Indian hemp boom: food scarcity looms

Emeka Ibemere

South-Western States of Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Oyo States as well as South-South States of Edo and Delta States are in for food scarcity; if the desperate cannabis cultivators and their farm owners in these States are not checked.

For citizens of states like Kebbi, Kwara, Kogi and Benue States, they may no longer retain their ‘Food-basket of the nation’ acronym, which they pride themselves.

This is not because of the highest deforestation rate in these states; and it has nothing to do with the ever increasing turmoil surrounding oil operations in the Niger River Delta, or rampaging flood disasters threatening the farmlands; No! Even, the activities of the militants and Boko Haram in some of these states are not the problem; either.

So what is it?

The new threat is the rising illegal marijuana cultivation in the forests of Nigeria.

Call it marijuana; Cannabis sativa, ‘Indian Hemp’, or Igbo, is a quick-growing and lucrative cash crop, promising hefty profit margins to growers who sell the buds of this psychotropic plant to black-market buyers.

And while the marijuana trade certainly presents legal risks to those involved, it appears to be the risk to biodiversity that is getting high.

An investigation of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has revealed that cash crop farmers in these states are dropping their plantlets for cannabis seeds.

In 2012, The Southwest/Niger Delta Forest Project surveyed nine forest reserves to assess populations of the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan Troglodyte’s ellioti); a chimpanzee subspecies that is considered the most threatened of the four subspecies and is listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List.

During the survey, researchers had a firsthand look at the effects of the marijuana boom. Half of the deforestation occurring in these reserves from 2010 to 2012 appeared to be the result of cannabis cultivation.

The plantations buried inside the womb of thick forests and mangroves harbors acres of marijuana growers, and often burn large patches of land to plant their crops.

Reports say that because the marijuana plants need a full twelve hours of sunlight, the canopy and any competing plants must be removed completely.

It was gathered that habitat is immediately lost and the surrounding forest is weakened by edge-effects and increased foraging pressures from displaced wildlife.

Additionally, crops often receive treatments of chemical fertilizers, herbicide, and pesticides, which can have deleterious effects on the surrounding ecosystem.

“Demand for the marijuana product is soaring,” Rachel Ashegbofe Ikemeh, Coordinator and Principal Investigator of the Southwest/Niger Delta Forest Project, once told mongabay.com.

 “Profits from marijuana crops can come in within 6 - 8 months of planting, fetching 2 - 3 times more money than could be gotten from cultivating other food crop. In an oil-dependent economy, teeming youths will be on the prowl for a means of livelihood.”

According to her, this threat, calls for state governments and land management departments to crack down on all forms of illegal encroachment of forests by enforcing existing policies and removing officials who are aiding or participating with marijuana growers.

“Illegal activities such as unauthorized logging and encroachment by farmers have flourished for years in many of these reserves and in many of these cases, government/forest managers may have looked the other way because it provided a means of livelihood for many of the region’s burgeoning population especially during trying economic times in the country,” Ikemeh was quoted as saying.

Our correspondent’s investigation revealed that a bag of rice cost as low as N10, 000 while a bag of an Indian hemp cost as high as N550, 000, or N350, 000 depending on the type of the cannabis sativa. An Indian hemp farmer waits only for 6 - 8 months of planting and smiled to the banks with two- to three times more money than could be gotten from a farmer who waits for a year or two to harvest other food crops and bank peanuts from his licit farming.

A tuber of yam cost N200 while a wrap of Indian hemp costs N100 to N200, depending on the kilogramme, while a pinch of cocaine costs as high as N10, 000, only. With the boom in illegal drug trafficking, farmers decided to dump their seedlings to weeds and are smiling to their banks.

It would be recalled that last year, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency on arrested a father and his son over alleged possession of 2.65 kilogrammes of cannabis in Jigawa. The NDLEA state Commandant, Malam Ibrahim Abdu told the News Agency of Nigeria in Dutse that the suspects were arrested in Ringim Local Government area of the state.
He said that the father had been arrested and convicted three times on similar offences but only spent few months in prison.
Abdu also said that the suspects were among the top three on the `NDLEA Most Wanted List’ in the state.
According to the commandant, the two suspects had earlier resisted arrest and engaged officers of the agency in physical combat on June 26.
The commandant, however, said that the suspects were arrested at their hide out after a week of intensive surveillance, adding that they would soon be charged to court.

“We await the decision of the High Court on the person that had been brought before it four times, this man was convicted by the court before, but only spent few months in prison.”
Abdu urged the general public to support the agency to rid the state of drug dealers.
“The public must assist the agency by giving us useful information on the operation of these criminals, because they live among them.” As that wasn’t enough, Officials of the NDLEA in Ondo State made a seizure of 24 tons of Cannabis Sativa in the first quarter of this year.
The seizures were made at government forests and black spots in the state.
The State Commander of the Agency, Water Nicholas, who disclosed this while addressing reporters in Akure, said the seizure is higher than what was seized in the first quarter of the last two years
He said In spite of the spirited efforts by the officials of the agency to curb the trend, the seizures have continued unabated
“The latest seizure is alarming. An estimated 24 tons were seized in the first quarter of the year. We have succeeded in sending 60% of those who deal in cannabis in the state.
“60 percent of cannabis dealers have been flushed out of the state and we intend to send more away. We have been able to achieve this through concerted efforts with relevant stakeholders.
“We still need the cooperation of traditional rulers to ensure that Ondo State is rid of cannabis cultivation. Traditional rulers should stop releasing land to Indian hemp cultivators,” he said.
The NDLEA commander said government needs to fund the agency adequately to meet its challenges
“We lack operational vehicles. If not for Ondo State Government that came to our aid with two vehicles we will still be lagging behind.
“We also need adequate funding from the federal government to ensure that we are always in the road to arrest the Indian hemp sellers and cultivators,” he said.
In Oshogbo, Osun State, the operatives of the Agency in 2012 arrested a 29-year-old palm wine tapper and his wife for allegedly cultivating Marijuana on 10 hectares of farm land, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, said in Osun State. The state commander of the agency, Anthonia Ndu, made this known while speaking in Oshogbo.
Mrs. Ndu said the suspects were arrested on the farm situated at Oke Olabede Reserve Forest, near Ikeji-Ile in Oriade Local Government Area of the state on September 11.
She alleged that the suspect’s wife had earlier been convicted and sentenced to two-years in jail in 2011 for trafficking in Indian hemp in Ilesa. “He has been on our wanted list since that time and the agency through its intelligence gathering, located the 10 hectares of cannabis sativa farm at Oke Olabede reserve forest.
“We met the two suspects on the farm and they were arrested before our men destroyed the Indian hemp farm,’’ she said.
Mrs. Ndu disclosed that another 30 hectares of Indian hemp farm was also destroyed on August 5, at Oloro-Arinkinki Forest Reserve in Isokan Local Government Area of the state.
The commander called on the State Government to monitor all the forest reserves across the state to curb the activities of illegal occupants. She observed that cultivation of Indian hemp has been on the rise in the area because culprits have free access to the forest reserves.
According to her, most of the Indian hemp farms discovered in recent times by the agency are in forest reserves.
She reiterated the commitment of the agency towards ending the activities of the Indian hemp cultivators and traffickers in the state. She solicited the assistance of the public, especially hunters, to feed the agency with information to enable it discharge its duties.
The suspect later said that he ventured into the cultivation of Indian hemp to raise money for the burial ceremony of his father in 2013 in Kwale, Delta State.
“I ventured into Indian hemp cultivation because it is not possible to raise enough money through palm wine tapping and farming,” he said. “I also decided to cultivate Indian hemp because it matures within six months and highly profitable.”

Confirming Ikemeh’s fears the Director General of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Mr. Femi Ajayi while delivering lecture on the role of NDLEA in National Security and sustainable development delivered at the Lagos Rotary Business meeting at the Lagos Motor Boat Club Ikoyi, on August 14, 2013 said there are possibility of food shortages in these states following the illegal activities of cannabis plantation farmers.  Femi Ajayi, the guest speaker who incidental comes from one of the states under food threat cried out to all stakeholders in the drug war to help in the fight against illicit drug trafficking and abuse.

Ajayi told his audience, the distinguished members of the Rotary club that his own Ekiti State may witness scarcity of food soon should farmers who have short-changed their cash crops with cannabis and marijuana failed to return to their traditional farming system of planting cash crops instead of ‘weeds of death’.

In his Paper entitled: The Role of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in National Security and Sustainable Development, the Director General said that it is unrealistic for Nigerians, both the government and the governed to expect the NDLEA to remain functional and effective in coping with ever increasing drug control challenges without the assistance of highly influential business men, women, politicians, Reverend, pastors, philanthropists, opinion moulders in Rotary club.

Reading his prepared speech, Ajayi called on the Rotarians to support and partner with the NDLEA in the fight against illicit drug trafficking and abuse.

The DG of the Agency is of the view that with the influence of business tycoons and philanthropists, including opinion moulders and decision makers in the Rotary, they could help in the fight against illicit drugs in country. 

According to Femi, the Agency needs the support of all the stakeholders in the country to weed out drugs from the hands of farmers who are making money at the expense of the future generation of the Nigerian youths threatened daily by drugs.

Femi’s fears are that with the level of cannabis plantations in these states that they are tilting towards being or share pattern of illicit traffic in narcotics with the foreign countries that have been classified as producer/source drug countries.  “Cocaine is usually processed from the coca leaves commonly grown in South American countries like Columbia, Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina, while heroin is processed from opium poppy that is commonly grown in East Asian countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Thailand”, he revealed.

“The transit countries usually consists of developing countries with high level of poverty, weak immigration control and inadequate law enforcement capacities. Some of these transit countries like Morocco, Algeria and Nigeria are also known to be sources of Cannabis Sativa (hemp). In recent times, Africa and particularly West Africa, has become a transit target for drug cartels. On the other hand, the advanced and affluent countries of Western Europe and North America are the consumer countries and the main destination points”. 

According to Ajayi, the lucrative nature of the cultivation of cannabis sativa has led to a situation where hectares of arable farmlands and even forest reserves are being cleared for the illegal cultivation of cannabis.

“Whereas Cannabis sativa was largely restricted to South-Western States of Ondo, Ekiti, Osun and Oyo States as well as South-South States of Edo and Delta States, plantations of cannabis have now been discovered in places like Kebbi, Kwara, Kogi and Benue States, among many other new cannabis-producing States”, he said.

 “As it is, cash crops like cocoa, rubber, kola nut and palm trees as well as food crops such as yam, cassava, coco-yam and cowpea are being displaced by cannabis as farmers prefer to cultivate cannabis sativa because of its high income-yielding potential.  Moreover, youths are abandoning schools and farmers are boycotting the cultivation of food crops and legal cash crops in order to go into the lucrative but illegal business of cultivating and trafficking cannabis sativa”.

He said the prevalence of drug abuse is normally fuelled by a culture of illicit trafficking where narcotic drugs are traded outside the officially approved channels of distribution. He disclosed that licit trade or use of narcotics was based on an annual approval and allocation of the narcotics requirements for nation-states by the INCB, which are satisfied by a chain of accredited international and local distributors and dispensers operating within international and local regulations, that provide the guidelines for distribution and dispensing.

According to Ajayi, a cartel has emerged over the years to undermine the official process of narcotics distribution and exploit the human frailty associated with the craving for such drugs by engaging in illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

“This illicit trade is being facilitated by the establishment of clandestine laboratories across the world to process drugs from their raw state to the finished products and by establishing global trafficking routes to move the drugs from their places of production to areas of consumption”, he stated.

He averred that proceeds of illicit drugs constitute serious threat to security as they are usually applied to promote the criminal interests of drug dealers. Speaking further, he stated that the funds may also be applied to corrupt and compromise law enforcement, judicial and other government officials in order to weaken their capacity to fight crimes and ensure the security of lives and property.

“Proceeds of drug can also be used to acquire political power in order to provide conducive atmosphere for their illicit and criminal activities, and in extreme cases, proceeds of drugs had been deployed to fuel centrifugal sentiments and even promote insurgent activities”, Ajayi quipped.

His investigation, he stated showed that the above examination of the nature and pattern of the twin problems of drug abuse and illicit trafficking is aimed at driving home the extent of these problems in order to enable the agency rationalize the various areas in which they threaten socio-economic development.

“There is no gainsaying the fact that sustainable socio-economic developments agenda will to a large extent be dependent on the youth that are supposed to be provided with the requisite education that will enable them deploy their physical and intellectual capacities for productive purposes. Any threat to this section of the population will therefore constitute a major threat to socio-economic development. It is within this context that we can situate the drug problem in the country. This is further compounded by the nature of threat that drugs pose to industrial safety, as well as the health and sanity of the productive population”.

In another remark, he said, it had also been demonstrated that illicit drug is a major conflict multiplier and source of societal insecurity that constitute major obstacles to investments and general economic development.

“As no reasonable investor will commit his resources in an atmosphere of insecurity and neither can there exist any meaningful economic activity or development. Drug abuse and trafficking are confirmed repellents to foreign investments and tourism. On this basis, the abuse of drugs, illicit trafficking and the resources derived from drugs also constitute a major challenge to our socio-economic development”, Ajayi concluded.

While answering questions on the activities and achievements of the agency since her inception, the NDLEA boss said the successes recorded in the areas of arrests, seizures, prosecution, assets confiscation and general drug control and administration so far has been tremendous.

 He said the Agency had between 1990 when it was established and 2011 arrested a total of 69,119 of which about 4,401 were females, while the rest were males. Within the same period, he said NDLEA recorded a total drug seizure of 2,977,231.202 kilogrammes of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances out of which cocaine accounted for 20,132.485 kilogrammes; heroin 3,058.476 kilogrammes, cannabis 2,937,435.77 kilogrammes while other drugs and psychotropic substances accounted for the balance of 16,604.402 kilogrammes.

In the area of prosecution, the DG stated that the Agency prosecuted about 19,380 cases out of which it won 19,054, losing only 326 cases, leading to the conviction and imprisonment of several drug dealers.

“The Agency maintains the best prosecution record in the country that no government authority or agency at either the federal or state level has matched. Apart from filing the highest number of cases, she has lost only 326 (three hundred and twenty-six) cases between 1990 and 2011, securing a hundred percent prosecution success rate from 2002 to 2005”, the Drug Czar boasted.

“In addition to arrests, seizures and prosecution, the Agency ensured the confiscation and forfeiture of properties of convicted drug dealers worth several millions of naira in cash and other valuable assets. The anti-money laundering and financial investigation activities of the Agency facilitated the arrest and prosecution of some drug barons. Furthermore, these anti-money laundering efforts have complimented those of sister law enforcement agencies”.

He disclosed that between 2006 and September 2007, the Agency transferred 22 money laundering investigations to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as their cases were found not to be connected with proceeds of illicit drug trafficking. According to him, several drug dependent persons have been counselled and rehabilitated by the Agency.

“This is in addition to the drug preventive education and general public enlightenment campaigns that it provided. These are part of the efforts of the Agency to reduce the demand for drugs in Nigeria through the creation of public awareness on the dangers of drug abuse and illicit trafficking”, he explained.

“In this respect, the Agency facilitated the infusion of drug abuse preventive education as part of the school curricular in Nigeria. These efforts have assisted to refocus a considerable number of our youth and enabled them to escape the destructive consequences of drugs”.