The Agriculture and Allied Employees Union of Nigeria (AAEUN) and the General Agricultural Workers Union of Ghana on Friday announced a joint commitment to establish a West African Agricultural Union.
?Representatives of the unions told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the establishment of the regional union was to foster food security and to protect the workforce in the agricultural sector in the sub-region.
?Comrade Blessing Oladele, the General Secretary of AAEUN, told NAN that the regional union was long overdue considering the dwindling morale of agricultural workers.
?“It is an urgent call for the sector within the West Africa sub-region to have a common body that will look into the salary structure and field benefits.
?“On hazards allowance, the nature of our job in the area of chemical usage and tractor usage, our interests must be protected across the sub region.”
?Comrade Walter Atiako, a representative of the union in Ghana, said the union in his country was working towards strengthening the sector between the two countries.
?He said that he came to Nigeria in furtherance of a collaboration that existed between the GAWU and its Nigerian counterpart, AAEUN.
?Atiko said that both unions have been collaborating on common issues in the last ten years.
?He said that both unions had been exchanging visits.
“This is a process, so in a nutshell, it’s an exchange programme, we then delve into what they do and we also expose what we do and then as part of it we improve upon the agricultural sector of the sub-region.
?“This is also to proceed as to have a West African Agric Union as my brother just said.
?“As the giants of West Africa, if Ghana and Nigeria should speak on a policy concerning agric in the sub-region. , in fact, it will really have been that they have influenced so many policies in our country Ghana.
?“For instance, we have been able to have the government of Ghana to cut down the importation of poultry products and then rejuvenate the agricultural sector.
?“Come to talk about my counterparts in Nigeria, they now have policies that are being undertaken and accepted by the government to acquire large hectares of land to invest in agriculture and that is a very good thing. ”
?He applauded the policies of both countries aimed at ensuring food security as a top priority in the sub-region.
“You will realise that we need to influence governmental policies to favour our members.
?“Well for instance, the importation or dumping of agric products like poultry products, rice and all these things are dampen the spirit of our members.
“And as a matter of urgency, we should have policies that will get us fully secured when it comes to food in the sub-region.
?“So as part of this collaboration, we will be able to influence governmental policies to favour our members.
?“Also, as an agrarian sub-region, we need to have; and not to push ourselves so much into other things that will not support us.
?“Basically, we are an agrarian economy and for that matter we have to see to it that we sustain our economy. ”
Atiako also advised Ghana and the Nigeria not to depend solely on an oil economy.
?“In order not to be attacked by the death disease of having oil by ignoring our agricultural sector, we are using this platform to speak and advise the government because the oil is something that at a point in time, we will not be having it.
?“We don’t need to be importing food. If you look at the Nigerian economy and the weather in Nigeria, there is no reason for Nigeria to import anything, because with my little experience, I realised that all the kinds of foods that Nigerians need, they have it.
?“They have the land that can produce rice, so why then do we import rice.
?“And you realise that the kind of rice we are importing is not the type of rice we need.
?“We need quality rice, you have rice that have been imported into the country which have spent so many years.
“And that means we are now contributing to the economy of those countries that we import the rice from.”
?According to the two unionists, the establishment of the region agricultural union would embrace all countries in the sub-region.
It would aid improved welfare of agriculture employees and secure members from all forms of hazards in the field, he added.
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