Meet Senator Binta Garba, The Woman Who Grows What She Eats
A senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, Senator Binta Masi Garba, has called on Nigerians, especially women to give farming a chance.
According to her, she grows what she eats and has plans to go into commercial farming very soon.
Senator Garba, who is one of the front runners for the the position of vice presidential candidate to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in the All Progressives Congress, APC, commended the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, for encouraging Agriculture.
The Adamawa lawmaker, when asked what prompted her into faming said, ”
“I give credit to my parents, especially, my late mum. I remember when we were growing up in the Barrack, she said for every available space we have, we should make use of it optimally and that’s why we started planting vegetables, tomatoes and peppers way back in 1975. She also made us understand that it’s important you grow what you eat.
“The policy of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, encouraging agriculture is also a factor. I felt, if I can get a little land, I can grow what I eat. That is why any little space I have internally or externally, I utilize it. This place was clearly like a refuse dump and all that we did was to clear it to make it what it is today.
There is nothing as good as waking up one day and you feel like eating something fresh and you just walk into your farm and get them. I can’t remember the last time I bought vegetables in the market. As a politician, I believe Nigeria is blessed and we can use the little space we have to grow what we eat.”
She said she has people working in the farm when asked how she combines her work as a politician, a lawmaker and a Reverend with farming.
“I have people in the house working in the farm and I believe that if you can eat food in the house then, you should also be part of the farming process. I’m one person that believes that you should not be idle. If you are not at work, find something to do. It is a dangerous thing to have an idle mind.
“I think last year we got about 28 bags of maize, 18 bags of beans and we got about 10 bags of groundnut and about 500 tubers of yam. For sometime now, I’ve never gone to the market to look for maize and some of the things I grow in my farm.”
Senator Garba said she learned how to be industrious from her mother. To her, a woman should not be idle because being idle is a dangerous thing.
She further said apart from being a mother, wife, worker, every woman should be a farmer.
“The credit goes to my late mother who taught me that as a woman, you must be industrious and most importantly, you must be a farmer because sometimes, you might not have the money and you feel like eating certain things.
The senator said, “This year, I want to see, if I can plant onions in a little corner to see, if it will grow.
“As a woman, I strongly believe that we should not be idle. No woman born on earth is an idle woman. A woman should be multi-tasking and being multi-tasking, you are a mother, a wife, a worker, businesswoman or civil servant.
“Are Nigerian women ripe enough to hold sensistive position, my answer will be yes!
Unfortunately, culture and religious sentiment is putting us behind. The question I often ask is, why do you then send us to school, if we can aspire to get to certain position after studying in the classroom with the male counterpart. When it is time to attain certain leadership position, we refused to be accommodated. Something is definitely wrong somewhere. We are not fighting to be like the men but I believe we can come together and see how we can salvage the country.”
