…Speech Delivered by Dr. Debo Akande on the 86th Birthday of H.R.M Oba Murtala Adebayo Akande (MFR) and 18th anniversary of Splash 105.5 FM, Ibadan on the 22nd of July, 2022 at the Alumni Hall, University of Ibadan.
I am humbled and delighted to be here today to celebrate our father, His Royal Majesty the Ekarun Olubadan of Ibadan land, Baba Bayo Akande (eeeepe fun wa), and to deliver the 18th anniversary lecture at this epic occasion in this great citadel of education.
I wish to thank everybody present here today, both physically and virtually, for their participation. Your presence shows that you share a deep interest and commitment to development discourse around the renaissance of agricultural industrialization and national development.
We chose a lecture topic that resonates strongly with our country’s existential situation. For several decades, we have struggled to develop a nation consistently focused on economic development and growth. I am deliberate in using both economic growth and development separately; I will elaborate more on why this is important.
In this part of the world and in our day-to-day use, even among policymakers, we erroneously interchangeably use both economic growth and development as one area of discourse, and this reflects even in decision-making in our country.
Although both are very related, they are distinct concepts. Economic growth focuses on the quantitative increase in a country’s production of goods and services, often measured by GDP. Economic development broadly implies improvement in the overall well-being of a population, the standard of living, quality of life, and progressive changes in the country’s socio-economic structure.
Our narrative as a nation has been that of one that has struggled with a systematic and consistent economic growth strategy and inability to translate any economic growth that has occurred in history into economic development. Poverty reduction, which is one of the primary goals and measurements of economic development, is a major paradox to economic growth in Nigeria. The poverty and economic growth paradox in Nigeria is not new. During most of the periods that Nigeria’s economy was growing, the poverty level was also high.
Between the late 1970s and 1990, Nigeria’s poverty level, which was already 27%, subsequently jumped to 46% in 1996, and it currently stands at 40.1%. Nigeria represents 10% of the total world extreme poverty. If we compare Nigeria to a country like Indonesia, it is rather the opposite of what we are experiencing in Nigeria. During the same period, Indonesia’s economy was growing consistently at an average of 3%, and they were able to reduce poverty by 20-30%. In the 1990s, through cotton to garment industrialization, Indonesia created more than 100,000 new jobs within the garment industry and not on the farm.
Indonesia’s poverty level is currently 8.5%. Its per capita national income rose from $200 in 1965 to close to $5,000 today, while Nigeria’s is around $800. Today, more than 50% of Indonesia’s exports are manufactured goods; in contrast, Nigeria’s manufacturing contribution has never risen above 10%.
So, how did this nation with so many similar indicators as Nigeria do it? What did they do differently from us? Primarily through what the academics refer to as sectoral sequencing, development is generally achieved through robust agricultural development, industrialization of the Agricultural sector, and expansion to other industrial sectors, especially for the economy with agrarian and agricultural comparative advantages, even those that are not agrarian driven economy eventually focuse on reverse sequencing development that priorities agricultural industrialization as being embarked on by UAE recently.
So let me delve a little into the historical context of our agricultural sector in Nigeria, and we will see the missing link—or, as my boss (HE Makinde) will say, we made a curve that created the limitation in harnessing our agricultural sector for our national economic development.
How did we get it wrong? Where did we get it wrong
Colonial and Independent: As early as 1950, towards 1960, the classical development economics theory and agricultural growth were seen as the key pillars of our economic and national development (FAO 2010,5).
The assumption during the period was that diverse surpluses from the agricultural sectors, such as labour, lower food prices, foreign exchange earned by agricultural exports, or forced savings on agriculture, were transferable from the agricultural sector to industrialisation. But industrialisation where?
Most policies during the colonial period were focused on issues that were of paramount importance to the colonialist rather than for the country, with the encouragement of output growth to satisfy the demand for raw materials in Britain.
The primary emphasis was placed on a policy that strengthened forest matters, which is of paramount importance to the Colonialists, and there was less emphasis on food and animal production, which would be crucial for the local community. Iwuchukwu and Igbokwe (2012,11) noted that the impact of the policy was reflected in the fact that during this period, until the end of the colonial era in the early 1960s, there was only one documented agricultural scheme termed “Farm Settlement Scheme” that evolved in Nigeria. The British established plantation-style farm settlements focused on cultivating cash crops like cocoa and oil palm. These settlements were designed to generate revenue for the colonial administration through taxation of agricultural products and exports.
There was limited private sector involvement, which was partly due to perceptions about the capacity and capability of the private sector to drive the growth agenda of the agricultural sector. The private sector was generally considered weak to take on the task, with the lack of organisational capacity, access to capital and human resources, and incentives to make large, risky, and unattractive investments in the rural areas (Lundy 2002, 2; Dorward et al., 2019,14).
The state’s intervention during this period generally focused on price intervention (through input and finance subsidies and produce price stabilisation and support) and organisational intervention (through parastatal, state-sponsored cooperatives, and agricultural finance organisations) (Dorward et al., 2019,14).
The first missing link: The very high involvement of the states during this period and the lack of consideration for the private sector’s involvement along the agricultural value chain, limited the implementation and did not allow for the approach’s sustainability, as most States’ machinery in the developing region became inefficient during this period. Political interest overshadowed national development interest.
Between 1947 and 1954, the four marketing boards in Nigeria mobilised nearly 120-million-pound sterling, over 100-million-pound sterling (net) of which has been realised as trading profits in the four commodities (Cocoa, Palm, Groundnut and Rubber), while the import duties accounted for only 93.5-million-pound sterling and export duties totalled only 56.7-million-pound sterling in revenue (Helleiner 1964, 584) within the same period.
The accumulated fund from this period until the mid-1950s was used for agricultural development projects and the construction of roads for market access. The fund was also used for research and development of key crops for improved production, distribution of improved varieties of seeds, stores, and cooperative marketing schemes (Helleiner 1964, 594).
Second missing link: Our focus was on the export of raw commodities, small-scale processing of agricultural products, both for local consumption and exports, development of structured commercial agriculture for exportable raw commodities, and fragmented systems for our food systems.
There was, however, a shift in the approach from commodity-specific to regional-specific operations from 1954 onwards. The marketing boards were separated based on the different regions where they were produced in Nigeria. The separation was influenced by the Nigerian constitutional review of 1954, and the 1957 Constitution that followed, where the British colonialists gradually devolved sovereignty in Nigeria to Regional Governments, and extra power was vested in the Regional Governments. As a result of the changes, each regional marketing board took over the responsibilities of handling the exporting of all products within its region.
The regionalisation of the marketing board brought a decline in barter regarding trade and a reduction in the exporting prospects. Between 1954 and 1961, the total accumulated revenue of the marketing board was less than one-quarter of the size of the aggregated trading profits of the previous seven years (Helleiner 1964, 585).
This decline came because the marketing board’s primary objective shifted under regionalisation from ensuring price stability and subsidising agriculture to supporting infrastructural building in a different region.
Third missing link: The infrastructural development during this period was urban-biased, and this became worse as the nation eventually focused and channelled all its energy to Oil exploration to the neglect of the agricultural sector.
Independence to the 70s: From Independence, the focus of Nigeria’s government policy shifted from the extraction policy of the colonial era to export-led growth and import-substitution policy for industrialization. This policy was put in place to replace the foreign importation of domestic goods and increase the local citizen participation in the engagement of employment in diverse areas across the value chains, in the production of goods and services for domestic needs.
This policy influenced several interventions on poverty alleviation and rural development in Nigeria. Some of these interventions include the National Accelerated Food Production Program in 1972; Operation Feed the Nation (0PFN) in 1976, which was launched to bring about food sufficiency in the country through the involvement of all citizens; provision of input by the Government and making use of all available lands in the rural and urban areas for agricultural purposes. Other interventions include the River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs); this was established in 1976 to boost economic growth through the development of irrigation and rural infrastructures. And the Green Revolution Program (GRP) was created in 1979 to support the increase in production of raw materials for food self-sufficiency and export ( Ayoola, 2001; Iwuchukwu and Igbokwe, 2012,13).
Fourth missing link: The policy and these programs had an impact on the seasonal increases in agricultural output during the period. However, the value chains in agriculture were handled in isolation, with little attention to comprehensive and holistic management of rural agriculture along with its value chains and minimal focus on industrial agriculture.
1970-1990s: By the 1980’s Government and public-sector dominated approach of the 1960s and ’70s came under criticism because of their poor performance. It was only able to cater for a small number of the population in Nigeria, even when the country was not as densely populated. Dorward et al. (2005, 80) noted that during this period, large Government expenditure in Nigeria did not lead to significant development. In an ODI report (2006, 7), by 1982, structural adjustment was introduced to most of the developing countries as part of the global economic agenda. The use of agriculture as an instrument of development was relegated in favour of other approaches to development like open economy industrialization to accelerate growth and cash transfer or workfare programs to reduce poverty, focus on macro fundamentals and promote the role of markets force as against the sectoral policies under the import substitution industrialization (De’Janvry 2010,17).
Most of the existing State-led support collapsed under SAP, and the Governments reduced public expenditure and support for public services.
Fifth missing link: The shift in policy and practice under SAP created a substantial institutional and infrastructural support gap for agriculture, generally in the developing region (De’janvry 2010, 32).
Nevertheless, some countries in SSA went back to engaging in some forms of state-led approaches after the implementation of SAP due to the alluded failure of the market approach under SAP.
Where we are
Overall and in general, while there have been efforts at times through accidental means, Nigeria has rarely been deliberate with its policy, program, and finance regarding the industrialization of its agricultural sector; rather, we have been strongly focused on developing the agricultural sector for the exportation of raw commodities and support for food security.
I have heard statements like, “Agriculture accounts for a substantial 25% of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)”. The measure of the growth of countries should not just be GDP. Nobody eats GDP…. Akinwunmi Adesina. How does your GDP translate to economic development?
In Q4 2024, Nigeria’s agricultural exports were valued at N1.54 trillion; however, they were primarily from raw commodities and not a single major processed product. Superior-quality cocoa beans were the largest agricultural export, contributing N836.2 billion, followed by standard-quality cocoa beans (N269.3 billion) and sesame seeds (N202.9 billion).
We also say agriculture provides employment for approximately 48% of the labor force in Nigeria.” What kind of labor force? Those who have been entrenched in poverty for decades. The sub-regions of this country where they have prided themselves in the highest labor force in Nigeria are the same regions consistently with high percentages and number of poverty consistently for decades. In the North East and North West, wage jobs account for less than 10 per cent of total employment, while almost two-thirds of the population remain in farming (WB 2016,73). This is the same region with the highest poverty rate. I’ll be concerned with such a labor force.
The majority of the players in our agricultural sector are smallholder farmers with an average of 0.5-2 hectares of Land (FAO). I agree with this figure because I also collected data from over 45,000 farmers in five years using GPS, and the average size we got was 0.76 hectares per farmer. These farmers are on fragmented land and are mostly above 67 years old on average.
Brazil, a developing nation with many similarities to Nigeria, has less than 10% of its 215 million people in agriculture. In comparison, Nigeria has over 37% of its 218 million people in agriculture. Yet in Brazil, production growth has exceeded growth in domestic consumer demand, leaving surplus production for more exports. The value of Brazil’s agricultural exports in 2022 reached $125 billion, with close to 72% of processed foods derived through the industrialization of their agricultural sector.
What should we be doing ?
A DELIBERATE Agro-industrial policy, strategy, and program: The deliberate action will require a strong policy drive, leadership that is not just short-term driven alone, but understands it as a value-chain and from an Agribusiness perspective. Creating a strategy to harness the potential at the downstream, midstream, and upstream of agriculture, rather than the past focus on the upstream (production of raw commodities for consumption and production for export). The initial approach was a focus on the involvement of the private sectors in the marketing of goods produced primarily for export, rather than the participation of the private sectors in the production and processing of the agricultural commodities (NEPAD 2013, 29)
Deliberate and well-channeled agro-industry financing: The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) focuses on boosting agricultural investment and productivity to achieve food security and economic development across Africa. A key aspect of CAADP is the commitment from African Union (AU) member States to allocate at least 10% of their national budgets to agriculture and rural development. This commitment, along with the goal of achieving at least 6% annual agricultural growth, is outlined in the Malabo Declaration and aims to transform African agriculture by 2025. The Federal Government of Nigeria’s public expenditure is on average 1.6% of the total annual budget in the last 10 years, with less than 50% utilisation, a high percentage of which is recurrent expenditure.
Multiprong approach: Agriculture is not just food security, as important as it is, but also a means for economic growth and development. We need to design policies and programs that are not just focused on food security alone but could also address sustainable economic growth and development. Public-Private and development institutions’ partnership with science and technology is driving the value chains. Agriculture has gone beyond hoes and cutlasses, its innovation and technology driven by science. L’Oréal, one of the largest companies in beauty and make-up, is looking for a scientific solution from IITA on green innovations.
Focus on rural development- There is no agricultural transformation without rural infrastructural transformation. Agriculture is not rural development; rural development is beyond agriculture alone. The development of rural soft and hard infrastructure is critical.
Decentralized agriculture: This will be essential to supporting key comparative advantages and challenges in different regions. Challenges are not generic and homogenous; opportunities are not homogenous. We should focus on a bottom-up approach, working through regions of the State based on their agroecology and comparative advantages. God created these things for a purpose and supported us with science to shape things around them.
Development of the Enablers: The public sector focuses on supporting enablers and implementing integrated policies on agriculture and industrialization. Commercial agriculture is supported through the derisking of private sector investment.
Consolidation of farms: In agriculture, consolidation is the shift toward fewer and larger farms, usually because large farms become larger and smaller farms go out of business. In the late 1950s, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson exemplified Government pressure to consolidate when he called on farmers to “get big or get out.”
Between 1950 and 1997, the total number of US Farms declined from 5.39 million to 1.91 million. Over the same period, the average US farm more than doubled in size, from 215 to 487 acres. Many other industries in the food system, including animal slaughtering and processing, also underwent major consolidation.
Largely because of consolidation, most food production in the U.S. now takes place on massive-scale operations. Half of all U.S. cropland is on farms with at least 1,000 acres (over 1.5 square miles). We need to
Development and expansion of agro-Industrial Cluster: The African Union Kampala Post-Malabo declaration 2025 focuses on the development of agricultural industrial clusters in Africa. The African Development Bank (AFDB) is working with Governments and the private sector in 11 African countries to create Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) that will transform the rural landscape into economic zones of prosperity and harness the power of industrial agriculture.
Few National and sub-national governments in Africa are turning the curve, and we can learn from them. Benin Republic and Oyo State, a sub-national entity in Nigeria.
All kudos go to a visionary leader of our time, HE Seyi Makinde, who, as far back as 2019, saw what many are seeing today. He saw the future yesterday. Today, Oyo is on the verge of industrializing its agricultural sector.
You may say I am biased, but I am speaking the facts, and they say data is sacred. In the last six years, Oyo State has ticked most of the boxes above.
Oyo State, under the visionary leadership of HE Makinde, developed its own agribusiness strategy as far back as 2019. This strategy strongly focuses on agro-industrial development. Copies are available for your citations. It is a multipronged, deliberate strategy that focuses on developing the value chain for food security, economic development, and growth. The PPD (full meaning of PPD) model is already taking place with science through top-class research institute supporting both crops and livestock across the value chain, and driving blended international development fund to the tune of $170 million in the last 6 years, to complement public sector fund with competing needs.
The proof of concept on the agro-industry cluster program has commenced at the first Agricultural Transformation Center at Fasola in Oyo State, showing what is possible here. The center is State-built and private sector-managed. Fourteen new agribusiness companies were established within three years. It has attracted a new investment of N17 billion, primarily in new factories processing diverse crops produced in the State.
Rural infrastructure development commenced since 2020, and close to over 300 kilometers of rural roads were built, over 100 kilometers are ongoing, and 1,000 kilometers of rural roads are in the pipeline. Regional agro-logistic under construction, reducing over 40% of initial post-harvest loss for increased production and driving agro-based industrialists to our State with another N29 billion private sector agro-industry investment, focusing on Sugar, Cassava to sorbitol, Gluten-free HQCF, Cashew processing, Agricultural equipment, etc in the last six years, supporting close to 27,000 farmers cumulatively.
Support for Enabler is ongoing. Investment derisk through Oyo State funding in the BOI is to support the agro-industry in the State. We are providing support for micro farmers to move to small and medium farmers for both crops and livestock through MOARD and ACCOS. We are developing a livestock transformation center in each region as a one-stop shop for the livestock value chain. The rural security through Amotekun and the current procurement process of surveillance helicopters for the rural agrarian community are ongoing. There are also new entrants development with over 5,500 youth trained and 1,000 youths who developed their own small enterprise. Oyo State developed a mechanism for it to move to medium enterprise through enterprise support YEAPFCMB with 1.5 billion soft loan for the pilot.
All these have supported the growth and development of the Oyo State economy by over 300%, mainly through the agro-based sector.
Of course, Oyo State needs to do more to ensure the sustainability of this noble turning point, remain resolute, continue to consolidate, and build strong institutions and policies.
The establishment of two other agribusiness industrial hubs will host over 40 agricultural industries, cumulatively employing directly and indirectly over 100,000 people, supporting the livelihood of over 500,000 farmers from peasantry micro to medium farmers, transforming rural villages into agro-based industrial areas linking to the economy of the peri-urban and urban area, supporting import substitution, development of the wholesale market for standardization, quality control, aggregation and raw materials for industries, the continued development of enablers like rural feeder roads, circular roads, development of community aggregation centers and agro-logistics, energy provision in the rural areas, the airport for cargoes and linkages of all these to the rail are deliberate signal towards agro-industrial revolution.
If Oyo State continues this trajectory in the next seven years, it will become the first subnational in history to be sustained using agro-based industrialization in this country, with the highest indices of economic development, including poverty reduction.
I am extremely humbled to have delivered this lecture on this epic occasion. I once again congratulate and thank Baba for inviting me. I will not go without paying homage to my boss, His Excellency Makinde, for allowing many of us to stand upon his shoulders to fulfill our dreams by serving our State with development and growth.

Splash FM, keep on shining!
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening
Oyo ko nireyin loju mi.

Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde has stated that the State Government is already moving from the rudimentary agricultural practices to the industrialized model.

Just as he also noted that the State Government has placed agribusiness at the forefront of its developmental agenda.

Governor Makinde, represented by his deputy, Barrister Bayo Lawal while hosting members of the delegations of Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones(SAPZ), who paid him a courtesy visit after days of assessment tour to the proposed site of Ijaye Agro Industrial Hub, Atan Village Akinyele local Government Ibadan and other agribusiness industrial Hubs in the State.

The SAPZ team include representatives from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and African Development Bank (AFDB).

In his address, the Deputy Governor maintained that Oyo State being an agrarian state cannot be depending on other States or countries for food.

He stressed that Oyo state Government, under Governor Makinde-led administration has made agriculture it’s top priority.

He said, “In Oyo State, we have placed agriculture at the forefront of our development agenda. We must be able to feed ourselves. We cannot continue to depend on other states or countries for food, without food security, survival is threatened. That’s why agriculture has been made a top priority by this administration.

“When a visionary like Dr. Debo Akande was brought in from IITA, he was tasked with leading OYSADA, and I must say, he has been doing exceptionally well. Take the Fashola farm settlement as an example. It was once a moribund agricultural site established in the 1960s but abandoned for several decades.

“However, when this administration came on board, the Governor gave him a marching order to revive and transform it. Today, thanks to those efforts, everyone can see the progress being made at Fashola.

“The Ijaye Agro-Industrial Hub is another significant project currently underway. We are working in collaboration with the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB), and I can assure you that everything is on track. Ijaye is particularly dear to us. While Fashola is already taking shape, Ijaye is being designed on an entirely different level. The Eruwa project is also ongoing. To the best of my knowledge, that settlement was created during the First Republic but had also been neglected, just like Fashola. We are now focused on transforming it as well.

“The plan is for these projects to be zoned: Fashola will serve the Oyo zone, Ijaye will cater to the Ibadan zone, and Eruwa will take care of the Ibarapa zone. With your support, we believe all these initiatives will become holistically productive.

“Oyo State is about 80 percent agrarian. Our goal is to convert the remaining 20 percent into commercial potential, but agriculture remains the foundational occupation of our people. With support from institutions like AfDB, we’re moving from rudimentary agricultural practices to a more industrialized model. Yes, there are challenges, as with any major project, but they are surmountable. In fact, the very existence of these projects is a response to those challenges.

“We are fully committed to collaborating with the African Development Bank. Whatever is required from us, let us know, and we will work tirelessly to ensure we meet expectations.” Barrister Bayo Lawal said.

Earlier in his address, the Principal Agro-Industry Officer AFDB, Bernard Onzima said, “African Development Bank for quite a while now has been spearheading the agro industrial Processing Zones program across Africa. It’s an initiative aimed at enhancing value addition by focusing on downstream processing. For a while now, I think we’ve been singing a song for post harvest losses and Africa not adding enough value in strong material, including agricultural products.

“So the bank, under the leadership of President and the Senate, has been spearheading this initiative. So our mission here was basically to check on progress, to discuss with the state executing agency and the program implementation image on the progress made and their plans for the next half of the year. We are aware that there were some challenges at the onset of the program, not particularly the whole State but with the overall implementation across the seven States.

“There has been an uptick in speed.

Recent progress suggests that we should be able to start ground activities, especially the construction of those activities very soon. So after the province, I will also note that Oyo, as a State, is already far advanced in many respects compared to the other States, enhancing agriculture development in Africa, but also ensuring that Africa has food sovereignty, because for now, Africa has the most unutilized arable land across the world. So there is therefore the need for certain efforts. And that’s why we think this problem is so critical.” Bernard said.

Also in his address, the National Program Coordinator for the Nigeria Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) program, Dr. Kabir Yusuf said, “This is a combination of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and African Development Bank.

Yusuf further said, “This is a joint mission, and we’ve come and see how Oyo has gone, how have they’ve utilized thus far and I can tell you what we have seen is marvelous. But importantly, as my colleague said, Oyo went ahead to an advanced stage, because we have seen Fasola, it’s exactly what want to see in modern SAPZ.

“Fasola was built, or was even conceptualized before the coming of SAPZ and for us to see that, it’s showed that there’s already something like what we are planning, so it gives us a lot of comfort that these funds would not just be judiciously utilized, but they would also be additional support from Government, which we have seen, the Government need further support in doing the roads.

“We’ve visited the Ijaye and Fasola hub, and we saw all the greenhouses that are there. We also saw the dairy, we also visited somewhere about 10 companies that have already taken there, so I think this is really commendable.

“SAPZ is a Government enabled private sector led agro industrialization model that establishes modern agro production and processing zones.  And these zones are designed in a conducive environment to ensure that agribusiness efficiently through leveraging on shared, common infrastructure, which we have seen in Fasola and I’m sure your Excellency will welcome the SAPZ.

“We’ve had a session with the DG. We’ve had a session with the established team, and as well as we’ve gone around. So I think what we have seen is really good Your Excellency. But just to emphasize something I’ve also discussed with the DG OYSADA and that colleagues here should understand there’s a difference between projects and government work, in government, it’s very good prudence is allowed, and we should also save money, but the project is slightly different.

Compliance is very important in project, but utilization of those funds is extremely important because these funds are loan,  and the State must pay back those fee, and failure to expend these loans over a period of these five years, this means extension.

“So, your excellency, as you also know Oyo is the first phase. We have currently eight states of Oyo, Ogun, Cross River, IMO, FCT, Kaduna, Kano and kwara and we are currently on boarding team maintenance. By September, I believe it should go to the board of the African Development Bank and then the Nigerian protocol, which is to check approval.” Yusuf said.

Other members of the supervision team are, Samuel Sakwa (AfDB), Bashir Gaya (AfDB),Emmanuel Chisesa (AfDB), Oye Bankole (AfDB), Oyebola Akande FMF), Kabir Yusuf (NPC, SAPZ), Temitope Olayiwol,  Okorie Agwu, Louis Enaberue, Abel Ameh,Bello Sani, Babangida Shehu, Jamila Hassan, Chukwudi Nwovu,.Ali Sunday Ojochonu, Sabo Kawu among others.

While the Director General of Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) Dr. Debo Akande who also doubles as the State Coordinating Chairman of SAPZ led the delegations to the Governor’s Office, in company of the State Acting State Coordinator for SAPZ, Dr Ajetunmobi Akinwumi, Communication Officer of Oyo SAPZ, Ann Odaudu, alongside other officials of the agency.

As part of efforts to transform Nigeria’s agricultural landscape and boost economic diversification, the Federal Government, in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), has commended Oyo State for its proactive role in the implementation of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) programme.

Speaking during a high-level supervision mission to Oyo State, the National Programme Coordinator for SAPZ, Dr. Kabiru Yusuf, described the State as a model of commitment and seriousness towards agricultural industrialization.

The SAPZ is a flagship initiative of the Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, designed to industrialize agriculture and reduce dependency on the importation of finished agricultural goods.

“Oyo is one of the Phase 1 states selected for the SAPZ initiative, alongside Kaduna, Kano, Ogun, Cross River, Imo, and the FCT,” Dr. Yusuf said.

“We have already disbursed funds to the state, and our visit is to assess the utilization of those funds and ensure alignment with project objectives.”

During the visit, the delegation toured massive agro-industrial park at Ijaye, which spans over 100 hectares.

Dr. Yusuf confirmed that the procurement of contractors has been finalized, with a groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for the second week of August.

Highlighting the broader vision, Dr. Yusuf stated that the SAPZ programme is in line with President Tinubu’s aspiration to build a $1 trillion Nigerian economy through agribusiness.

“We aim to elevate rural communities into secondary cities through job creation, industrial hubs, and increased economic activity,” he added.

He also lauded Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde for his innovative approach, particularly for allocating federal loan funding solely to the Ijaye Hub, while the state independently funds the Eruwa Agro-Industrial Zone.

“This is a rare and commendable move, showcasing genuine commitment to agricultural transformation,” Dr. Yusuf said.

In her remarks, Dr. Oyebola Yejide Akande, Assistant Director of African Financial Institutions at the Federal Ministry of Finance, emphasized the importance of infrastructural readiness to support agro-industrial development.

“We’ve visited Ogun and Cross River, and now Oyo. What we’re checking is the infrastructure both existing and those to be built under the SAPZ framework,” Dr. Akande said.

“For example, at Ijaye, a designated agro-industrial hub, we identified the need for access roads and logistics that would allow seamless movement of goods and raw materials in and out of the zone.”

She stressed that the Ministry’s role includes ensuring that communities and individuals affected by development especially road construction are properly compensated, in line with international environmental and social safeguards.

“Before road construction, affected families must be resettled. If we don’t do this, we risk project delays and disruptions,” she noted.

Dr. Akande reiterated that the ultimate goal is to improve rural livelihoods and ensure that farmers and producers benefit meaningfully from the initiative.

“We’re trying to ensure fair value for farmers’ efforts—whether they are producing yam or tomatoes, we need viable off-taker systems and logistics to connect them to markets,” she explained.

The SAPZ programme, supported by the AfDB, Islamic Development Bank, and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), is seen as a game-changer in Nigeria’s economic diversification journey.

With strong collaboration between Federal and State Governments, stakeholders say the impact will be visible not just in GDP figures but in the daily lives of rural communities.

” The whole essence of agriculture is improving livelihoods. With projects like SAPZ, we’re doing just that,” Dr. Akande concluded.

The SAPZ project will support the agro-industrialization of Oyo State for food security, economic growth and economic development. The project is anchored by Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency under the leadership of Dr Debo Akande .

Among those inspected the Atan Farm hub and Fasola Farms include , Engr. Ibrahim Bashir Gaya Co-task Manager AfDB, Bernard Onzima, Principal Agro-Industry Officer AfDB, Dr. Emmanuel Chisesa, Regional Procurement Coordinator for AfDB Nigeria and others.

The team also visited the Fashola Farms, another designated SAPZ zone, where dairy, cashew, cassava, tomato greenhouse projects, and more are already taking shape

The delegation from the African Development Bank (AfDB), alongside other stakeholders, is scheduled to meet with Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, to brief him on the outcome of their recent assessment visit to the State.”

….As SAPZ’s Team Visit Fasola, Ijaye For Assessment

The Federal Government delegations that were on assessment visit to Oyo State have commended the State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde over his commitment to the proposed Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) project at Ijaye Atan Village Akinyele local Government, Ibadan.
Governor Makinde was commended by Dr. Oyebola Yejide Akande, the Assistant Director, African Financial Institutions, Federal Ministry of Finance, International Economic Relations Department, and the National Program Coordinator for the Nigeria Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) program, Dr. Kabir Yusuf during an assessment visit to Atan Village, the site of the Ijaye Agro-industrial Processing Hub on Saturday, 19th, July 2025.
Ijaye Agro-industrial Processing Hub upon completion will improve the lives of indigenous farmers in Oyo State l,. especially the farmers in Ijaye and it’s environs.
The visiting team also include officials from the African Development Bank (AFDB) and were conducted round the site by the Acting State Coordinator for SAPZ, Dr Ajetunmobi Akinwumi, who represented the Director General of Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA), Dr. Debo Akande alongside other personnel of the agency.
In her interview with journalists shortly after the tour of the site, Dr. Oyebola Yejide Akande highlighted the importance of the assessment visit, noting that the team were on a supervision mission for the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ), Phase 1 States.
She said, “We’ve been to Ogun State, Cross River, and now we are in Oyo State to assess the level of preparedness. The goal is to evaluate what infrastructure is already in place and what still needs to be developed.
“Although some basic infrastructure already exists, which we refer to as “ground-fill” there are critical components that must still be built, such as the agro-industrial processing hub, Agricultural Transformation Centre (ATC), and the access roads that connect these hubs to surrounding communities.
“For example, in Atan village, where the special agro-industrial processing hub will be sited, there’s a need for access roads to enable smooth transportation of produce and encourage private sector participation. Without good road access, it becomes difficult for investors and farmers to move goods in and out efficiently.
“The State Government has shown a strong level of commitment right from the start. Our role, alongside the Federal Government, which secured this loan on behalf of the State, is to ensure the people of Oyo State benefit from this initiative.
“The essence of this collaboration is to improve livelihoods and promote inclusive development through agriculture. The arrangements under the SAPZ are designed to ensure that beneficiaries, especially those in rural farming communities are not shortchanged. They should be compensated fairly and rewarded in proportion to their contributions and involvement in farming activities.”
In his remarks, Dr. Kabir Yusuf said, “We are here on a supervision mission with the African Development Bank and the Federal Ministry of Finance to assess the progress and evaluate how the funds disbursed so far have been utilized.
“We recently visited Ijaye, where a massive agro-industrial park is being planned. It’s about 100 hectares in size. With the support of the State Government, we’ve guided them through the procurement process for developing the zone, and that process has already been concluded. We’re here to ensure there are no encumbrances so that work can proceed smoothly.
“We also visited the Fashola Agribusiness Hub, which has recently been designated by the State as an SAPZ zone. It’s a hub of various agricultural activities, dairy, cashew processing, greenhouse tomato production, cassava, and more. There’s already a joint MoU with FrieslandCampina WAMCO to develop the dairy value chain.
“The overall goal of the SAPZ is to ensure that agricultural commodities are not only produced in Nigeria but also processed here to add value before export. What we’ve been doing in all the participating States is to focus on indigenous crops and commodities, and support States with funding to improve productivity and develop local processing capacity.
“The aim is to produce finished goods that can go directly to the market shelves, which will help reduce and eventually eliminate the need to import agricultural products. This aligns perfectly with the administration’s ambition of transitioning Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy. In the next few years, we hope to be exporting many of these processed commodities and earning valuable foreign exchange.
“The project is a collaboration between the Federal Government and the State Government. The Federal Government has already disbursed funds, and procurement for contractors has been concluded. In fact, the Government is considering August 2nd for the groundbreaking ceremony, though that’s still being finalized. Once that is done, the contractor will move to site and construction will begin in earnest.”From our perspective, this is a loan-based financing program provided to the State, and I must say the Oyo State Government has followed the process judiciously. Governor Seyi Makinde has been extremely magnanimous and proactive.
“What’s particularly commendable is that, after we agreed to concentrate the SAPZ loan financing on the Ijaye site, the Governor decided to use state funds to execute the development of the Eruwa agribusiness hub, which was initially meant to be part of the federal financing. That’s a novel and bold move. It shows the Governor’s strong commitment to agriculture and to the people.
“The beauty of the SAPZ is that it aims to uplift citizens and eradicate rural poverty by transforming rural communities into economic hubs and secondary cities. There will be a lot of economic activity, value addition, and employment generated in these areas. I truly commend Governor Seyi Makinde for his vision, proactiveness, and dedication to sustainable agricultural development.” Kabir stressed.
Other members of the AFDB on the assessment visit include, Engr. Ibrahim Bashir Gaya(Co-task Manager AFDB); Bernard Onzima (Principal Agro-Industry Officer AFDB), Dr. Emmanuel Chisesa (Regional Procurement Coordinator for AFDB Nigeria).
The team also paid visit to Fasola Agro-industrial Processing Hub, and they’re expected to meet with the Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde to brief him about the outcome of their assessment visit.

…The partnership is to foster sustainable healthcare in Agribusiness Says Dr. Fagbemi

The Director General of Oyo State Agricultural Development Agency (OYSADA), Dr. Debo Akande, has paid an official visit to the chairman and management of Oyo State Hospitals’ Management Board (OYSHMB), led by Dr. Akin Fagbemi, at his office in the State Secretariat, Ibadan.

The purpose of the visit was to brief Dr. Fagbemi on the progress of the Clinic at Fashola Agribusiness Complex, Oyo.

During his speech, Dr. Akande described Fashola Agribusiness Complex as a transformation center where up to 10 industries will be built to connect with farmers in the State.

He highlighted the advantages of building an industrial hub like Fashola Agribusiness Complex, including the provision of employment opportunities for youth, food and raw materials for consumption and industrial use, and increased revenue for the State to spend on education, health, and other functions.

In his remarks, The Chairman of Oyo State Hospitals’ Management Board, Dr. Akin Fagbemi commended Dr. Akande for his relentless efforts in moving the state forward in modern agriculture.

He praised Governor Oluseyi Makinde FNSE for appointing technocrats like Dr. Debo Akande to work with him, enabling the State to progress.

Dr. Fagbemi promised that all necessary measures would be taken to ensure the Fashola Agribusiness Complex Clinic provides qualitative and accessible healthcare to the people of the complex and its environs.

Present during the visit were Dr. Akin Fagbemi, chairman of Oyo State Hospitals’ Management Board; Dr. Debo Akande, Director General of OYSADA; Dr. Anifat Ibraheem, Permanent Secretary; and some directors of the board.

The Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) has officially commenced the interview process for shortlisted beneficiaries of the Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project – Sustainable Agricultural Finance and Enterprise Revolution (YEAP-SAfER) Loan Scheme. This initiative, a key part of Governor Seyi Makinde’s vision for economic growth and youth empowerment in the agricultural sector, has been widely praised by applicants.

The interview sessions, designed to accommodate the convenience of all shortlisted candidates, were conducted both online and in person. While many opted for the virtual interview at 9:00 AM, others attended the physical interview at the OYSADA office in Total Garden, Ibadan**, which started at 8:30 AM**.

Shortlisted applicants expressed their gratitude to Governor Seyi Makinde for the life-changing opportunity, pledging to make the best use of it. They acknowledged that the YEAP-SAfER loan would not only enhance their Agribusiness ventures but also contribute significantly to the economic development of Oyo State by increasing agricultural productivity and creating employment opportunities.

“This initiative is a game-changer for young entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector. I deeply appreciate Governor Makinde’s commitment to supporting youth-driven Agribusinesses. With this opportunity, I am confident that my farm can expand, increase production, and ultimately contribute to food security and job creation in Oyo State.”

Another applicant Ganiu Kamal Abolore, emphasized the transparency and accessibility of the selection process, noting that the hybrid interview model allowed candidates from different locations to participate with ease.

The YEAP-SAfER Loan Scheme is one of the many initiatives under Governor Makinde’s administration aimed at strengthening Oyo State’s agricultural sector, promoting self-reliance, and reducing unemployment. The program aligns with the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agenda, which focuses on equipping young entrepreneurs with the financial and technical support needed to thrive in Agribusiness.

With the interview phase now underway, successful candidates are expected to receive funding that will enable them to scale up their agribusinesses, improve food production, and contribute meaningfully to the State’s economy. Many applicants have pledged to use the funds judiciously, ensuring that they become key players in the agricultural value chain and major employers of labour in the near future.

The OYSADA team reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring a seamless selection process, encouraging applicants to check their interview details via [https://oysada.org.ng/yeap-safer-loan-shortlist-batch-a/(https://oysada.org.ng/yeap-safer-loan-shortlist-batch-a/) and seek clarification where necessary.

The Makinde-led administration continues to receive accolades for its unwavering support for youth-driven agribusiness, further cementing its reputation as a Government committed to economic empowerment, innovation, and sustainable agricultural development in Oyo State.

Governor Makinde paid the Secretary-General of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), His Excellency Wamkele Mene, a visit at the Secretariat in Accra to discuss our plans to advance the implementation of AfCFTA at the sub-national level. In December 2024, Oyo State hosted a consultative meeting to develop its Sub-National Strategy for AfCFTA implementation. He submitted the consolidated report from the meeting and updated H.E. Mene on our progress towards finalizing the Oyo State Sub National AfCFTA Implementation Strategy.

The Governor said, “Let me use this opportunity to thank H.E. Wamkele Mene for the warm welcome and for commending us for setting a precedent for other subnational governments as the first government to visit the Secretariat and advance the implementation of the AfCFTA at the subnational level. We are indeed grateful for his support and for offering technical assistance to us for ongoing administrative processes”.

It has been a very exciting week for us in Oyo State. We have received a lot of recognition from the international community for the work we have so far done in agriculture. I must say that when we started putting in the work over five years ago, we did not do it for the accolades. We did it because data, science and logic supported our decision to make Agribusiness one of the core sectors through which we would move our people from poverty to prosperity.

In doing this, we have taken the path less travelled. We have followed a strategic pathway that is not mainstream. I have spoken about how instead of buying tractors that the Government may not be able to maintain, we have collaborated with the private sector to provide counterpart funding for our smallholder farmers. We have tested and seen what worked and what didn’t so that when we do this again, we will score higher than the abysmal 5% success we just recorded.

For example, we will spend more time communicating the policy and ensuring that our farmers know about the project and how it will be run. We will also ensure that any bureaucratic bottlenecks that exist are eliminated.

We know that the only way to success is to embrace failure and learn from it. That is what has happened even with the Fasola project, which is getting us international acclaim. We ambitiously thought we could finish the project within one year. Well, we didn’t. But we have learnt so much from that pilot project, which we are implementing as we move to Eruwa and Ijaiye.

State Banquet in Honour of President Bio of Sierra Leone

One thing is sure, we have redefined governance and showed the people of Oyo State what is possible with strategic thinking and targeted implementations. In fact, President Julius Maada Bio was so impressed by our systems that he has invited me over to Sierra Leone for further engagements.

And so, in the midst of all these developments, many have been asking – we have two years to go. What next? How do we know the next person won’t come and remove the foundation our administration has laid and is building on.

The truth is, it is in the hands of the people of Oyo State to chart a new path and decide their destiny. You gave me the opportunity to serve you, and so you will also decide who will serve you next. As I stated during the 11th Omituntun Ramadan Lecture a few days ago, sometime in 2026, I will reveal who I will be supporting for the 2027 gubernatorial elections. It will then be left to you, the good people of Oyo State to say if you want that continuity.

Meanwhile, we have a little over two more years of sustainable development to deliver to you. So, we will continue to promote infrastructure development, tourism, agribusiness and solid minerals development to grow our economy further.

These accolades we are receiving are a celebration of you, the good people of Oyo State, for your continued support and for this I am eternally grateful. Let’s forge ahead to do even greater things!

Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has said that African countries have the capacity to ensure food sufficiency in the world, apart from meeting their local needs.

He stated this on Wednesday, during a high-level panel discussion held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Headquarters, Ibadan, as part of the Presidential Visit Programme in honour of the President, Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr Julius Maada Bio.

“I have heard about data where they said Africa is about 1.4 billion people, and so also is India and so is China. So, we should look inward in terms of food production and food security, but the efforts that we need to take on the whole world is not more than what we need for import substitution.

“The real catch is that we must not only be satisfied with meeting our local needs, we have the capacity to also take on the world in terms of solving the global food sufficiency challenge,” Makinde said.

While sharing his administration’s experiences on the successful and impactful agribusiness initiatives implemented in Oyo State, the Governor said that his administration focused on agribusiness knowing that it could be a major driver of the State’s economy and also help to achieve the vision of taking people from poverty to prosperity and tackling hunger.

The Governor equally stated that his administration had been deliberate about driving agriculture with technology, innovations and data, saying that the tractorisation policy, which helps farmers with a 50 percent subsidy on ploughing, verification of farmers and input support to smallholders were among the deliberate efforts taken to ensure food security and sufficiency.

He said: “When we came in, we took agribusiness as one of the major pillars to expand our economy. We had a workshop and took all the stakeholders to the Republic of Benin, because we didn’t want any distraction.
“We put our roadmap together and started tracking it. Few things came up at that workshop, which we believed would work for us.

“When we started, we saw those things that worked and vice-versa, that was when we started tackling hunger to break the cycle of poverty among our people in the state.
“What has also worked for us is utilising technology to verify the actual data.

We went to Israel and saw that they could feed themselves while also exporting, but the entire state of Israel does not have more than 10,000 farmers to do all the fanciful things they are doing all over the world.

“We saw that we are a little bit far from the mechanisation programme. We used to have a Tractor Unit in Oyo State and we asked them where the tractors were, but they were nowhere to be found.

“So, we concluded that we would not invest money again to purchase tractors but would leave the private people to run it as a business and the private people would look after their business by themselves.

“Also, on the other side, we thought of what the state could do to ensure they remained in business and we gave some subsidy to the farmers. We said to them that if you want to clear 10 acres, for instance, you bring half of the money, pay those business people having tractors and the Government would pay the other half.

“We set a target of ploughing 120,000 hectares but the result came out about a week ago and we only met five per cent of that target. It was bad. But the good news is that now we have real data and we know that if we get up to 30 or 50 per cent, we would have moved somewhere.

So, you have that option to either invest in tractors or have a model that the private sector can drive.”

Sharing the success story of the Fasola Agribusiness Industrial Hub, which has been designated as Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the governor stated that having taken the decision to allow the private sector to drive Agribusiness, the Government invested heavily on fixing infrastructure.

He explained that the big private sector players in the Agribusiness sector in the State chose to do business there because of the Government’s commitment to infrastructure.

“When we went to Fasola, we observed that there had been efforts in the past to revive the Farm Settlement that failed and we said we would upgrade it to a Farm Estate. But there was a problem. The road leading to Fasola, a 34-kilometre stretch of road belonging to the Federal Government, was in a bad state.

“We said the first thing we had to do was to fix the infrastructure so that private businesses could come there. So, we fixed the road.

“Former President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, is a very big investor in Fasola Agribusiness Hub now and the only thing that brought him there was the infrastructure we have put in place.

“It has worked for us that when you fix the infrastructure, private money will come and today, the investment money we put into the infrastructure, when compared to the investments that have been attracted to Fasola, is almost nothing. So, fixing infrastructure is key.”

Governors of Borno and Plateau states, Prof. Babagana Zulum and Caleb Muftwang, also shared their experiences in their respective states.

In his remarks, the President of Sierra Leone, Dr Bio said that Africa would not be spending over 50 billion dollars annually to import food if its leaders could leverage their political will, technology and requisite funding to ensure food security on the continent.

Dr Bio also commended the efforts of the Oyo State governor and his colleagues for their initiatives to drive the economy of their states through agribusiness and charged them to provide more solutions to agricultural challenges in their various states.

After the High-Level Panel Discussion, President Bio and his team; Governor Makinde and his team, Plateau State Governor, Mr. Caleb Muftwang, and his team, as well as the top echelon of the IITA moved to Fasola, where another discussion on investment and private sector engagement in Agribusiness was held.

The teams toured the facilities in the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone, Fasola.
The event had in attendance the Oyo State Deputy Governor, Barr. Abdulraheem Bayo Lawal; Secretary to the State Government, Prof Olanike Adeyemo; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi; former Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu; and Head of Service, Mrs. Olubunmi Oni, mni.

Others were the Commissioner for Agriculture and Mineral Resources, Barr. Olasunkanmi Olaleye; Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akinola Ojo; Commissioner for Local Government Affairs and Chieftaincy Matters, Chief Ademola Ojo; Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr. William Akin-Funmilayo; Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun; Senior Executive Assistant to the Governor on Special Duties, Chief Bayo Lawal; and Director -General, Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA), Dr Debo Akande, among other dignitaries.

Signed
Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju
Special Adviser (Media) to Oyo State Governor