The CTF idea is on the face of it commendable since it appears designed to prevent future tension between the Zimbabweans and their hosts. The idea of a skill-transferring institute is even sounder, for it may ensure that commercial farming becomes not an enclave industry like oil exploration is in Nigeria.

Where the Kwara government will access the promised loans is not clear. But with such a visible, wealth-creating project, it may not be too difficult to secure low-interest capital from the World Bank and other development-focused institutions. With a presidential sanction for the scheme, the Kwara government appears on track to receive the Federal Government’s guarantee to access the needed facilities. It would however make more sense to facilitate any possible loans, instead of getting directly involved in administering such facilities.

But that is the least of the problems with this whole scheme which on paper appears good and sound. There is the lack of total transparency. For instance, the tenure of the leasehold is not clear. So is the actual situation on possible loan facilities. Indeed, beyond the negotiating partners, perhaps no one else can say what is what. This clearly is not good enough.

There is also the problem of whether the Zimbabweans would not offend local culture and sensibilities. It must be remembered that the white farmers were among the most conservative segment of white society in Rhodesia which became Zimbabwe with the achievement of black majority rule in 1980. Their resistance to change and the failure of the British to honour their commitment at the independence negotiations at Lancaster House to help a free Zimbabwe buy back much of the land from the white farmers kept the land issue a hardy perennial and which the Mugabe government has now handled rather clumsily.

The Kwara state government must hope that this adventure would help stimulate modern commercial farming in the state and perhaps beyond. We fear that they may be getting their hopes unduly high. The success of the white farmers in Zimbabwe derived mostly from the fact that agriculture was treated as an industry that was closely nurtured and with all necessary inputs made. Agriculture support services, information on the weather and dangers to crops from insects, etc were readily provided and on time. Infrastructure such as roads, rail, electricity and water was good and fertilisers readily available.

In other words, all the conditions for good harvests were present. Provide even half of such facilities for local farmers and there would have been no need to import the white Zimbabweans. Indeed, the enabling environment for agriculture in Zimbabwe ensured that only a few years after independence black Zimbabwean farmers were producing bumper maize harvests, making the country the region’s food basket.

Beyond all that, it is a terrible shame that 44 years after independence and with all the resources we have, we still believe that outsiders can come and develop our country for us. Talk of low self-esteem and lazy and unimaginative approach to governance. A thousand pities indeed.