Is Agbado on trial? A stranger to Nigerian political constructs may think that it is a serial killer on the loose. In fact, it has become one of the most noised words in this election season. If it is not sprinkled into any political conversation like a smorgasbord of veggies, it is chopped up and spiced into snooty memes.
What is it about agbado, by the way?
When Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said Nigerians would not have to import food because Agbado, Cassava, Ewa and Garri are produced locally, I believe he did not expect his candid intervention on food sufficiency for Nigeria to be the fodder for uppity memes.
To everyday Nigerians, Agbado is a staple food, which they live on, but to this stuck-up class, it is not sexy. They would rather like to have conversations on pizza, burger, lasagne, and all other acquired foreign junk.
In a country where people struggle to feed, it is a show of synoptic ignorance to mock agbado, cassava, ewa and dodo. These are Nigerian staple foods. In policymaking, addressing hunger is pivotal. Governments have fallen over scarcity and high cost of bread. Foodology is at the nucleus of existence.
Over the years, Nigerian Governments have designed different policies to ensure food security for the country. In fact, agriculture has been a centre-piece of Nigeria’s policy thrust since the 1960s.
The country’s agriculture blueprint includes policies grounded in surplus extraction and export adaptation in 1963; the National Accelerated Food Production Programme (NAAP) in 1972 by the General Yakubu Gowon-led government; Operation Feed the Nation in 1976 by General Olusegun Obasanjo’s government; a Green Revolution in 1980 by the Shehu Shagari Administration; Goodluck Jonathan’s Growth Enhancement Scheme, which revolutionised Nigeria’s agriculture value chains under the then Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina; and President Muhammadu Buhari’s more recent follow-up on rice production as a centre-piece of economic growth.
Agriculture provides employment for 35 percent of Nigeria’s population, according to the World Bank. It is a principal contributor to the local economy. Nigeria is blessed with about 70.8m hectares of arable land, but the country is yet to actualise its full potential in agriculture. So, it makes sense that a presidential candidate is speaking on Nigeria’s food security with some gravitas.
Any government that fails to plan on agriculture and food security will have a crisis in its hands.
A bit on agbado. Nigeria’s maize production was at its highest, since 1960, in 2021, according to the US Department of Agriculture. The rise was due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s halting of forex for maize importation. Maize is a cash crop, a raw material for lots of our products. In processed form, it is consumed like pap, cornflakes, custard, etc. And about 60 percent of agbado produced in the country is used as poultry feed.
Agbado is considered as the most consumed staple food in Nigeria. According to Babbangona (an NGO which specialises in agriculture), an IITA Nigeria Food Consumption and Nutrition Survey conducted in 2003 showed that it is the most consumed staple food in about 20 per cent of households, followed by cassava – 16.5 per cent, rice – 11.9 per cent and cowpea grain – 11.8 per cent.
Also, it said that agriculture contributed 22.35 percent of Nigeria’s total GDP between January and March 2021, increasing nearly one percentage point over the same period in 2020. Agbado alone accounts for 5.88 percent of Nigeria’s agricultural GDP.
Nigeria is the largest producer of agbado in Africa, with over 33 million tons, followed by South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia. So, why would anyone mock this elixir of the masses? Mocking agbado or anyone speaking on its pride of place is tantamount to mocking millions of Nigeria who live on the staple food.
Beyond being a favourite snack, it has morphed into some sort of political identity. Post a photo of yourself snacking on roast corn on social media and you will be summarily sentenced as a supporter of Tinubu.
The supporters and admirers of the Jagaban of Borgu are now identified by what they choose to snack on. If you share a photo of yourself masticating agbado, then you must be a Tinubu boy. Such interesting times. Well, it is a good badge to wear. Agbado is a healthy snack and a nutritious one, too.
Coincidentally, it is the symbol of one of the parties (ANPP), which merged with the ACN, ANPP and CPC to form the APC. So, it is all in order.
Identifying with Agbado is nothing to be mortified about. It rings a bell for the masses. It represents food on their table and escape from the quotidian realm of hunger.
We must talk about feeding the nation.
•Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist.
About the Author
