In my column this week, I return home to my state, Kebbi. A state that, whenever mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is agriculture, and above all, rice. Kebbi has earned a reputation as the rice basket of Nigeria, the place where the country’s agricultural triumph is often measured. But that triumph is now under serious threat under the current leadership. Agriculture is evolving rapidly across the world and even within Nigeria, yet Kebbi seems to be standing still.
For 2025, Kebbi State has projected to spend ₦103.07 billion on agriculture, amounting to 17.8 percent of the entire budget. That makes us second only to Niger State in the whole country in terms of the share of the budget devoted to agriculture. Within our state budget, agriculture takes the fattest slice of all sectors. On the surface, this looks like a bold and commendable move. But the real challenge is not in allocating huge sums; anyone can do that. The real test lies in whether these allocations are implemented faithfully, transparently, and with real impact on farmers and ordinary citizens.
Even if the state manages only 50 percent budget performance, that would still mean more than ₦50 billion spent on agriculture this year. But now, at the end of August with barely four months to go, one must ask: do Kebbi people see evidence of even a fraction of that money working in the fields? The answer, regrettably, is no.
The only visible agricultural initiative of this government is the distribution of wet-season fertilizer. Even that has been turned into a partisan exercise. From the very composition of the monitoring committees, the design was flawed. In every local government, the team was dominated by APC loyalists: the Commissioner as Chairman, a member of the State House of Assembly, the Local Government Chairman, APC Exco representatives, the APC Women Leader, the APC Youth Leader, a Kaura Coordinator, and finally a Permanent Secretary as Secretary. Add a traditional ruler for legitimacy, and the list was complete.
No wonder many people in Kebbi called it a mini APC convention rather than an agricultural programme.
This raises a fundamental question: how can a state that prides itself as the agricultural face of Nigeria in 2025 still limit its imagination to fertilizer distribution, and even that, skewed towards party loyalists? Where are the modern programmes, the innovations, the new initiatives? Compare this with other states that allocate smaller percentages to agriculture yet deliver remarkable results.
Take Niger State, which tops the country in agricultural allocation. Beyond money, it has programmes such as the AGRA–Niger Agricultural Transformation Programme and the 2025 Action Plan, which introduced crop calendars, school gardens, and digital tracking of input distribution. These schemes are monitored by civil societies and farmer associations, ensuring they benefit farmers regardless of political affiliation. Look at Lagos, with its Produce for Lagos Initiative and the Ounje Eko Farmer Subsidy Scheme. Kaduna has the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) and the Agro Inputs Fair 2025. These states use transparent registration systems, farmer databases tied to BVN, NIN, or cooperative membership. Niger even goes further with GPS mapping to geo-tag farms, ensuring accountability. In Adamawa, extension workers are deployed to train farmers and supervise cultivation. In Kwara, agricultural fairs now feature workshops on climate-smart farming and pest control. This is 2025. These are the kinds of initiatives one expects to see. But in Kebbi, the reality is a fat allocation with little to show on the ground, and even the little visible is hijacked for partisan advantage.
It is therefore not surprising that despite Kebbi ranking second only to Niger in agricultural allocations, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) does not count us among the top five states in agricultural performance. According to the latest data, those are:
• Niger State: Produced 700,000 metric tonnes of rice in 2024 (wet season), with plans to expand to one million hectares.
• Jigawa State: Cultivated 200,000 hectares of rice and 55,000 hectares of wheat, producing 1.6 million metric tonnes in the 2024/25 season.
• Plateau State: Supplies 95 percent of Nigeria’s potatoes and leads in tomatoes, onions, millet, and sorghum.
• Kaduna State: Strong in maize, sorghum, millet, groundnuts, and livestock. In 2024 alone, it distributed 100,000 bags of fertilizer, 500 power tillers, 2,000 sprayers, and 10,000 irrigation pumps.
• Kwara and Adamawa: Depending on crop focus, they are pioneering climate-smart farming, extension services, and structured farmer training.
This shows that, no matter how much funding is directed to agriculture, the current mindset and approach of the Kebbi State administration prevent real progress in this sector and others. Even more concerning, it appears that the funds are either mismanaged or used without creating visible impact. Either way, this is a serious problem that should compel the people of Kebbi to demand a change in government.
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