Tale of Two Ministers

When former Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Adamu Bello took on the incumbent of the same seat, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, many Nigerians expressed shock. Shock in the sense that many people believe that the Adesina’s approach to making people to see agriculture as business in one of the best things that have happened to Nigerians under the Dr Goodluck Jonathan Presidency.
Since his appointment some three years ago, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture under Adesina has achieved tremendous results, particularly with the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) which not only seeks to make agriculture big and profitable business, but also seeks to launch Nigeria back onto the path of food sufficiency.
On the other hand, Bello handled the same portfolio between 2001 and 2007, a period of about six years. Since both have occupied the same seat, and the former is now accusing the incumbent, it is only apposite to view the achievement of both so that Nigerians could at least draw their own conclusions on which of them has served the country better.
The Ministry under Adesina have engaged a teeming population of Nigerian youths and stimulate their interest in agriculture. They are called “Nagroprenuers”. According to Oyeleye, “President Jonathan, in 2013, unveiled the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) to create a new generation of young commercial farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs.
This will develop a total of 760,000 ‘Nagropreneurs’ within five years. Today, young graduates and bankers are leaving the banks and heading for agriculture. The new millionaires of Nigeria will be in agriculture. It is a new dawn!!”
Also, Staple Crops Processing Zones (SCPZ), new agricultural infrastructure-enabled zones that are being developed to attract agribusiness investors into rural areas is in place. They are to address the infrastructure challenges and constraints of the agro-processing industry, drive social and economic impacts, offer a superior operating environment for downstream players as well as create a new platform for private sector investment in agriculture. Food manufacturing companies are being attracted to establish within these zones, bringing them closer to farmers and areas of high food production.
To improve financial access for farmers, we have taken bold steps.
The Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Ministry of Agriculture jointly established a risk-sharing facility, the Nigerian Incentive based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) – that reduces the risk on bank lending to agribusiness and farmers.
Banks are lending to agriculture today in Nigeria than ever before. Agricultural lending as a share of total bank lending rose from 0.7 per cent to 5 percent within two years.
Bank lending to seed companies and small agricultural input retailers rose from zero in 2011, to $ 10 million in 2012 and $53 million in 2013. Bank lending to fertilizer companies rose from $ 100 million in 2012 to $ 500 million in 2013. It is remarkable that the default rate has been zero percent over the past two years.
However, in trying to guage the achievement of Adamu Bello in office, it is better to go into the archives and see what the media wrote about him, even while in office. On September 13, 2004, The News magazine carried in its cover a story titled “Swindling the farmers, Adamu Bello, Minister of Agriculture And Rural Development, faces allegations of financial malpractice”.
Now, there are allegations of corruption against him. Up in arms against Bello are the Senate Committee on Agriculture, the House Committee on Agriculture, a faction of Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria CFAN and Fertilizer Supply Association of Nigeria, among other interests.
But first the alleged scams. The Minister is accused of blatant disregard for due process in the award of contracts. A case in point is the N14 billion contracts for the supply of fertilizers, which the Minister is said to have awarded to his friends and cronies without caring a hoot for civil service procedures. In a petition addressed to President Obasanjo by CFAN, the farmers give details of how the Minister awarded huge tons of fertilizers to himself, using three Indian companies as front, while leaving a pittance for indigenous suppliers;
Nigerians can now judge who serves their interest better.

*this was published in the Daily Times newspaper dated Monday, December 29, 2014