With Atiku Bagudu, a former governor of Kebbi State, making the list of ministerial nominees President Bola Ahmad Tinubu, it is highly probable that he would be named as the next minister to oversee the agricultural revolution under the “renewed hope agenda.”
Farmers in Africa’s most populous country are expecting the next agriculture minister to address fundamental issues that have prevented Nigeria from attaining its food security target.
Farmers in Nigeria stated that the performance of the sector in the renewed hope agenda will depends on the ability of the new minister to provide solutions to the lingering problems.
In a bid to solved this problems, President Muhammadu Buhari worked with three agric ministers: Audu Ogbeh, Sabo Nanono and Abubakar Muhammed to provide solution to these problems.
President Tinubu will likely consider the Kebbi State former governor, being the chairman of the taskforce on the accelerated production of rice and wheat, and the vice chairman of the National Food Security Council for job of the next minister of agric.
The former governor of Kebbi State, who currently served as chairman of the task group on accelerated production of rice and wheat and as vice chairman of the National Food Security Council, is likely to be considered by President Tinubu for the role of the nation’s next minister of agriculture.
Some of the programmes If nominated for the job, Bagudu will inherited from the previous administration include the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) funded from NSIA account; the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) and Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) championed by the Central Bank of Nigeria; National Rice and Wheat Task Force; National Livestock Transformation Plan, beside many other projects co-funded with donor agencies.
There were some allegations that of these laudable programmes are enmeshed in corruption cases or have been hijacked by people who are not real farmers.
Will Bagudu, who is said to have been Sani Abacha’s go-to guy, be able to build on the achievements of the previous administration, overcome obstacles such egregious corruption, and ensure food security for the nation?