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Remi Tinubu’s Iconic Garden
Fellow Nigerian, as it is said that what meets the eyes also meets the nose, I bring to you in this episode something very important to all of us and the sustained existence of our dear Nigeria. Being typical with Nigerian to blame another and government for his personal failure, the time has come to tell ourselves the truth that we are all responsible for the current hunger in the land. As such, as my secondary school anthem says “once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide”, the time has come for all of us to find a lasting solution to the problem of hunger which we all created in the land. Thought I published a piece on this same issue earlier this month where I suggested the need for Nigeria to revert to the old order when agriculture was Nigeria’s economic mainstay as a panacea to the hunger in the land, this must be re-echoed at least now that we have leadership by example in the First Lady of Nigeria, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu.
As I particuloarly emphasized on home gardening in the article which I titled: “A Journey to Yesterday”, I was glad to see Oluremi Tinubu, two weeks after the release of the article watering a vegetable garden within the Aso Rock Villa as a way of affirming my position on home gardening and by way of encouraging Nigerians to do same. Of course as expected, our social media space was on fire with various people reading different meanings to the action of the first lady particularly the naysayers, but no matter how long lies traveled, truth must catch up with it someday. Therefore, no matter how Nigerians hate the truth, it must be told because our growth is essential at this time.
Nigeria is a country where leaders do not live and lead by example because they believe they are above the law and thus should not associate or do what the common man does. But the action of Oluremi Tinubu tending and watering her vegetable garden where she planted according to her “7 different vegetables”, is an act of leading from the front which is contrary to leadership style in Nigeria. By that action too, apart from pragmatically empathizing with Nigerians on the current hunger in the land, she has demonstrated in practical term, one of the major ways to combat hunger in Nigeria – home garden.
So, in order to successfully entrench the culture of a garden in every home, the first lady earlier this month organized “Every Home A Garden National Competition” as a promotional strategy of the Renewed Hope Initiative of President Tinubu administration. Apart from #EveryHomeAGarden being a competition which is aimed at promoting farming and food production’, the initiative is also expected to bring back the old culture of eating healthy food from the comfort of one’s home.
As I wrote in that first piece, while growing up in the village in the early and late 90s, the only soup ingredients we used to buy were magi, onion and fish. Vegetables, pepper of various kinds, tomato, ginger, biter leaf, okra and others were product of our garden which was also peculiar with many homes around us. Also in many towns and cities in the 90s and across different cultures, gardens existed with fresh vegetables that were accessible for consumption but the reverse is now the case. It is so bad now that those in the villages get their soup ingredients including vegetable from market. Today, it is worst in our towns and cities where every home now enjoys German flooring thereby making all of us market dependent.
Therefore, the garden of our first lady, apart from being symbolic in every way, also presents a message that every home needs at this stage of our history. First, because it took place at the state house (the first house) means every house should reproduce the gesture and plant a garden. Since health is said to be wealth, planting a garden in your home should not have anything to do with your status but rather the well-being of your family (which is primary to every woman) because a garden will definitely give your family fresh food as against the chemicalised food we now consume. According to her:
“This little garden will provide enough healthy vegetable for my household, and I would definitely be able to let some of my staff have them as well. The solution to any problem lies in everyone contributing their own quota to getting that solution. As a leader, I must show example and plant my own garden.”
Since the woman is in charge of food and the best home manager, this I think, is the reason the first lady is starting this campaign with the woman and a competition so that many people will be involved. Women should therefore see it as a way of helping the family to live well because a help for the family is a help for the society. If there is a family that has no reason to farm and yet has access to the best fresh food in Nigeria, it should be Oluremi Tinubu and her family but being the mother of the nation, she has decided to live by example. It is therefore the opinion of this column that women across board emulate this gesture and make Nigeria great again.
Beyond competition therefore, every mother is expected to emulate Oluremi Tinuby by ensuring that she keeps a garden that will at least contain spinach, water leaf, bitter leaf, Ewedu, lemon grass, scent leaf, okra, ugwu, pepper and other peculiar tribal vegetables and basic domestic ingredients that will give her family the very best nature offers which has the ability to taking her and family away from hospital because as the first lady puts which am sure you also know, “Vegetables are medicinal.”
The first ladies of the 36 states of the federation, wives of senators and honourable members of the house of representative, the first ladies of the 775 local governments across Nigeria and the wives of members of the different houses of assemblies across Nigeria should emulate this great gesture together with other elected officers, appointees and every public official. They should know as Oluremi puts that planting a garden is an individual contribution towards ensuring adequate food supply for every home. It will also help to drive home, the federal government‘s food security campaign. As leaders too, they should use this to promote communal living and draw their society together.
Going by the account of Mrs Ebere Mogbo who lamented that her estate chairman stopped her from planting 2000 tubers of yam in her vicinity, it is important to state that moderation is expected in the planting of garden particularly in drawing a boundary between a garden and large scale farming. As well, the maximum cooperation of property owners is highly required for this initiative to work by allowing their tenants to plant gardens. Oluremi Tinubu should look into how this can be addressed. Also, the absence of land should not be an excuse to tenants in the execution of this project because a neighbour of mine currently uses sac to plant yam because of the absence of land. So, bucket and sacs of various degrees can be used to plant different crop at home which is part of the smart gardening women are to embrace.
Another fundamental way to end food crisis in Nigeria is the current plan rolled out by the Ministry of Agriculture under the leadership of Abubakar Kyari which is aimed at crashing food prices within 180 days. As policy making in Nigeria is not usually a problem but implementation, if the rolled out programmes are sincerely and successfully implemented, then hunger will become an orphan in Nigeria.
In this regard, as Mr Adedeji Lukman Lukas urged government on his X handle to come to the rescue of farmers by subsidizing herbicide, insecticide, hybrid seeds and more being a planting season, the suspension of duties, tariffs and taxes for the importation of certain food commodities through land and sea borders and the subjection of imported food commodities to a Recommended Retail Price (RRP) which are parts of the plan, will no doubt address the request of Adedeji Lukman Lukas thereby encouraging and increasing engagement in farming.
With the successful implementation of the above therefore, it is believed that every mother will not depend on any market to prepare a small vegetable soup for her family, the consumption of processed food would reduce, hunger in the land will no longer be a problem of anybody and bread would no longer be beyond the reach of the people. The control of the prices of imported foodstuffs (locally produced food inclusive) would also eliminate food hike.
In the meantime, the Every Home A Garden which is an offspring of the federal government Renewed Hope Initiative is a national competition that invites first time women farmers from across Nigeria to participate. A competitor is therefore expected to plant a garden that must be located within her home and do a 30 Seconds video featuring the details of the garden to the office of the wife of her state governor by the end of the workday on September 25, 2024. The winner will receive ₦25 million.
Olushola Omogbehin a public affairs analyst writes from Abuja FCT Nigeria
