VC downplays insecurity, urges farmers back to fields

The Vice Chancellor of Taraba State University, Sunday Bako, has urged farmers to return to their farms, allaying the reported cases of insecurity.

Bako made the remarks while speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing 2025 In-House Research Review of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, held at the institute’s premises, Idi-Ayunre, Ibadan.

The Vice Chancellor urged farmers to return to their farms, especially during this rainy season, to increase food production and make it more accessible to the teeming Nigerian population.

He described their experiences as a phase that would soon pass, saying, “Nigerian farmers will smile again.”

He said, “Nigerian farmers should be very hopeful with the current policies being put in place by the Federal Government. There is hope, and the farmers will smile again.”

The Executive Director of CRIN, Patrick Adebola, had earlier explained that the yearly in-house review was a day set aside to inform the major stakeholders (farmers) in the sector about the institute’s direction for that year.

“The yearly in-house review is a day set aside to tell our major stakeholders, mainly the farmers, the direction of our research. You cannot do research in isolation. You need to involve farmers so that they can tell you where the shoe pinches most, which in turn shapes the direction of our research.

“So, it is very important to call our stakeholders every year, showcase the type of research we want to carry out, so they can contribute and guide us on where our research should focus,” he said.

Adebola lamented that lack of funding was the major challenge affecting research institutes in Nigeria.

He said, “These are economic crops that can transform the Nigerian economy. We know what’s happening now — everybody is shying away from oil, and the only alternative is to return to the land, to go back to the farm. Let’s focus on plantations and crops, which will bring economic benefits, uplift farmers, and transform their livelihoods.”

In his keynote address, the National President of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, Adeola Adegoke, stated that these crops, traditionally viewed as economic commodities, have now emerged as powerful instruments for socio-economic transformation and environmental sustainability.

He spoke on the theme: “Advances in Varietal Development of Cocoa, Kola, Cashew, Coffee and Tea for Sustainable Economic Growth.”

Adegoke, who is also the Global President of the Cocoa Farmers Alliance of Africa, explained that these crops not only enhance rural livelihoods and contribute significantly to Nigeria’s GDP and foreign exchange but also regenerate soils, enhance biodiversity, and build climate resilience.

He said, “These perennial crops, when integrated into agroforestry systems, improve soil structure, increase organic matter, and offer long-term carbon sequestration potential.

“The Nigerian agenda to upscale our cocoa production from the present 280,000–300,000 metric tonnes to 500,000 metric tonnes in the next two years must have led President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council’s approval for the creation of the National Cocoa Management Board.

“This is to establish an institution that will regulate, support, develop, and promote the Nigerian cocoa industry along sustainable practices, without the board being involved in cocoa buying and selling.”