NIGERIA’S GREAT RESET – PART 11
BEYOND THE RAIN: IRRIGATION, AGRICULTURE AND NIGERIA’S BATTLE FOR FOOD SECURITY
By Gloria Fraser, MFR
President Tinubu’s agricultural reforms can become a national revolution if Nigeria secures its farms, modernises livestock and fisheries, and liberates food production from dependence on rainfall
OPENING REFLECTION
“A nation that waits helplessly for the rain to feed its people has surrendered its food security to the weather.”
An African proverb says, “The rain does not fall on one roof alone.” When a farmer loses a harvest, the consequences travel beyond the farm—to transporters, traders, processors, restaurants and family kitchens.
Nigeria cannot defeat food inflation while agriculture depends overwhelmingly on uncertain rainfall. Running a national food system entirely on rain-fed farming is like operating a factory whose electricity switch is controlled by the weather.
Food security is a chain connecting water, land, security, crops, livestock, fisheries, machinery, credit, storage, processing, transportation and markets. If one critical link breaks, consumers eventually pay the price.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recognised this urgency in July 2023, declaring food security a national priority and announcing interventions involving fertiliser, improved seeds, mechanisation, irrigation, storage, processing and concessionary finance. Later initiatives included dry-season cultivation, soil-health management, solar irrigation and agricultural machinery.
The direction is correct. The challenge is to unite these interventions into a measurable production system capable of supplying affordable food throughout the year.
President Tinubu has expressed the ambition clearly: “We envision Nigeria as a global agricultural powerhouse—supplying quality produce to international markets while ensuring every citizen can access affordable, nutritious food.”
FOOD INFLATION BEGINS BEFORE THE MARKET
Food costs accumulate before produce reaches consumers. Farmers pay for inputs, labour, machinery and transport. Insecurity reduces cultivation; poor roads raise freight charges. Without storage, farmers sell cheaply after harvest, while later scarcity raises prices.
Floods, drought, crop and animal diseases, livestock conflict, electricity shortages and currency depreciation add further pressure.
Temporary import waivers and grain releases may provide relief, but they cannot replace greater domestic production, lower post-harvest losses and efficient distribution.
Government programmes must therefore be assessed by hectares actually cultivated, yields harvested and food delivered—not hectares announced.
BEYOND SEASONAL FARMING
Nigeria possesses considerable irrigation potential, yet only a small proportion of suitable land is effectively irrigated. Depending entirely on the rainy season produces a cycle of abundance, waste and scarcity.
The National Patriots proposes an Irrigation and Food Security Delivery Mission to coordinate year-round production.
Drip irrigation delivers water close to plant roots, reduces evaporation and permits more precise application of fertiliser. Yet no single technology suits every crop or ecological zone. Rice fields, grains and floodplains may require gravity-fed systems, sprinklers, controlled flooding or canals.
Nigeria therefore needs a scientific mixture of drip irrigation, sprinklers, solar pumps, water harvesting, dams and canals. The mission should map resources, establish state targets, equip verified cooperatives, rehabilitate abandoned schemes, train farmers and encourage domestic production of irrigation equipment.
Irrigated clusters must also be connected to storage, processing, electricity, roads and markets. A harvest without preservation is money left outside in the rain.
EDEN NIGERIA: A VISION THAT PRECEDED ITS TIME
Nigeria does not need to search abroad for every irrigation lesson.
Eden Nigeria executed a pioneering 150-hectare drip-irrigation project at Dadin Kowa Dam—then situated in Bauchi State and now in Gombe State. Dadin Kowa is widely described as Nigeria’s second-largest dam and possesses extensive irrigation potential.
The project, conceived under the leadership of Princess Gloria Adebajo-Fraser, MFR, demonstrated that large-scale drip irrigation could be implemented in Nigeria to conserve water, improve agricultural productivity and support cultivation beyond the rainy season.
According to Eden Nigeria’s project history, it was the country’s first large-scale drip-irrigation project. Former Head of State General Ibrahim Babangida commissioned the scheme, commended Princess Adebajo-Fraser’s vision and recommended that it be replicated nationwide, with each state developing an irrigated food basket.
However, General Babangida stepped aside in 1993, and the subsequent change of government brought no continuity. The project was not replicated nationally.
That missed opportunity carries an enduring lesson: Nigeria’s problem is not always the absence of ideas or successful pilot projects. Too often, it is the failure to preserve, scale and institutionalise what has already worked. A seedling planted by one administration should not be uprooted merely because another administration takes office.
President Tinubu’s emphasis on creativity, innovation, mechanisation and year-round production provides an opportunity to revisit the model.
Eden Nigeria’s completed Dadin Kowa project supplies the historical precedent. The separately proposed Eden Solar City—which is still awaiting funding—could extend the vision by integrating solar-powered irrigation, agriculture, housing, enterprise, technology and essential services within a sustainable community.
The Federal Government should commission an independent assessment of the original project, document its results and determine how an updated model could be replicated in suitable agricultural zones.
With solar pumps, improved drip technology, digital water management, storage and agro-processing, the vision of an irrigated food basket in every state can still be realised.
INTERNATIONAL LESSONS
Israel shows how agricultural research and efficient irrigation can sustain production under severe water constraints. India demonstrates the reach of drip-and-sprinkler subsidies, while warning against uncontrolled groundwater extraction.
Morocco has modernised irrigation to improve water productivity, while Egypt combines major water infrastructure with monitoring and solar-powered lifting.
Nigeria should not copy any model mechanically. The transferable lesson is that water must be managed as productive infrastructure, supported by science, farmer training, financing and maintenance.
SECURE FARMS, PROTECT FOOD
Irrigation achieves little if farmers cannot safely reach their land.
Rural policing, community intelligence, protected transport routes, forest surveillance and rapid-response capability are essential. Securing farms is both defence policy and anti-inflation policy.
President Tinubu’s approval of forest guards for Nigeria’s forest reserves recognises that criminal groups frequently use remote forests as operating bases. The proposed recruitment and deployment must be implemented with proper training, supervision, equipment and accountability.
Farm security cannot become an excuse for unregulated armed groups. Federal and state authorities must establish clear command structures and protect legitimate farmers and pastoralists from criminal violence.
MODERN LIVESTOCK
Livestock reform is equally important. President Tinubu created the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development in July 2024 to transform the sector into a modern value chain.
Ranching, feedlots, grazing reserves, dairy clusters, veterinary services, water points and organised markets should gradually replace uncontrolled livestock movement through cultivated land. Fodder production can create employment while reducing crop destruction.
Nigeria reportedly has more than 20 million cattle, yet domestic milk production remains far below consumption. Modern breeding, pasture development, veterinary care, refrigeration and dairy processing can reduce imports and increase rural incomes.
Reform must respect state land authority, community rights, consultation, compensation and environmental safeguards. But the recurring cycle of destroyed farms, rustled cattle and retaliatory violence cannot continue.
FISHERIES AND THE BLUE-FOOD ECONOMY
Food security extends to rivers, lakes and Nigeria’s territorial waters. Fish farming requires affordable feed, quality fingerlings, modern hatcheries, disease control, credit and cold-chain infrastructure.
Nigeria must act more strongly against illegal foreign fishing. Satellite tracking, electronic licensing, catch documentation, maritime patrols and prosecution should protect marine resources for Nigerian food security, employment and economic sovereignty.
It is economically contradictory to permit fish to be removed unlawfully from Nigerian waters while the country spends scarce foreign exchange importing frozen fish.
Production must increase without exhausting fish stocks or damaging marine ecosystems.
CASSAVA: FROM FOOD CROP TO INDUSTRIAL ASSET
Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, but leadership in harvested tonnage is not the same as leadership in value creation.
Limiting cassava to garri, fufu and other traditional foods while importing industrial derivatives is like exporting timber and buying back furniture.
Cassava can produce high-quality flour, industrial starch, glucose syrup, animal feed, pharmaceutical inputs and bioethanol.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima captured the transition: “Cassava is no longer just a symbol of food security for the vulnerable—it is now a symbol of prosperity for the ambitious.”
He added: “Cassava is one of the most strategic assets in our agricultural portfolio. Its applications cut across food, feed, fuel, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and even construction.”
The Tinubu administration’s cassava-bioethanol initiative projects possible annual savings exceeding ₦3 trillion by reducing reliance on imported fuel additives. That figure is a government projection, not yet realised savings, and implementation should be measured transparently.
As Headlinenews.News reported, Shettima described the programme’s wider purpose:
“This is not just about saving billions; it’s about remaking our economy. Nigeria cannot lead in production but lag in value-addition.”
At the same time, I observed: “For once, Nigeria is treating agriculture as business, not charity—this is long overdue.”
The initiative must not divert cassava from food markets in a manner that raises prices for vulnerable households. Nigeria must increase yields, strengthen farmer cooperatives and guarantee transparent contracts between growers and processors.
World Cassava Day is observed annually on 2 July. It should become more than a ceremonial date in Nigeria; it should provide an annual opportunity to publish progress on processing capacity, farmer incomes, industrial substitution and exports.
WHEN POLICY REACHES STATES AND COUNCILS
Agricultural renewal must become visible across the federation.
Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno summarised the opportunity memorably: “Agriculture is the new black gold, and we will get our people involved.”
At the council level, Akpabuyo Local Government Chairman Prince Bassey E. Effiong similarly declared: “Agriculture remains Nigeria’s hope for the future.”
These statements matter when they are translated into farm access roads, extension services, inputs, storage, processing and market access.
Federal policy can provide direction, but governors and council chairmen must ensure that assistance reaches verified farmers rather than political lists.
FROM FARMING TO AGRIBUSINESS
Higher output will not guarantee cheaper food if harvests continue to rot.
Major production clusters need aggregation centres, silos, cold rooms, processing plants and reliable transport. Warehouse-receipt systems should help farmers store produce and obtain credit rather than sell immediately at distressed prices.
Nigeria must strengthen extension services, crop insurance, agricultural research and long-term finance. Agriculture should attract young Nigerians as a technology-enabled business involving irrigation engineers, drone operators, soil technicians, veterinarians, cold-chain managers, processors and digital-market specialists.
Success must be published through measurable indicators: hectares irrigated, farmers served, yields achieved, storage capacity created, losses reduced, jobs generated and food delivered.
THE FINAL WORD
President Tinubu has correctly placed food security at the centre of economic stability. Existing reforms provide a foundation, but foundations do not feed people.
Nigeria must combine irrigation, security, mechanisation, livestock, fisheries, storage, processing and transport into one functioning food system.
The Eden Nigeria project at Dadin Kowa proved decades ago that large-scale drip irrigation could be achieved locally. Its failure to secure national replication demonstrates the cost of policy discontinuity. That mistake should not be repeated.
Nigeria possesses the land, water, labour and markets required to feed itself and become a major agricultural exporter. What it needs is disciplined execution and the institutional wisdom to build upon proven ideas.
Rain should remain a blessing to Nigerian agriculture. It must no longer remain its master.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
“Food sovereignty begins when a nation can plant beyond the rainy season, protect those who cultivate and preserve what they harvest.”
— Princess Gloria Amiida Adebajo-Fraser, MFR
THE NATIONAL PATRIOTS
The National Patriots believe food security must become a measurable national mission.
Nigeria must adopt appropriate irrigation, secure farms, modernise livestock and fisheries, process cassava and other crops, reduce post-harvest losses and develop rural value chains.
A country blessed with Nigeria’s resources should not remain vulnerable to seasonal scarcity or excessive food imports.
Princess Gloria Adebajo-Fraser, MFR
President, The National Patriots
Former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR
Vice-Chairman, Strategic Communications Committee, Buhari PCC 2019
Member, Strategy Committee, Presidency 2023.
