Gombe farmers, govt clash over subsidised fertiliser

Farmers in Gombe State on Wednesday sought the whereabouts of bags of fertiliser donated to them by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to ensure food security.

The farmers claimed that the donated bags of fertilisers were shared among politicians in the state while neglecting the core set of people it was meant for.

Lamenting the non-availability of the fertilisers, the farmers alleged that the farm input was not distributed as directed by the President, with some others insisting that it was handed over to political farmers.

The government, however, debunked the allegation, stating that the donated bags of fertiliser were not shared among political farmers in the state.

It also said there was no case of diversion of the donated farm input as being insinuated.

Governor Muhammadu Yahaya in June 2024 announced during the inauguration of the sales and distribution of subsidised fertiliser to farmers for the 2024 wet season said the Federal Government donated 2,000 tonnes of fertiliser to farmers in the state.

Our correspondent reports that the farmers appealed to the governor to distribute the free fertilisers provided by the Federal Government to farmers across the state, to have a seamless dry season farming.

A rice and maize farmer from Dadin Kowa community, Esther Bitrus,  claimed that only subsidised fertilisers from the state government were sold at N22,000 to farmers in the state.

She said, “I bought my fertilisers because I didn’t enjoy that of the federal and the state governments. So I just made do with the one I could afford.

“But it is not fair that the Federal Government will bring fertilisers for farmers and we won’t enjoy the gesture, especially now that farming has become too expensive for peasants like us.”

Also speaking, a smallholder woman farmer, Sarah Yakubu, decried the neglect of farmers in the state, saying that it would result in food crises and deepen poverty in rural communities.

Yakubu said, “If the fertilisers from the Federal Government can be distributed to farmers in Kano and Nasarawa States at no cost, why will Gombe State be different?”

On his part, Umar Hamisu, a sorghum and wheat farmer, said the 2024 cropping season was the worst for him, as he was unable to buy inputs to carry for farming activities.

Hamisu attributed the reason to the high cost of fertilisers and other agrochemicals and the lack of support from the government.

“We heard that President Tinubu supported farmers in the state with fertilisers, but we didn’t see anything in our villages,” Hamisu lamented.

Aliyu Kashere, who grows grains, said it was particularly painful that farmers who produced food for Gombe and Nigeria were not supported in the state like their colleagues in other places.

Kashere added, “The state government should ensure the distribution of the fertilisers to support farmers during the dry season farming.”

Debunking the allegation, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperatives, Dr Barnabas Malle, said he was yet to get a report that any bag of fertiliser was diverted.

He said the governor envisaged sabotage, so he named a committee with key stakeholders, including security agencies, as members.

Malle said, “The fertilisers were given to real farmers in the state and not political farmers.

“There are political farmers and they were trying to get the fertilisers to enrich their pockets and since they couldn’t, that is why you are hearing this cry.

“Those who wanted to buy and resell for higher prices didn’t get the opportunity because they were denied by the strong mechanism put in by Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, that is why they (farmers) are making this noise.”

The commissioner said 4,000 tonnes of fertilisers were distributed in the state from both the federal and the state governments to support farmers.

“2,000 tonnes were from the Federal Government and were given to farmers through cooperatives while that of the state government was subsidised by 50 per cent and sold to farmers,” Malle added.

When contacted, the Chairman of the Fertiliser Distribution Committee, Mr Abdullahi Jalo, debunked insinuations that the fertilisers were not distributed accurately to targeted farmers.

Jalo noted that although he was the chairman of the same committee in 2023, the fertilisers were shared before his new appointment in 2024.

He said, “You see there is a lot of confusion. I was the chairman last year (2023) and I’m the chairman this year.

“Last year, we distributed a lot of fertilisers during the rainy season. This year, we distributed fertiliser during the rainy season.

“Even before my appointment, the governor has been giving free fertiliser and I believe it’s what the Federal Government provided.

“The governor distributed the fertiliser donated by the Federal Government free. He did that more than four times, even before I came on board.”

When he was asked when Gombe received the 2,000 metric tonnes of fertilisers, Jalo added, “That is the question you should ask the governor, not me.

“Currently, we have distributed fertilisers and we are reconciling our accounts. We distributed the one purchased by the state government to farmers at N22,000 per bag.”