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

Partnership, innovation, and investment were the key words as Sierra Leonean President, Dr Julius Maada Bio, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, his counterparts from Borno and Plateau States; Professor Bamanga Zulum and Caleb Mutfwang, other leaders and experts brainstormed on carting a new pathway to economic growth.

While emphasizing the need to leverage on technology and modern techniques to mechanized farming, panelists, during the third day of the Presidential Visit Program in Ibadan stressed the urgent need for a united approach to attain food security at both local and continental level.

This call was made during a high-level panel discussion held today during an ongoing 4-day high-level stakeholder’s engagements with the theme: “The Power of Improved Technologies and Public-Private Partnerships To Accelerate The Feed Salone Strategy” held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State.

The panel discussions espoused the critical link between food security, economic growth, and employment, while call was made for increased investment and regional cooperation in agriculture to end food importation, capital flight, and advance continental policy cohesiveness.

During the panel discussions, the three Governors highlighted strategic efforts made in their various states to provide enabling environment for businesses to thrive and encourage large-scale farming while also providing insights into the accomplishments recorded so far.

Various speakers during the three sessions panel discussions which include President Bio, Governors Makinde, Zulum, Mutfwang, and other experts, lamented capital flight on the African continent which was occasioned by food importation. Bio remarked that importation of food that can be produced locally implies that Africa has kept sending its money to foreign countries thereby, frustrating its own people to chase job opportunities abroad while losing other gains the continent could have recorded if such money was retained within Africa.

The panelists in their various submissions equally highlighted the lack of commitment from many African Governments in allocating the agreed-upon 10% of national budgets to agriculture.

President Bio in one of his submissions, cited efforts made to increase agricultural spending in their country from 2 to 7 percent as a sign of commitment, but acknowledged that more needs to be done, while stressing the urgent need to build essential infrastructure, such as roads, electricity, and water, to support agricultural productivity, especially in rural areas.

While narrating efforts made by Sierra Leone in transforming its agricultural sector as a key driver of its economy, President Bio emphasized that due to the relatively small size of individual African economies, regional collaboration is essential.

Panelists proposed the establishment of joint agricultural facilities, including fertiliser production plants, to reduce costs and dependence on imports.

Morocco’s OCP and Nigeria’s Dangote Group were cited as existing examples of large-scale fertilizer production, but leaders during the discussions stressed the need for more coordinated efforts across the continent.

The discussion also emphasized the need for African Governments to create an environment that attracts private sector investment in agriculture. It was noted that while businesses seek profit and prefer to invest in already developed infrastructure, Governments must first take on the heavy lifting such as building roads and power facilities to make agricultural investments viable.

Another focus point of discussion during the panel sessions was the need for Africa-wide collaboration in agricultural research and technology.

Panelists suggested creating a centralized Pan-African Agricultural Research and Technology Centre, potentially expanding the work of IITA, to drive innovation in seed development and farming techniques.

Also, irrigation was identified as another area requiring urgent action, with calls for joint projects to build large-scale irrigation systems and dams that would benefit multiple countries.

Beyond agriculture, the discussion also touched on Africa’s limited influence in global financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Hafez Ghanem, former World Bank Vice President and ex-Assistant DG at FAO, who also serves as Africa’s representative in UN Security Council reform negotiations, compared Africa’s struggles in these financial institutions to its ongoing battle for permanent representation at the UN Security Council.

While there have been calls for greater representation of developing countries, resistance from powerful nations has stalled meaningful change. Panelists agreed that Africa must continue advocating for reforms to ensure a stronger voice in these global institutions, arguing that increased African representation would enhance their credibility and effectiveness.

Governor Seyi Makinde, who recalled the early days of his administration revealed some his strategies and strategic planning that have transformed the Agricultural landscape to make Oyo State an investment destination for investors and other global development partners.

Makinde, who recalled his approach to mitigating the economic impact of COVID-19 in Oyo State as against the directive to shut down all States however, called for caution while calling for support from international financial partners stressing the need for Africa to prioritize homegrown solutions above foreign recommendations that may not adequately reflect the true position of situations in Africa.

“My own inclination is that they don’t tell us the whole story or the truth when putting forward solutions for us to follow. So, whatever solution or ideas that are coming forward. We need to have a local variant, basically, to it. And why am I saying this? I remember, he (pointing to Prof Zulum) must have been at that discussion when Covid hit, and they said look, everywhere should shut down. We had that discussion at the national economic council meeting and I told the vice president who was the chairman of the council then that in Oyo State, I cannot shut down because of Covid simply because there are people here that if they don’t go out today, they’ll not have food to eat tomorrow.

“People sitting in Washington may not understand that, so for us, our solution would definitely lie within us.” Governor Makinde stated.

The panel sessions ended with a strong message by panelists that Africa must take charge of its own food security and economic future. With global development funds dwindling, the leaders urged African nations to mobilize domestic resources and strengthen partnerships with research institutions and the private sector.

The highlight of the event was a tour of the entire delegation of dignitaries including President Bio to Fashola Farm located at Awe in Oyo area of the state where the Makinde’s administration through public-private partnership being spearheaded by its Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) has cultivated a large-scale industrial farm with various segments.