President Bola Tinubu on Monday said that the Federal Governemnt was working with international partners to empower young Nigerians with skills in modern agriculture for financial self-dependence and to improve food security.
Tinubu stated this during the launch of the Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme in Abuja on Monday where he also inaugurated 2,000 advanced tractors and over 9,000 specialised farm implements.
He said the reforms being introduced by his administration were aimed at making farming more attractive to young Nigerians.
“We have here over 2,000 advanced tractors, 50 industrial-grade land preparation bulldozers, 12 fully equipped mobile workshops, and 9,000-plus specialised farming implements.
“This equipment, when deployed will empower mechanisation and service providers, create job opportunities, and make farming easy and more sexy for our young ones.
“You don’t have to use an 18th-century method for a 21st-century agricultural farming implement,” he said.
He explained that his administration’s strategy encompassed year-round cultivation, drastically reducing Nigeria’s seasonal shortages.
Tinubu said, “We have friends across the world. We have Belarus committed to a programme that will empower our youths, teach them how to do things, get them off the street, empower them in technology, review mechanisation, and empower them in machine repairs and fabrication.
“The allocation of this equipment throughout the country will do a lot. Given our nation’s arable land and favourable climate that we have, we must seize the opportunity to achieve complete agricultural independence and food sovereignty.”
He urged all stakeholders receiving this equipment to deploy them with maximum efficiency.
“We will work with you; we will supervise you at various locations and we will hold you accountable.
“Let history record this day as the beginning of Nigeria’s agricultural renaissance where modern technology meets our farmers’ legendary resilience to create unprecedented prosperity,” he added.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the scheme followed the President’s directive for urgent and innovative action, placing agriculture firmly within the renewed hope agenda initiative as a tool for economic revival, job creation, and social stability.
He said the equipment would redefine Nigeria’s agricultural landscape.
“From the very first day of this administration, Mr. President made it abundantly clear: food security is national security.
“It is fulfilling to mention that with the unflinching support of Mr. President’s renewed hope agenda on mechanisation, four far-reaching mechanisation initiatives were instituted under this administration. These include the John Deere Tractorisation Programme, the Greener Hope Project, the Green Imperative Programme, and what we are launching today, the Belarus Project.
The Minister of State For Agriculture, Aliyu Abdullahi, said the 0.27 horsepower per hectre, which he said was the current mechanisation level in the country, would be transformed to almost 2.5 horsepower per hectre with the mechanised scheme.
The minister said, “This particular programme is unique because it was packaged with the intention to bring down the level of low mechanisation in the country.
“It is clear from what we have seen that at the end of the day, the 0.27 horsepower per hectre that is the current mechanisation level in this country will be transformed to almost 2.5 horsepower per hectre. That is a quantum leap and that is actually a global average.”
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