President Bola Tinubu has adequately demonstrated his commitment to mechanised agriculture as a means of unlocking the massive food potentials of Nigeria. Any time he mentions “agriculture”, he almost never fails to accompany it with the word: “mechanised”.

We saw this early in his administration when he delegated his then Spokesman, Dele Alake, on July 13, 2023, to announce that his government was declaring a “state of emergency on food security”. Mechanised agriculture featured rampantly in that announcement. Also, Tinubu flagged off the agricultural mechanisation project of Niger State’s Governor Umar Bago in March 2024 and announced he would partner the state to abolish hunger.

It was not surprising that the President, last week Monday, inaugurated his administration’s Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme at the National Agricultural Seed Council, Sheda, an Abuja suburb. He distributed 2,000 units of agricultural machines. According to the president: “We envision Nigeria as a global agricultural powerhouse – supplying produce to international markets while ensuring every citizen can access affordable, nutritious food”.

Down the decades, we have seen presidents and heads of state conducting this ritual. From General Olusegun Obasanjo’s “Operation Feed the Nation” to former President Shehu Shagari’s “Green Revolution”, and from General Ibrahim Babangida’s Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s programme of ensuring each of the 774 local governments specialised in at least one agricultural crop, it was flops galore. None of these initiatives was able to go beyond the ostentatious launch ceremonies garnished with flowery speeches and lofty visions, with huge sums of money budgeted or earmarked. What is the assurance that Tinubu will break this jinx and become the first Nigerian leader to unlock the humongous agricultural might of this nation?

If we repeatedly failed when Nigeria was safe and secured, is it now that terrorists, bandits, jihadists, Fulani “Janjaweed” militants masquerading as herdsmen and other deranged criminals are occupying our vast ungoverned wildernesses and farmlands that we can do the magic? Is it now that our armed forces, police and security agencies appear incapable of defending our territorial integrity and protecting our people?

We commend the president for his commitment to mechanised agriculture. It is the only way to beat down the mass hunger, malnutrition and high food inflation, and boost our nonoil foreign exchange potentials. We must, however, solve our insecurity first. These undesirable elements must first be flushed from our forests and farms. Otherwise, the tractors and budgetary earmarks on this Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme will simply end in the pockets of political appointees, civil servants and contractors, as usual.

We call on the president to activate his Armed Forest Guards, AFG, policy to train and arm our local youths to synergise with the security forces and crush the criminals infesting our bushes. Without it, this programme is doomed to failure.