Oyebanji's Agric Revolution: Creating Legacy For Economic Growth, Food Security -

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By Wole Olujobi

When he announced his development blueprint encapsulated in a Six-Point Agenda incorporating governance, youth development, agriculture and job creation through micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) financing and support and digital skills, vocational skills, Ekiti Knowledge Zone and sports development; education; healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and social investment sectors in 2022, Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of Ekiti State, largely driven by his sense of community, left no one in doubt that he had a vision to address the multifaceted crises that had plagued Ekiti State over the years, subjecting it to the backwaters of development to struggle within the ranks of poverty-stricken societies that live without creating conditions for survival.

In his speeches during campaigns leading to his victory in the 2022 governorship election, Oyebanji spoke eloquently on his development strategies, elucidating on his vision with the grasp and depth that convinced voters that, indeed, his tutelage under two former administrations had prepared him well for the job he was saddled with, to make a mark in the development footprint of Ekiti State.

Three years after, Oyebanji has performed creditably well in the fulfilment of his campaign promises to make a fundamental difference in the lives of Ekiti people.

In agriculture sector, in particular, Oyebanji has woken consciousness among Ekiti people that riches live in the bowels of Ekiti natural endowments, including the land, that if vigorously explored, are veritable vehicles to drive the state economic and industrial development.

Oyebanji is not an accidental leader. Besides learning the ropes from two former governors, as an avid reader with an eye on development literatures around the globe, he is conversant with the development processes and models that shape the destinies of several developed nations of the world.

Therefore, while preparing for the leadership of Ekiti State with a special focus to make agriculture a major plank of his development strategy, he did not come empty-handed. He had learned from the countries which built their economies around agriculture, which include major global players, such as China, India, Brazil and the United States, as well as many nations in Africa, such as Ethiopia and Niger; and South-East Asian countries like Cambodia, which rely heavily on agriculture for employment, GDP and food security.

Most of these countries with large populations are the world’s largest agricultural producers and consumers, with high percentage of those countries making internal food security a national priority. Agriculture is also their biggest employer of labour, employing over half the workforce and contributing substantially to their GDP.

Oyebanji also learnt that many of these countries actively promote youth in agriculture. As a man who has a knack for breaking new grounds, he is always in search of knowledge to explore possibilities. He came across flourishing riches in OYA scheme. OYA is a leading lending platform for micro and small businesses that some countries have explored to build their economies around the productive segments of their populations. OYA’s mission is simple: to help support and grow small businesses.

He had read about OYA agric scheme in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Ghana and Zambia where OYA programme focuses on agribusiness and entrepreneurship for youths. He also equipped himself with the youth in agriculture models in Asian countries, such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, which developed successful roadmaps for youth agri-entrepreneurs with support from organisations like the FAO and AsiaDHRRA.

These schemes have made significant impacts in the economic and social life of these societies, by creating safety net for their security and survival, driving economic growth by reducing unemployment, improving food security, driving innovation, adopting new technologies and transforming the agriculture sector of the economy.

Since coming on board, Oyebanji has been very focused on translating his vision into a veritable reality to build a legacy whereby youths are taken away from the streets as beggars and criminals to engage in productive agricultural production, to become employers of labour to tackle unemployment, ensure food security and be self-reliant with money in the pocket.

But to unlock youths’ potential, they need access to resources like land and credit, along with skills training and greater awareness of the opportunities available, which helps shift perceptions of agriculture from a negative or outdated occupation to a dynamic and rewarding career.

All these Oyebanji had in advance in his pocket before jumping to the fray to seek the votes of Ekiti people to enable him put into practice what he had learnt from his leaders and what he had read in his library over the years.

In his agriculture policy, Governor Oyebanji, who declared 2025 the “Year of Accelerated Growth in Shared Prosperity”, with a focus on tripartite food production, infrastructure and service delivery, focuses on developing and safeguarding security and youth engagement by establishing the Ilu Eye Agro-Trading and Aggregation Company Limited to add pep to food supply chains in a well-nurtured agricultural value chain through security and infrastructure, while also creating platforms, such as the ‘Bring Back Our Youths into Agriculture’ programme with subsidised inputs to attract young people to agribusiness.

Strategic cultivation of high-value tree crops through subsidies for seedlings and aims to transform agriculture into a lucrative, sustainable, and youth-attractive commercial enterprise, are also part of the package, particularly in his flagship programme, “Bring Back Our Youths into Agriculture,” which provides platforms, land, subsidized inputs, and training to make agribusiness appealing and profitable for young people in Ekiti State.

The policy emphasises improving security, rehabilitating farm roads, and providing essential infrastructure to support agricultural activities, including subsidies for key tree crops like oil palm, cocoa and cashew, to revive and scale up their production, aiming to restore Ekiti’s reputation as a leading cocoa producer.

Tailored along the old Western Region’s farm settlements scheme but larger in scope and more ambitious in execution, Oyebanji’s ultimate goal is to transform agriculture into a lucrative, sustainable commercial enterprise that is attractive to the youth and drives the socio-economic development of the state, with agric hubs created, such as the Oke-Ako Agro-Industrial Hub, to integrate all aspects of the agricultural value chain from land development to logistics. So far, Oyebanji has established such farms in some 32 locations scattered across the state.

To ensure a conducive social environment for the youth in those locations, Oyebanji provided basic amenities, such as solar light, boreholes, digital television and sport facilities, among other social amenities, for the social needs of the youth in the farm settlements.

To ensure a successful scheme, Oyebanji also partnered with companies with requisite skills in agricultural production, such as YSJ Farm Limited, Cavista Holdings and Origin Tech Group, to leverage private sector expertise for agricultural development.

He also distributed farm inputs to 9,455 farmers under FADAMA CARES. Others include 29,567 cassava bundles, 7,999kg of maize seeds, 5,754kg of rice seeds, 26.75kg of tomato seeds,13.02kg of pepper seeds, 23.51kg of okra seed, 123.32kg of powder insecticides, 1,239 Lt of liquid insecticides, 213.8kg of powder fungicides, 119Lt of liquid fungicide, 517,350kg of NPK fertiliser, 1,089Lt of liquid fertiliser, 53,250kg of urea and 269475 day-old chicks.

Others are 305,900kg of poultry feeds, 621.074kg of poultry drugs, 281,000 doses of vaccines, 89,800 pieces of juveniles, 39,465kg of fish feed, 43.7kg of fish drug, 30,000kg of goat feed and1.5kg of animal drugs.

There is also Ekiti State Agricultural Farm Input; 50% Subsidy Scheme with 527 beneficiaries in maize production, 301 beneficiaries of cassava production, 1,500 beneficiaries of agro-chemicals and 400+ beneficiaries in tractorisation scheme.

To ensure the sustenability of the scheme, the Livestock Productivity & Resilience Support Project (LPRES) office complex was commissioned in Ado-Ekiti, including establishment of Ekiti State Agro Marshals to secure the farmlands, distribution of 100,000 doses of anthrax vaccine from LPRES national office, commissioning of two Hilux vehicles, one Hummer bus and 20 motorcycles for LPRES, clearing and ploughing of 1,000 hectares of land for 400 farmers under the tractorisation subsidy scheme, and establishment of 32 farm clusters across the state, topping it with Ekiti State Agric Cargo International Airport, for cross-border exposure of Ekiti agricultural activities and products to the wider international markets.

Others include the engagement of 1,000 youths in agriculture in partnership with YSJ Farm Ltd, and signing of MOU with Cavista Holdings to boost cassava farming, dredging of dam for farm irrigation in Erinfun, Ado-Ekiti; recruitment of 50 grazing management marshals in various farming communities, allocation of 500 hectares under land clearing project, and engagement of 913 youths for different crops cultivation under Bring Back Ekiti Youths to Agric Project.

With the deployment of modular solar-powered irrigation systems across farm clusters, all-year round agricultural production will be possible to enhance productivity and bumper yields.

So far, Oyebanji’s agricultural scheme, in his astute husbandry of resources, is already bearing fruits. For instance, the 2023-2024 crop productivity figures indicated a promising progress in Ekiti agricultural production sector, particularly in food crops grown majorly in Ekiti State, which include yam, cassava, maize and rice, among others.

In the crop productivity figures, cassava production moved from 2,030,388 metric tonnes in 2023 to 2,077,087 metric tonnes in 2024, yam rose from 1,502,150 metric tonnes to 1,536,699 metric tonnes, while maize made a major leap, increasing from 257,635 metric tonnes to 268,971 metric tonnes. The same major leaps are recorded in poultry and other animal husbandry schemes.

Any wonder that prices of consumables have dramatically fallen across the state, particularly in BAO Market located in the popular Moferere/Agric Olope area of the state capital, among other local markets.

To sustain the current gains to address unemployment, food security and rural empowerment and curb poverty and rural-urban migration, Oyebanji in his agricultural policy for second term has assured on building on the current gains to make Ekiti State the hub of agricultural production for jobs creation, food security, crime reduction, defeat poverty, enhanced social security and gross domestic product (GDP) and a centre for production of raw materials for industry to aid Ekiti State’s industrial production capacity.

Oyebanji knows the terrains. He knows when and where it hurts because he once felt the pains. He holds the key to unlocking the gates that keep Ekiti captive in poverty in the midst of plenty. The morning shows the day. The current gains point to greater years under Oyebanji’s safe hands, as clock ticks for second term in office to consolidate initiatives in agricultural production for economic growth, fight and banish poverty, drive youth empowerment and food security to bequeath to Ekiti people the legacy of progress driven by passion for a prosperous society anchored on visionary leadership.