Obasanjo’s Free Agricultural Education Initiative: A Model for Nigeria’s Wealthy Elite
By HeadlineNews.News | May 2025
In a nation grappling with food insecurity, soaring tuition costs, and a dwindling interest in agriculture among its youth, former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent gesture to waive school fees for Agricultural students at Bells University of Technology, Ota, stands as a shining example of patriotic philanthropy. This initiative, though modest in structure, carries the potential to reshape Nigeria’s food future and reawaken a culture of legacy-driven leadership.
The Initiative: Education Without Financial Burden
The Bells University, founded in 2005 by Chief Obasanjo, has announced that students enrolling in Agriculture will pay no tuition fees. The move is aimed at:
Encouraging more youths to study agriculture.
Removing financial barriers to a strategic field.
Supporting national food security goals.
Obasanjo, a renowned farmer himself, believes that Nigeria’s survival depends on how well it feeds itself, and that begins with investing in the minds that will till its soil.
Historical Perspective: Legacy Over Luxury
Chief Obasanjo’s latest act is in line with his lifelong commitment to agriculture. After leaving office in 1979 and again in 2007, he returned to farming at his Ota Farm, refusing to embrace the extravagance that often consumes Nigerian ex-presidents.
Contrast this with former President Goodluck Jonathan, who, despite hailing from the resource-rich Niger Delta and amassing significant wealth during his tenure, has not established any publicly known free education initiative in his native Bayelsa or the broader South-South region.
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
— Winston Churchill
Education as the Great Equalizer
According to UNESCO, over 10.5 million Nigerian children are out of school, and over 60% of Nigerian youths cite tuition costs as the main barrier to higher education. Meanwhile, agriculture—a sector employing over 35% of Nigeria’s labor force—remains unattractive to the youth due to lack of training, exposure, and incentives.
Obasanjo’s gesture hits at the heart of this problem. By investing in agricultural education, he is not giving handouts—he is securing Nigeria’s future.
Call for Emulation: Where Are the Billionaire Patriots?
Nigeria’s wealthiest—many of whom have benefited from government contracts, oil blocs, and political appointments—must see this not as an exception but a moral obligation.
Why has no other former President, Vice President, or Governor replicated this model?
Why are oil-rich states not offering scholarships in geology, petrochemicals, or marine science?
From Bayelsa to Kano, from Lagos to Taraba, Nigeria’s elite must invest in legacy, not just lifestyle.
Conclusion: Planting Seeds for the Future
Olusegun Obasanjo has proven once again that nation-building does not end at Aso Rock. His latest offering—a no-fee Agriculture programme—is a quiet revolution in a country long choked by elite indifference. It is now the turn of others, especially those who have taken from the Nigerian system, to give back meaningfully.
Let every billionaire, every political heavyweight, and every custodian of influence take this as a challenge:
What will your legacy be?
Dr. Imran Khazaly
The National Patriots
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