jobs in 3 years? Wow, thats what you call an Asian miracle.  I think the people in Ekiti should vote for  Soo-Moon as the next govenor of the state.

He added that the investors would hand over the project to the Ekiti State Government after three years of managing it, explaining further that the scheme is also expected to provide free construction materials as well as tools for rural farmers.

The Korean business executive disclosed that SYNCTOP would buy all agricultural produce generated from the project.

It appears they love people in ekiti so much they want to employ, feed and teach them, whilst creating 125,000 jobs in 4 years – sounds too good to be true lol!

Africans can be quite foolish people. Selling off their land to the highest bidder. What other continent does this? In the Americas, especially in the United States, they protect their local farmers and will not allow foreign investors to purchase arable land in such land grabs.

If you foolish people did not know, arable land is considered an integral part of a nation's security interest. Why can't Africans think for once. This is not about jobs and manufacturing. They are buying land to feed their own nation, not feed our own.

i dey laugh, technology we no dey there, agric we no dey again.

EzeUche!:

Africans can be quite foolish people. Selling off their land to the highest bidder. What other continent does this? In the Americas, especially in the United States, they protect their local farmers and will not allow foreign investors to purchase arable land in such land grabs.

If you foolish did not know, arable land is considered an integral part of a nation's security interest. Why can't Africans think for once. This is not about jobs and manufacturing. They are buying land to feed their own nation, not feed our own.

Exactly! They should go and read up on CAP, the Europeans produce so much food they have to burn it! Since WW2 they have made food security a top priority.  North Koreans are starving and they think South Koreans can boost their Agriculture? If it was electronics or microchips maybe but Agriculture?  What comparative advantage do Africans have apart form mineral resources and land?

right now we need to learn how to farm properly and should pursue that objective urgently.
very painful that when out politicians steal our money they don't invest in projects like this which is really a tiny fraction of what is stolen annually. it is my understanding that output per acre can more than quadruple using modern technology but you need big players in the market with deep pockets to leverage economies of scale.