By Garba Ibrahim
Poverty has become an undisputed overwhelming major socioeconomic problem in most countries, especially the developing ones.
In Nigeria, despite its plentiful agricultural resources and oil wealth, poverty is widespread in the country. The population lives below the poverty line, and social services and Infrastructures are limited.
The country’s poor rural men and women depend on agriculture for food and income. About 90 per cent of Nigeria’s food is produced by small-scale farmers who cultivate small plots of land and depend on rainfall.
This has led to an individual approach to address poverty and develop the rural areas according to their specific needs.
In Nasarawa State, the administration of Governor Abdullahi Sule has adopted a multi-dimensional approach to reduce poverty level and create wealth and employment.
The state government has created a rural transformation agency that will help in bringing government closer to the rural areas and increase business activities and deflate insecurity to an appreciable level.
The agencies within a short period of time construct over 600 kilometres of feeder roads and opened up the rural areas to a wide range of activities and reduce the socio economic crimes. The roads also reunited the state to most of its business counterparts across the country.
Traders from Kano, Sokoto and Gombe states now visit the state to buy groundnuts, egusi and yams. People from Abuja now come to Panda, Karu Local Government to buy plantain instead of travelling to far away East.
The most important thing is that the roads are open up in areas where farmers can access markets to sell their produce without depending on middlemen. The road from Angoro to Bassa tackled insecurity and increased activities in Arusu and Amba markets all in Kokona Local Government.
Mararaba-Udege in Nasarawa Local Government tremendously increased the population of the area on daily basis due to people coming from the East. Mararaba to Odu and Udege where farmers troop out with trailers of egusi to nearby markets.
The road from Sisinbaki to Kwarra in Wamba LG hitherto a death trap now made a nylon road takes only 15 minutes to ply instead of the usual one hour.
This has helped in reducing poverty level and domestic criminal elements among the rural communities in the rural areas and connecting them to other communities. The rural roads have created a new lease of life for the rural communities.
Christopher Dakum of Sisinbaki said government has not only wiped out their tears but also reduced their hardship: “Our farm produce would have rotten at home because no road to transport them to the market. But now we have increased business activities”
Gowon Ali of Moro in Akwanga LG said opening up Moro Road brought succour to the farmers. He thanked government for the rural road linking Moro to Gudi:
“The road has helped in bringing comfort to farmers as high-profile business men from the North and the East have turned Nasarawa State to a business hub especially with the relative peace enjoyed in the state.
“Farmers now have high yields of groundnuts, millets, soya beans, maize, sesame seed, egusi, rice and yam.”
In the Jangwa, Awe LG, trailers of food items are transported to the East. Residents testified that the on going construction of the twin bridge along Ribi-Jangwa Road is already having a positive impact on the community.
Government’s rural development programme has linked the farming communities with urban centres, thereby unveiling the hidden potential in agriculture, contributing over 80 per cent of the means of livelihood of the people through cultivation of yam in Assakio, millet, groundnut, maize and other crops.
Nuhu Muhammad a tea seller (Mai Shayi), at the Atsakio-Obi junction said: “The road was in a very bad shape which made it very difficult for people to move to other villages especially during rainy season. With the construction and grading of the road you can see vehicles and people moving freely.”
A pick-up driver, Ibrahim Adamu, said: “We no longer pass through Lafia or other routes. I am happy now because I can pick passengers to Obi and back to Assakio. As a family man, this has improved my income and standard of living.”
Maryam Adamu, a farmer, said: “Before now, we either trekked or got a bicycle to convey us to the farm. Today, there are vehicles that do that.”
Residents of Angwa Bem, a Tiv community where one of the new bridges is located, expressed joy over the completion of the bridge. Their youth leader, Terseh Alanchacha, said the particular area where the bridge was constructed had in the past “swallowed” a trailer with goods and people on board and none came out alive.
He said: “The administration of Sule is a blessing to the community. We can now sell our farm produce on the roadside and make some earnings.”
The Asakio-Obi road which connects more than six villages has made it easy for villagers to transport their goods to the market, access the school and the health centre located along the road.
It is against this background that both the rich and the poor in those communities would benefit from the government rural road development programme.
A media outfit, Alhaqmedia Concepts, observed that the construction of a bridge linking communities in Azara would ease cultivation and harvest of crops and movement of people and goods.
A community leader in Buayi, Namo Abdullah, said of the bridge: “We depend solely on the canoe to convey goods. And our people are suffering because our people either cross the bridge through Buayi or Jangwa.”
Government has also connected Agwade-Shupe-Atabula-Obi. Drainages and short bridges were constructed for residents of Fulani, Tiv, Koro (Miligi), Eggon and Alagos. A resident of lAakyo, Mr Britus Danjuma, testified that the construction of the road has reduced their sufferings:
“As you can see, we are farmers. A lot of our people come here to buy maize, groundnut, millet, and other crops out of Lafia. We want government to build another market where products can be sold instead of traveling to Shabu.”
Other communities that benefited from the road construction included Shabu, Gambo, Dogo Yaro, Sabon Pegi, Samunaka, Doka, Arugababa, Arugbalamu and Lakio.
• Ibrahim of Alhaqmedia Concepts wrote in from Lafia.