Budget: Tinubu eyes revitalised agriculture in 2025

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has promised to promote the nation’s food security, noting that increasing agriculture is central to the development of Nigeria’s economy.

The president stated this in his presentation of the 2025 budget at a joint session of the National Assembly tagged, ‘Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity.’

Recall that in 2024, the federal government allocated a total sum of ₦362,940,656,160, which was 1.32 percent of the total budget. The budget was broken into capital budget: ₦252,692,377,292; recurrent budget: ₦110,248,278,868; personnel: ₦102.1 billion, and overhead cost: ₦8.1 billion.

Meanwhile, President Tinubu, who did not state the specific allocation to agriculture, among several other sectors, said: “Increasing agricultural production is central to our food security agenda, but insecurity has crippled this vital sector. We are supporting our farmers with funding and inputs to reignite productivity.

“Food security is non-negotiable and, in this regard, we are taking bold steps to ensure that every Nigerian can feed conveniently, and none of our citizens will have to go to bed hungry,” he said.

Noting that the 2025 budget proposal again reinforces his administration’s roadmap to secure peace, prosperity, and hope for a greater future for Nigeria, he said: “This budget, christened, ‘Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity,’ strikes at the very core of our Renewed Hope Agenda and demonstrates our commitment to stabilizing the economy, improving lives, and repositioning our country for greater performance.”

“The 2025 budget that I present today is one of restoration. It seeks to consolidate the key policies we have instituted to restructure our economy, boost human capital development, increase the volume of trade and investments, bolster oil and gas production, get our manufacturing sector humming again and ultimately increase the competitiveness of our economy.

 “The journey of economic renewal and institutional development, which we began 18 months ago as a nation, is very much underway. It is not a journey of our choosing but one we had to embark on for Nigeria to have a real chance at greatness. I thank every Nigerian for embarking on this journey of REFORMS and TRANSFORMATION with us.”

Speaking on the nation’s economic realities, President Tinubu reassured that the nation is on the path of recovery.

“I report today that our economy is responding positively to stimulus. Our objective is to further stimulate the economy through the implementation of targeted fiscal stimulus packages through public expenditures and specific non-inflationary spending.”

He noted that while global economic growth for the outgoing year 2024 was projected at 3.2 percent, and against predictions, Nigeria made significant progress.

“Our economy grew by 3.46 percent in the third quarter of 2024, up from 2.54 percent in the third quarter of 2023.  Our Foreign Reserves now stand at nearly 42 billion US dollars, providing a robust buffer against external shocks. Our rising exports are reflected in the current trade surplus, which now stands at 5.8 trillion naira, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.”