
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu alighting from a vehicle
Whereas the Federal Government on Tuesday this week said it has received more than 250 new tractors, with additional shipments arriving weekly, many industry observers have continued to query the usefulness of amassing farming machineries when the forests and farms are not safe for farmers in the country.
Almost every week, there are reported and many unreported cases of farmers being kidnapped, killed or taken into hostage in major Nigerian farming states by non-state actors.
Many farmers have continued to cry out that their farms have been infested by criminals who have grossed to the extent of taxing them to either enter to do farm works or enter to harvest their products.
Recently, the tractors arrived in the country in 85 containers, each conveying three units.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, revealed this to State House Correspondents at this year’s first edition of Meet-The-Press organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
This forms about 10 per cent of the 2000 tractors expected from Belarus, under the FG’s $1bn agriculture mechanisation programme.
At its 142nd held on June 27, 2024, the National Economic Council approved the programme to set up 1000 agro-sector service providers across the country with tractors.
At the time, Kyari told journalists that the FG was anticipating a new deal with Belarus Tractors to supply 2000 tractors per year for the next five years, with 9000 implements and spare parts, among others.
Before this, the FG had contracted John Deere and Tata to provide 2000 tractors before the end of 2024. But in March of that year, Kyari expressed worry over the delay in the delivery of 2,000 tractors by the two auto giants.
Speaking on Tuesday, the Minister said, “While some of the members [of the committee] were with me yesterday, we had to call the agents and they told us that 85 containers have arrived, and they are coming almost on a weekly basis.
“So if you interpolate, every container takes about three tractors. We are looking at over 200 and something tractors that have arrived [255 tractors].”
However, Kyari noted that the ultimate goal is not just about the number of tractors already in place but rather the delivery of 2,000 tractors and 9,000 accompanying implements.
Each tractor will be paired with a plough, a harrow, a planter, and a boom sprayer—totalling 2,000 of each implement—while there will be 1,200 trailers, partly because some trailers are being rehabilitated by NASENI.