LG, land reforms required to empower farmers ' Mabogunje

The Chairman of the Board of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Prof. Akinlawon Mabogunje, has said local government and land reforms are required to empower small scale farmers.Mabogunje said this during his 80th birthday celebration and the public presentation of his autobiography A measure of Grace in Abuja, on Thursday.He explained that the structure of the local government was in serious need of rehabilitation because it has all collapsed.The professor of Geography noted that before the local government reform which ushered in the present structure, almost all segments of settlements in Nigeria had a form of leadership structure that worked.He expressed sadness that this had been eroded by the glorification of money.On land reforms, Mabogunje said the government should look at the possibility of giving land titles to farmers to enable them to access bank loans.He said The land of every farmer is his asset. If government should ensure that our farmers have titles to their land, that way, banks will respect them and give them access to funds.Chairman of the occasion and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, cited similarities between the Bible and the Koran as reason enough to stop Nigerians from killing one another.He described the author who comes from Ogun State but was born in Kano State as a detribalised Nigerian who had contributed immensely to the growth and stability of the country.Babangida said, There should be no justification whatsoever, therefore, for any right thinking citizen of this country to take up arms against another fellow citizen.
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