Vice-President Kashim Shettima has inaugurated 375 tractors refurbished by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), under the national asset restoration programme.

The programme, launched in Maiduguri, Borno on Sunday,  is an initiative of NASENI aimed at boosting mechanised agriculture and enhancing food security in fulfillment of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda of reviving broken-down or non-functional tractors.

Each tractor has been comprehensively rehabilitated, including mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, and structural upgrades, making them ready for immediate deployment across farming communities.

While inaugurating the programme at the Borno State Agricultural Mechanisation (BOSAMAN) Farm Centre, Mr Shettima said, for so long, Nigeria had been profiled as a nation with poor maintenance culture.

“This dysfunction cuts across both the private and public sectors, and we owe it to ourselves to say enough is enough.

”Enough of investing our scarce resources in ideas and projects that get abandoned halfway through.

”Enough of allowing our critical assets to lie in waste while we budget, year after year, for the problems they were procured to solve.

”This is why I am excited about the purpose of this gathering,” the vice-president said.

He said that the initiative was a response to the nation’s cross-generational dilemma about what to do with abandoned and poorly maintained assets of the country.

According to him, it’s a powerful shift in how we think about value, sustainability, and innovation, adding, “I believe that’s what we’ve promised the nation.”

Mr Shettima revealed that available data shows that Nigeria currently holds over 26,000 units of broken-down but serviceable heavy-duty equipment and nearly 500,000 component scraps that can be restored or repurposed.

” This contrasts with the stark reality that we have only 7,000 to 12,000 functional tractors in a country that needs 2.4 million tractor units to meet our food production goals over the next decade.

“These figures are a reminder of what must be done, a reason to have a national inventory of value waiting to be unlocked.

”So, we must commend NASENI, through this Asset Restoration Programme, for stepping forward with this brilliant idea to mitigate a national tragedy,” he said.

He added that beyond the promise to refurbish hardware, NASENI had shown a great capacity to serve as a national nerve centre for technology transfer, homegrown engineering, and adaptive innovation.

”This is why we must support them. We have seen NASENI at work, playing critical roles in our interventions in compressed natural gas (CNG) retrofitting, renewable energy technologies, and agricultural mechanisation.

” We are reminded more than ever that we can’t create durable Nigerian solutions to Nigerian problems unless we localise global technologies, and relevant agencies must be supported to point us towards a stabler nation and promising future.”

Mr Shettima noted that the asset restoration programme fits squarely within the broader vision of Mr Tinubu’s administration: to build a productive, self-reliant, and diversified economy.

Earlier, Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno noted that Nigeria required a minimum of 750,000 functional tractors to meet its agricultural needs.

The governor , however, said less than 10 per cent of that number are currently operational across the country.

” The Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO) recommends tractor density of 1.5 horsepower per hectare.

“Here in Borno, our mechanisation drive has faced serious setbacks, especially following the devastating floods of September 2024, which damaged a significant number of our agricultural machines.

“That is why today’s intervention could not have come at a better time. The decision by NASENI to select Borno as the pilot state for the National Asset Restoration Programme is both strategic and timely.

“‘It offers us a lifeline to revive damaged assets and restore the capacity of our farmers to cultivate efficiently.

”Through the tireless efforts of NASENI and its technical partner, MECA, these machines are being brought back to life, and we appreciate their commitment to making this vision a reality,” he said.

Mr Zulum assured that the Borno government is fully committed to ensuring that the restored assets are properly maintained and put to optimal use.

On his part, the executive vice chairman of NASENI, Khali Halilu, said the agency’s national survey revealed that Nigeria holds over 47,000 of broken down serviceable agricultural and law enforcement assets.

He added that the cost to replace them will exceed N14 trillion, adding,  “but at NASENI, we asked a simple question. Why replace when we can restore them?

“With the right engineering, the right people and the right partnership, we can recover the assets for just 15 to 25 per cent of their replacement value and still achieve full functionality.

“That is over N10 trillion in national savings, while receiving productivity, job and security on the ground. That is the power of engineering and that is the promise of NASENI,” he said.

The minister of agriculture and food security, Abubakar Kyari, said the launching of the programme marked a defining moment in government’s efforts to bring productivity back to the core of public service delivery across sectors.

“It is about reviving hopes, reducing waste, unlocking dormant capacity and ensuring that public investment truly serves the needs of our citizens.

”This strategic focus on restoration rather than replacement is fully aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency President Bola Tinubu, who also serves as the chairman of the Governing Board of NASANI,” Mr Kyari said. 

(NAN)