From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The Commandant, Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) Jaji, Kaduna State, Air Vice Marshall (AVM) Ebenezer Alade, has said Nigeria needs to ensure food security in order for the country to rise above the socio-economic and political challenges besetting the progress of the country.
He made the disclosure when he led some senior officers, who are members of the Senior Course 44, of the Armed Forces on a study tour of Oyo State to the headquarters of FarmKonnect Agribusiness Nigeria Plc, Ibadan, the state capital, where they were received by a retired Naval Officer, Azeez Oluwole, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the company.
According to him, “Anybody that provides food is a form of security to the country because an hungry man is an angry man. So, when people are angry, they can do a lot that can impact us negatively. So, whoever goes to the extent of ensuring food availability is really moving the country forward from the state.
Alade stated that after the team was briefed by the FarmKonnect on how they have been helping to ensure availability of food in the country, “we have discovered they are doing a great deal of job here.”
The Commandant of AFCSC, who also led the team to a meeting with the state governor, Seyi Makinde, noted that members of the Senior Course 44 came to the state as part of the scheduled your of eight states of in the federation, saying it is an annual ritual programme, and part of the school curriculum, which allows the students to carry out various research across the country.
Security in this era, he said, is beyond human security that requires more of social welfare and human development to reduce crime saying: “We are on a study tour to Oyo State to meet with His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde. I want to appreciate the state for the warm reception as well.
“I want to use this opportunity to appreciate what the governor has been doing, which we are very proud of. And we pray that God will continue to be with you so that the state will continue to progress and enjoy your good works.”
In his address, the Chief Executive Officer of the FarmKonnect, Azeez Oluwole, said: “We hosted some of the students of the Senior Course 44 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji. The Senior Course is a course that is attended by the senior officers in the military, which takes them from just been a manager to becoming a command holder in the Armed Forces.
“So, as part of the training, we have some tours that we called study tours. There will be a group of students into different areas, some of them are currently on the study tour to Lagos, some are in Delta, some are in different parts of the country to see the diversities of security and other things as it affects their work.
“And at the end, they will come together to brainstorm on what they have learnt from different parts of the country, so they can have the overview of the potentials of what the country holds in respect to whatever they have studied.
The theme for this year is: “Understanding Social Economic Development and How It Affects National Security.” So, they came to Ibadan, and considered FarmKonnect as one of the companies that is relevant in Oyo State. This is the Oyo State team, they comprised the Officers from the Nigerian Army, Navy, among others. They want to know what the FarmKonnect is doing, what we are up to and how we have been contributing to the growth and development of the country and we have been able to brief them and show them some potentials in agribusiness.
“And of course, we have been able to tell them our commitment to food security in the state, and that is why we hosted them. They were about 50 people. The representatives of the state government were also here, the Commandant of the College was also here and that is a great pleasure for us at FarmKonnect.”