Abdullahi Adamu: An anchorman with an astute ambition for Agric. accomplishment
By Bala Ibrahim
Everyone knows him as a politician, having been a governor, a minister and now the national chairman of the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress, APC. But Abdullahi Adamu is far more advanced with another legitimate ambition, I think. No doubt, the ambition of any high-profile politician in Nigeria is either to be a governor, a minister, a Senator, or the President. Abdullahi Adamu had been all, but the President. And in Nigeria today, no one, living or dead, had occupied all three tiers, i.e. governor, minister and President, except Muhammadu Buhari, the present President of Nigeria.
Even at that, Buhari had not been a Senator, nor the national chairman of any political party. So in that regard, Abdullahi Adamu has heavier political credentials. But still, he has a more advanced ambition, I think.
From afar, you may think the main preoccupation of Senator Abdullahi Adamu revolves around politics only. But sorry, the wrong number. A visit to his home state of Nasarawa would first confuse you, before convincing you later that, like carrots, he has some taproots in the soil. His legs are covered in the shoes, but his soul and spirit, his entire non-physical parts, the parts that control his emotions and character, are deeply rooted in the soil, for agricultural accomplishment.
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While the taproots of carrots are growing vertically downwards, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu’s tap-rooted soul and spirit are moving in all directions, and seem motivated by three desires: the desire for bridge building, the desire for community peace and the desire for food security. Yes, in Sen. Abdullahi Adamu I see an anchor-man, with an astute and artful ambition for Agricultural accomplishment.
The most popular traditional title of Sen. Abdullahi Adamu is the Sarkin Yakin Keffi, though he is also referred to as the Aare Obateru of Ife in Osun State, but methinks the best, and probably his most preferred is, the title of Sarkin Noma-the chief farmer. This is because, in Sen. Abdullahi Adamu I see, an anchor-man with an astute and artful ambition for Agricultural accomplishment.
Until his election as the national chairman of the APC a few months ago, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu was the chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture. That position, alongside the fact of being the founder of Shabu Farms, located on nearly 600 hectares of land in the village of Shabu, a few kilometres away from Keffi, have combined to give him frighteningly intimidating credentials in farming.
No wonder, a post-harvest technology manufacturing company based in Germany, Reila, arrived in Nigeria, and chose the same Shabu farm in Nasarawa State, as the right place to establish an assembly plant in the country. While registering his appreciation for the gesture by the German company, Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, gave special kudos to Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the first civilian governor of the state, for making his farm available to carry out the experiment.
According to the governor, the arrival of Reila would afford the state the opportunity to carry out post-harvest operations, which would help farmers in the state to cut losses incurred as a result of poor post-harvest handling. “The biggest part is the fact that the company has identified Nasarawa State as a place where they will set up their manufacturing site, where the assembly of agricultural implements will be carried out,” – Governor, Abdullahi Sule.
This is additional testimony to the popularly held belief that, beyond politics, Sen.Abdullahi Adamu has an advanced ambition, which is to revolutionize Agriculture and bring food closer to the table of the people.
In an interview he granted sometimes back, where he addressed the issues of the need for the country to find ways of attracting the attention of the youth to agriculture, as well as the crisis rocking the leadership of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu said,
“Nigerian youths of today do not know that there is honour in agriculture. They want to be in the banks and other places they think are more honourable. Now that our eyes are beginning to open to agriculture through the programmes of President Muhammadu Buhari, we need to take deliberate steps to induce it to the youth. To be alive and healthy, you must have food before you can pursue any other economic goal. We must bring the youths along in agriculture. This is so because, at 75, for example, how much more do I have to go? So we need to train the young guys and attract them to what will induce interest in them; otherwise, we will have problems”.
To me, this is additional testimony to the popularly held belief that beyond politics, Sen.Abdullahi Adamu has an advanced ambition, aimed at revolutionizing Agriculture, in a manner that would guarantee food security in Nigeria.
A visit to Nagari Integrated Farms, another Agricultural outfit of the Senator, which is a company that manufactures a wide range of farm produce and dairy products, would further confirm the reason for the trust and confidence of Sarkin Noma, in Nigeria’s prospect and potential in Agriculture.
Established in 2003 and based in Nasarawa State, Nagari Integrated Farms is an agricultural company that specializes in the production of dairy, fresh farm produce, abattoir, and flour. It is the largest single integrated dairy farm in Africa, which covers 1,200 ha of land, with a herd of 37 K Holstein cattle, and is the highest supplier of high-quality farm and dairy products, as well as flour milling. The farm operates a large-scale processing facility, distributed in Nigeria, with the ambition of expanding sales to the international market.
In all these, the advanced ambition of Senator Abdullahi Adamu I think, is to play the anchor-man, in taking Nigeria off the hunger map of the world.
