President Bola Tinubu has unveiled a major mechanisation initiative aimed at reshaping Nigeria’s agricultural sector and attracting young people into farming.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday at the launch of the Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme, the President announced the deployment of 2,000 advanced tractors and over 9,000 specialised implements across the country, as part of a broader plan to boost food production and youth employment.
“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,” Tinubu said.
“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.”
The president said the initiative was being rolled out in partnership with international stakeholders, including the government of Belarus, to give Nigerian youths hands-on training in modern agricultural methods and equipment maintenance.
“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,” he said.
He added that Nigeria’s arable land and climate provided a natural advantage, stressing that the government’s target was food sovereignty through year-round cultivation and efficient equipment use.
“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 stated.
President Tinubu further urged beneficiaries to use the equipment responsibly and to remain accountable.
“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 said.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the launch was in line with the President’s directive to use agriculture as a vehicle for economic transformation.
“From the very first day of this administration, Mr. President made it abundantly clear: food security is national security,” Kyari noted.
“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.”
Also speaking, Minister of State for Agriculture, Aliyu Abdullahi, said the country’s current low level of mechanisation would see a significant improvement under the new scheme.
“This particular programme is unique because it was packaged with the intention to bring down the level of low mechanisation in the country,” he said.
“It is clear from what we have seen that at the end of the day, the 0.27 horsepower per hectare that is the current mechanisation level in this country will be transformed to almost 2.5 horsepower per hectare. That is a quantum leap and that is actually a global average.”
