President Buhari directs agency to release refurbished tractors for farmers’ use

In his determined efforts to revamp the Agriculture sector, President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) to deploy all the tractors which the Agency is currently refurbishing and are housed at its institute in Minna, Niger State to farmers.

This is in a bid to boost food production across the country.

President Buhari while receiving briefing on Tuesday from the Agency said one of the most crucial modern implements required to till the ground to aid farmers to realise bountiful harvests are farming aids like tractors.

The Vice-Chairman of NASENI, Prof. Mohammed Haruna disclosed to the President that several of such tractors are currently being refurbished through the Partnership arrangement amongst the trio of Machine & Equipment Consortium Africa (MECA) in partnership with NASENI and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agriculture Lending (NIRSAL).

The tractors are presently housed in one of NASENI’s institute in Minna Niger State.

Prof. Haruna said the President expressed satisfaction with the activities of the Agency, especially the efforts to fabricate agricultural tools and reverse-engineering of modern machines and equipment aimed at boosting agricultural activities which is a cardinal objective of his administration to revamp the Agricultural sector.

Recently at a forum, President Buhari reiterated the determination of his government to resolve the unemployment and job creation issues in the country through his administration’s more focus and investment specifically in the Agriculture sector.

While speaking with State House, Correspondents at the end of the meeting with the President, Prof.Haruna told Journalists that “President Buhari was eager to see that the tractors were deployed to farmers before the next farming season”

He said the President was concerned about the state of suffering by farmers without modern farm implements, stating that his administration would do everything within its powers to improve on Agriculture while making sure that Government deploys every resource within the system to improve on the practice and incentives for Agriculture.

The President, according to Prof. Haruna ordered him to return to the State House soon with reports on the implementation of the presidential directive on the deployment of the tractors and also the directive that the board meeting of the Agency should be convened immediately, adding that “an agency like NASENI was set up by the founding fathers in 1992 to bridge the technology and infrastructure gaps between a country like Nigeria and most developed countries of the world whose secrets of advanced socio-economic well-being was their continued investment in science, technology and research”

He disclosed that the mandate of the Agency is to build Nigeria’s confidence in providing capital goods, machines and equipment needed for industrialisation and transformation of the Nigerian economy.

He said the marching order given to him by the President and the availability of the tractors already on ground in the Agency was proof that the Agency was fulfilling its mandate.

“All the Agency needs is support by every Nigerians and government at all levels, so we can continue to fulfil our mandate to the nation,” he said.

Haruna disclosed that the Agency has so far produced an unmanned Aerial vehicle used for the purpose of Agriculture (spraying of insecticides on farms) and surveillance purpose and many more.

Zainab Sa’id