The Farmer Governor Muhammad Umar Bago pronouncement on key elements of his ascension into Government House has a clear and straight-forward focus on the green economy, climate change initiatives, and food security. From day one, he has demonstrated his dedication and commitment to achieving his administration's goal of transforming the state into an agro-mechanised investment location in Nigeria.
The Presidential Commissioning of Niger State Agro Processing Free Zone and Food Security Mechanisation at the Minna International Airport is part of the farmer governor's concept of actualizing the state's blueprint on green assets for sustainable development. Part of the initiative is mapping and exploring land for cultivation, mapping and exploration of water bodies, grazing reserves, and earmarking climate-prone areas for Green House Agrotechnology.
Since its inception, the Minna International Airport has been constructed and built by its planners and architects to harness and explore the resources of the North Central geopolitical zone of Nigeria by connecting the region's vast farmlands with air transportation. The airport is envisioned by successive governments to secure and ensure that the region's water bodies and basins of the River Niger, Shiroro, Kaduna, and Gurara are adequately harnessed and exploited. Farmer Governor Muhammad Umar Bago's inheritance of the international airport has given it a boost as an agro-processing-free zone.
Moving forward, the North Central Region, especially Niger State's vast farmland, is mainly attended to through subsistence farming, which is prone to climate change and environmental depletion. The deployment of massive agricultural machines by the farmer governor has never, ever been seen in the history of Nigeria. This is gigantic and large-scale modern farming that will cultivate 4.5 million hectares of the state's landmass, which is two times the size of the United States prairies in Iowa and Pennsylvania.
President Ahmed Bola Tinubu's visit to Niger State for commissioning of the different sizes of agricultural machinery, such as tractors, graders, ploughing machines, and ridgers, will definitely kickstart his administration's food security Renewed Hope Agenda. Comparatively, the farmer governor's concept will set a new standard in Africa for large-scale and massive agricultural land cultivation, beating the standard initially set by the US prairie and Australian outback. In the words of the farmer governor, "the airport will feed the country, the green house will provide fresh vegetables and perishables, we will have a slaughter factory plant for fresh meat and beef, and we will produce all that the country needs as part of food security, using our airport as an agro-free processing zone."
This insight is from the Office of the State Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Niger State.