Before the "switch of dependence" on oil, Nigeria's economic mainstay was agriculture. The country was, still is, reach in agricultural produce--enough to carter for the increasing populace--even to reach of her neighbors. Farmers were seen in high esteem and were free to produce and export food products, within and outside the country.
In the sixties, the then regions of the north, west and east were known for the peculiarity of the food items produced. The north was known for producing groundnuts, the west, cocoa and palm products of the east. Each region had farmers who were given free access to carry out their daily activities with beefed-up security. The regions so prospered in agriculture that each alone could self-sufficiently sustain the nation.
The great feat was made possible by the then stable political economy responsible for the wellbeing of farmers through viable empowerment programs and easy access to their apportioned farmlands without being attacked. In fact, the term banditry was alien to Nigerians who lives through the fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties and even nineties.
Sadly, the dent in the security design of the country was subtly erroding the once-free farmers through the nineties. It did not raise eyebrows at the time because most media houses did not necessarily deem it fit to report such stories. Still being seen as alien and unchecked, banditry began to gain cancerous spread across the nation to the point it has become a household name!
Farmers are now at the receiving end of the act. Given the "switch of dependence" on oil, which is currently the mainstay of the economy, farmers were slowly losing their recognition as Nigerians import most of what they consume. The government's complacency towards identifying with farmers who were once prioritized became more pronounced as incessant attacks on them headlined mainstream news and became one of the most talked about issues on Nigeria social media news.
It was done on Nigerians that farmers are being denied access to their farmlands; they are seldom killed by the so-called bandits. Given the collapsing economy whose situation was technically left unattended to and consequently affecting the purchasing power of most Nigerians to import their consumables, the hike in the price of common food items resulting from the inability of farmers to adequately supply food brought serious concerns. For instance, a staple food item whose price was at X, now has the price tag at X+Y.
Banditry gained so much grounds, particularly in the northern part of the country to the point farmers had to pay to gain access to their farmlands! A certain community in Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria, had its residents flee for their lives to neighboring Benin Republic as bandits took over their farmlands and their entire community. Just like the fate of farmers in the north, some farmers died (their bodies mutilated) in the hands of bandits who address themselves as the Myetti Allah and Boko Haram.
Farmers cannot no longer go their farms as they usually do. The prices of food exponentially skyrocket. Leading authorities in the religious, social and political folds are painstakingly calling on the government to address the security challenge but are being silenced either by threatening blackmails, death and even forced to resign.
Nigerian farmers are important. They are the food baskets of the nation. But the nightmare of banditry will not allow them "sleep well" in the light of carrying out that activity. The Nigerian government has to attend to it now before, as an average Nigerian would say in pidgin English, "water goes pass garri"