Audu Ogbeh, minister of agriculture and rural development on Tuesday said that a minimum of N250 billion is required to recapitalize and restructure the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) in Nigeria.
Fearing that insecurity may further threaten food supply, Ogbeh hinted of plans by the Federal government to raise agro rangers as a panacea for farmers safety in the wake of farmers/herders clashes.
Ogbe who lamented that many farmers have abandoned their farms due to insecurity, said the Agro Rangers will be used to stem the persistent clashes threatening food security across the country
The minister who was speaking at the meeting with the management of Bank of Agriculture on “ensuring a sustainable Agricultural development”, said that the recapitalization of the bank aims at making the agriculture sector stronger and profitable to the Nigeria economy.
“The recapitalization of the bank of agriculture will make the sector stronger, this is a chance to make all Farmers co-owner of the bank, make the responsible and ease their access to credit facility as access to credit has been the major challenge facing the sector over time”.
Ogbeh, revealed the ongoing plans to intensify the agro ranger service to deepen security in the sector, adding that insecurity has driven some Farmers out of their farms.
He said “We have plans to provide new forms of security for the farmers, we are going into agriculture extension services, getting the Kings and chiefs in the rural area to be involved in ensuring security for the farmers”.
“The ministry is working to improve the supply of seeds and soil testings to prepare the sector for the projected population increase in 2050”, he added.
Heneiken Lokpobiri, minister of state for agriculture and rural development noted that restructuring the bank is an opportunity for Nigerians to own the bank and ease farmer’s access to finance adding that the current administration has laid a solid foundation to develop the sector.
“If the Bank of agriculture is fully recapitalized, it will be an opportunity for Nigerians to own the bank and it will ease access to finance. The President has laid a solid foundation for the sector as we go into the second tenure, it will be better for the sector”.
“Nigeria has been carried away by the oil revenue, it is time for us to go back to agriculture and brcae you for the challenge of feeding over 450 million people in the next 30 years as projected”.
” We should work to ensure we produce waht we eat, eat what we produce and provide jobs for the rising unemployed youth”, he said.
Alex Okoh, Director General, Bureau of public enterprise said that the meeting signals the commencement of restructuring and recapitalization of the bank of agriculture to deepen farmer’s and small scale businesses to access to low cost credit.
Okoh said “The bank of agriculture has the potential to impact and empower farmers but these potentials have not been fully realised hence it has become imperative for restructure the Bank to ensure it fulfill it’s mandate”.
The bank, he said, has been challenged by inadequate funding, poor lending philosophy , lack of proper governance structure among others adding that the restructuring will introduce better ways to facilitate and guarantee repayment of loans as often times farmers fail to repay their outstanding loans.
“This will be the farmers bank, the operations of the bank will make 60 percent of the total share available to both the farmers and private sector and 40 percent to the government agencies, this will make the farmers responsible, disciplined and foster credit repayment”.
“This restructuring will organise the farmers into corporatives through which they will get access to the shares of the bank and it will also revive the financial deligence of the bank”, he said.
