38 Oguntade Street,
Adenrele Village,
Abeokuta,
Ogun State.
16th May. 2002.
The Honourable
Representative of Adenrele Constituency,
Ogun State House of Assembly,
Abeokuta.
Dear Sir,
ESCALATING PRICES OF FOODSTUFFS IN ADENRELE VILLAGE
I am writing to bring to your notice the public outcry against the escalating prices of foodstuffs in Adenrele area of the state which as you know, represents one of the important areas in your constituency. The residents of Adenrele have been complaining bitterly in the recent time, about the increase in the prices of foodstuffs in our area.
Many families can no longer feed adequately as a result of the increase in the prices of these food-stuffs. They are indeed groaning under the heavy yoke of outrageous prices of foodstuffs which just skyrocketed recently.
Sir, this ugly development is caused by some factors. The first factor is that many young farmers have abandoned the farms as no young person wants to take to farming again. This has resulted into the drift from the rural area to the cities. Agriculture is no longer attractive to young men and women as they prefer to look for white collar jobs instead of taking to farming. Therefore, those that are left in the farm are old men and women and they practise agriculture reluctantly because they could not get white collar jobs.
Secondly, the small number of farmers we have in the area practise subsistence agriculture that could only take care of their families. There are no large scale farmers in the state, despite the fact that we have a wide expanse of land which is good for farming.
Another reason for the astronomical increase in prices of foodstuffs is that the few farmers we have lack good and adequate farming equipment. Our farmers still practise agriculture with old and obsolete farm implements which reduce farming into a worthless drudgery.
I believe however that farming could still be made attractive to the youths of the area as a way of improving the situation. The drift of young men and women into our urban centers could be reduced drastically, if farming is being made attractive by providing adequate farming equipment to our farmers. As our representative, you could use your good office to influence government's attitude to farming. If our farmers are provided with modern implements like tractors and plough, Adenrele Local Government could become the food basket of the state.
Secondly, the state government should go into large scale farming. The state government cannot claim that it has no money to fund large scale farming. The government should acquire a large expanse of land for large scale farming where food will be produced.
I would be grateful if you could give the issue raised in this letter the utmost attention it deserves in order to stem n the public outcry against escalating prices of foodstuffs in our area.
Yours faithfully,
(signature)
Oluwole Abiala O.