I’m ready to serve, says Mohammed Babangida – Report, July 22, 2025
High fertiliser cost: farmers dump rice, maize cultivation – Daily Trust, July 21, 2025
Over 3.7 million people face food insecurity in North-east Nigeria – ICRC, July 22, 2025
There was never a doubt in my mind that Mohammed Babangida would accept the appointment to be the Chairman of the Bank of Agriculture, BOA – despite the attempt by various individuals and groups in the social media to deceive the public and sow seeds of discord when and where it is not warranted.
There was never any doubt in my mind that he would step up and face the challenges head on. The blowback resulting from the appointment was also expected. It provided another opportunity for IBB haters to join hands with those who are opposed to any step taken by President Bola Tinubu. Understandably, this is political season; I have no issues joining those who are opposed to the appointment for all sorts of reasons. My focus is on the role of the bank and how Mohammed will manage one of the most important assignments in any government. Food first.
Anybody who has ever met Mohammed more than once and in various settings with his father would know that he is a young but deep library on governance in Nigeria. Only God knows how many times he had been present when current and past leaders of Nigeria visited his father General Ibrahim Babangida, IBB. He had for years been his father’s closest adviser on every matter imaginable. Certainly, he comes to the hot seat with two eyes open and full awareness of the challenges ahead at a time when the challenges just multiplied.
When the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC announced that 3.7 million fellow Nigerians in the North-east are in danger of food insecurity, it left it to other global and local institutions to tell us how many Nigerians are imperiled. Estimates range from 24 to 35 millions. Bearing in mind the adage that a “hungry man is an angry man” and mass anger is socially disruptive, then, we can begin to understand the burden that the young man has been called to carry. This is not a summer holiday but a Herculean task – which has just been made worse by the Daily Trust report about farmers switching from rice to maize on account of high cost of inputs.
Moving from crisis to calamity
“There may be another food security crisis in the country due to the high cost of fertilizer.
Farmers and their associations, who spoke to Daily Trust, said the cost of fertiliser is not within their reach.
This is despite the recent claim by the federal government that it had distributed fertilisers free of charge to farmers nationwide to support cultivation and improve yields.” Daily Trust July 21, 2025.
I have quoted the first paragraphs fully in order to alert all Nigerians – especially government officials to the impending food catastrophe. While the Federal Government claims to have spent N200 billion to distribute fertilisers and other inputs, the distribution has not reached the grassroots. Consequently, farmers have substituted various other crops, not needing much fertilizer, instead of rice and maize. Readers might be wondering why the shift from rice and maize to cassava, millet, sorghum, groundnut etc should be regarded as a move in the wrong direction. Let me explain from domestic and global experience.
Three most cultivated grains globally
“The most cultivated grains globally are wheat, rice and maize (corn). These three grains are the most important food crops, providing more than half of the calories consumed by humans worldwide.” Google AI-generated information.
Long before Google and Artificial Intelligence, I had known the wheat was king; that bread is the staff of life. Nigeria suffers a comparative disadvantage because wheat is a temperate zone crop. But, we had neglected to capitalise on our strength with respect to corn and rice which are better suited to tropical zones. Our national attempts to ensure that the country is self-sufficient in rice and maize have always been haphazard, unsustained and ineffective.
My personal experience with rice, working and living in Sokoto, was an eye opener. Most Nigerians are unaware that the International Rice Research Institute, IRRI, once had a global unit at Badeggi, Niger State – in addition to other tropical nations identified as having the potential, not only to be self-sufficient in rice production, but to be exporters as well. Today, of all the countries where IRRI established research centres, Nigeria was the only rice research centre closed on account of the Abacha government’s failure to pay its counterpart funding subventions and Nigeria is also the only rice importer. Something is definitely wrong with us.
The recent flurry of activities by the federal government, in the past ten years, which are emblematic of the fire brigade approach to food security, lack coherence, determination and consistency. Buhari spent most of his eight years implementing the failed and discredited Anchor Borrowers Programme, ABP, which attempted to ensure self-sufficiency in twelve crops. That was a fatal mistake. The countries which have become net food exporters invariably focus on two or three crops at a time and achieve surplus in those crops before going on to something else. Nigeria has achieved surplus only in cassava because Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan championed it. Unfortunately, cassava is not among the big three crops which provide food for people worldwide.
The move away from rice and maize this year by Nigerian farmers this year could not have come at a worse time. Under normal circumstances, you harvest what you plant. You cannot plant vegetables and expect a bumper harvest of maize. Thus, it is clear that rice and maize harvests will decline on account of substitution alone. Another factor that will negatively impact yield is fertilizer usage. The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari’s announcement that “The Ministry has invested over N200 billion in terms of intervention amounts to a drop of water in a desert. Given almost 100 million small scale farmers, that translates to N2000 per farmer. It is too little and will not solve the problem of food scarcity. We need a lot more.
Bank of Agriculture to the rescue
“The banks and governments only help those who don’t need it. The ones who need it get no loans, no advice, not even a simple guide on how to start.”Ibrahim Okhai, 1980s.The Japanese economist made the observation when his country was the leading manufacturer in the world – while warning about the neglect of agriculture.
Today, Japan has been supplanted by China and India as leading manufacturing countries. It is now learning how to be food self-sufficient with an aging population.
Nigeria made the wrong turn on the road when we lost our sense to the lure of crude oil. Our farmers need well-structured and secure loans. The challenge for Mohammed Babangida is to bring youthful energy and fresh ideas to make BOA work for Nigerians. It would not be easy.
