Adieu, farmers’ friend, late former President Muhammadu Buhari – Kabir Adamu

By Kabir Adamu

The late former President Muhammadu Buhari was undoubtedly a great leader with a deep passion for agriculture. His humble background enabled him to understand rural life and the economy.

True to his campaign promise, he committed himself to improving the lives of peasant farmers, who constitute more than 60% of Nigeria’s population. He understood that access to agricultural finance was key to achieving sustainable food sufficiency.

President Buhari’s desire to strengthen the rural economy helped to mitigate rural-urban migration and strategically placed the country on the path to economic diversification, while also promoting job creation through the development of agricultural enterprises. He laid the foundation for food security with his famous slogan: “Eat what we grow, and grow what we eat,” while also supporting agricultural exports.

Indeed, there are times when we make history, and there are times when history makes us. For President Muhammadu Buhari he made history, touching the lives of millions of rural dwellers by making agriculture one of his top priorities. He addressed critical success factors such as access to finance and markets through interventions like the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme and several other agricultural initiatives.

Read Also: FULL TEXT: Tinubu eulogises Buhari at special FEC meeting

These efforts transformed the real sector landscape by creating an ecosystem—from production to consumption—driven by market models. This approach boosted food production, increased processing capacity, and improved marketing systems aimed at making food more affordable to the average Nigerian. As a result, many farmers recorded substantial profits and experienced sustainable growth.

Another key factor in the success of these initiatives was the active participation of the private sector in the agricultural value chain. There was also a reorganization of farmers’ governance structures, shifting smallholder farmers into cooperatives and associations based on crop specialities such as the Rice Farmers Association, Maize Growers Association, Soybean Farmers Association, and others.

Without a doubt, farmers had numerous testimonies of success. Many could now afford quality education for their children, expand their businesses, fulfil their religious obligations such as pilgrimages, marry off their children, and access healthcare services with greater ease.

Other laudable initiatives under PMB’s administration included the establishment of 10 mega rice processing mills across the country to optimize the utilization of agricultural output and achieve economies of scale. He injected funds from the stabilization fund to ensure affordable finance flowed into agriculture, transformed the agricultural insurance sector, and introduced waivers and reduced tariffs on the importation of agricultural machinery and equipment. These, among other efforts, were aimed at ensuring sustainable livelihoods for farmers and achieving nationwide food security.

President Muhammadu Buhari will always be remembered by farmers as a true friend—one who understood their challenges and created enabling policies to address them. Above all, he genuinely cared for and supported farmers in their quest for sustainable livelihoods through agricultural enterprises. Despite operational bottlenecks and occasional abuses, his concern was always to bring more farmers on board and expand the reach of agricultural initiatives. The results were clear: more jobs and wealth (both direct and indirect) were created, import substitution was achieved, foreign reserves were saved, rural economies were stimulated, and agriculture emerged as a leading contributor to Nigeria’s GDP—accounting for over 24%.

It is evident that since independence, President Buhari remains the Nigerian leader who provided the highest support to agricultural finance, resulting in massive production of both food security crops—such as rice, maize, cassava, soybeans, millet, and yam—and export crops like cocoa, sesame, hibiscus, shea nuts, and cassava.

May Allah forgive his shortcomings and reward him with the highest rank in Aljannah Firdaus. Ameen.

Adamu, FNIM, HCIB, FCIM&L, was a former MD/CEO, Bank of Agriculture Limited.