Kwara State is a pioneer in agro business in Nigeria which it is revolutionalising through its Shonga Scheme. This is yielding high results for the state, especially in the areas of job creation and the transformation of the hitherto subsistence farming. The State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatai Ahmed, is immensely delighted by the outcome and is taking the policy to another level by bringing more investors and providing support infrastructure like roads, water and other facilities.

In this interview with James Ume, he elaborates on these and other areas of the state's economy such as education and health.

What is the thrust of your administration's agricultural policy?

When we assumed office in 2011, we came with a clear mindset on what we intended to do in the next four years. The first step was ensuring that we make the lives of Kwarans better than we met it. One thing which tried to pull us down was the limited resources to get this done. We felt that the only way we could get value for money will be through what we call ‘optimal allocation of resources.' To do this, we needed to plan and this required harnessing all the available resources and channelling same to achieve the desired result.

During our campaign we had preached continuity. We based this on the foundations laid by the last administration and how we could leverage on that to move to the next level. One thing which came up very quickly was that we needed to make the policy very current so that they could drive recurrent exigencies. In the process of that, we looked at agriculture.

First and foremost, before you ever think of moving forward, you must have food in your stomach to feed the brain, so that the brain can think and develop other ideas that will feed the system. I have instances where one particular effort brought in some of the farmers - whom we now know as ‘The New Nigerian Farmers' - to settle in Songa. Luckily, I was part of the process of setting up the first public-private commercial agricultural venture in Nigeria. At that time, we were not ready to understand commercial agriculture - we had no commercial model that was to drive commercial agriculture. What we had been doing in the past was supporting subsistent farming. Even in instances where we had the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), it had largely supported rural farming, in terms of subsistence. So, for commercial farming, it was a herculean task to start it in our environment; more so, under a private sector-driven initiative. Again, also, we were able to come up with a working model, by setting up special purpose vehicles that were able to raise money for the sector, combined with the state government's effort in providing services to drive that initiative. I am happy that that initiative is a success. Yes, it came with its own challenges, but it was a huge success. A huge success to the extent that it has given us an insight into what commercial farming should be like. That, again, has given us a leap, to move our subsistence farmers who make up about 70 per cent of our population into commercial farmers. We can do this by taking what we have learnt from the New Nigerian Farmers. This has seen us take some critical steps: the first step is that we must enumerate our farmers, because we are taking off a planning process. The process of enumeration requires us to carry out a census of farmers across the state. This was done by the last administration, but we have now verified those numbers.

The next level will now be how to compartmentalise our farmers into cooperative groups by farm size, location and crops. As a state, we have taken the initiative of driving four major crops: rice, maize, soya and cassava. These are the first set of crops we want to drive as a test model to see how to drive the expected commercial venture we talked about.

But then, you see, to the extent that it touches on the Federal Government's Transformational Agenda, there are several issues at stake: there is a huge knowledge gap, a concept of value chain, a need to understand the soil; we need to understand the past, and the reason why we have not been getting results despite all we have been doing in over 30 to 40 years in agriculture. When last did we conduct any soil test to see what our soil can support? When last did we match inputs based on soil test experience? When last did we encourage value chain and try to employ backward integration for prospective users of the sector? These are germane questions that need to be asked, so as to design a way forward. We also realise that this whole lot can simply be created into a working platform when we bench-mark against the working practices.

We have seen developed, developing and evolving economies all taking to agriculture and making a success out of it. How were they able to do it? There has been a huge gap between research institutions and the practising farming environment.

We have a Faculty of Agriculture in the University of Ilorin. I cannot remember if there has ever been a synergy between the research institute and the practising farming communities we have around here. So, that huge gap is the fault of both sides - the communities and the institutes. So we felt that we have to do something to bridge this gap. That caused us to link up with Cornell University in the United States of America. Cornell, we understand, has been very strong partners in helping countries develop plans for agriculture. They've helped a lot of countries in Asia and even in Africa, and I am sure that they have never been approached by any state in the country to help out with their agriculture. This involves looking at it from the basic level - soil inputs to support soil, type of soil arrangement, and type of plant you want to grow, purpose of the plants, and what-nots will have to be put in place.

We sought the support of the institute and they favourably responded. We did not go to the university on our own; we sought the advice of professors of Agriculture at the Kwara State University and the University of Ilorin, and they advised us accordingly. We made a tripartite partnership to help the state transit from a subsistent level to a truly commercial level on the agric platform, not only for Nigeria, but for Africa as well.

Once the master plan was spelt out, it allowed everyone to see how farming can be driven from a subsistence level to commercial level through a value-chain concept by incorporating all the processes involved in the value chain, and allowing key players to play the roles they can, and link the farmer to the consumer. That platform does not only ensure an agro-based economy, but creates a multiplier effect and helps to generate employment for everyone in the country. That is the big picture.

We have always thought that this is doable. My experience being in charge at the Songa Farms has taught me that many of the things people consider impossible are possible. If I had been told that within few years, I would be able to raise N10billion through private partnership, I would have said it was impossible. But the fact that we are pushed by that desire to come out with a working model makes it all possible. This gave me the insight to see that we can be driven by necessity to come up with a working platform. This drove us to partner with Cornell and will help us to forge what we call the Kwara State Agricultural Masterplan, which, ultimately, will designate a section of the state as an agric city. Ultimately, we will take those areas around the River Niger, which have a year-round supply of water, to support irrigation and create what we call an agric city for key crops.

The master plan is already being started, and implementation will take off within the next 60 to 70 days. Everything is clearly articulated: in terms of what is to be done, in terms of inputs in material, resources - all clearly articulated on year-by-year basis, with a budget that allows you to run on a step-wise growth process.

Since we intend to implement this, I am sending a copy to the federal government. It requires synergy between the state and the federal government, as well as private sector. We see this as an incubating process of the much-desired agro-economy for Nigeria. We want to initiate it here. So many things have been done in agriculture, but, for once, we want to take it seriously, from a well planned process to an enviable level that will see Nigeria emerge with a truly defined agro-economy.

I am happy to let you know that we are beginning to ship the first set of cassava chips to China from Shonga Farms. Shonga Farm is preparing to ship the first set of chips to China, largely farmed by one of our Shonga farmers, in Ireti Farms. Ireti Farms is owned by one of our farmers who came in from Zimbabwe. He plants cassava, and today, he produces the highest yield in the country. He produces 40 tonnes per hectare, against a national average of 15 tonnes per hectare.

He has really optimised the land space he has (about 1,000 hectares).

How will this translate into employment potential for state?

We saw a plethora of youths during our campaign, and we recognised that as a huge challenge, one which, if not controlled, would become a security issue. For us, we must take a leap to ensure that our youths are properly guided. We were guided, and that is why we are where we are today. We went to public schools, and they were good: that is why we find ourselves at the level we are today. Now, we must, in addition to providing public services, provide for our youths. Today, how do we guide them in our job process? We must train them to have skills. After acquiring these skills, we must also ensure we incorporate them into the economy's value system. That done, we can then set up enumeration platforms in each of the 16 local governments, and appoint youth empowerment coordinators, whose responsibility will be creating a database for the youths, from 15 to 35 years of age. This data can be based on education level, skills or vocation.

We can also see them begin to get into the planning process. An example is when we were able to create an immediate window to employ about 2,000 of them on the spot. We said these 2,000 will be getting onto this bridge, and this bridge will be climbing up to the private sector, as soon as the vacancies are opened as a result of retirements. I am glad to inform you that over 1,500 of these youths have been fully engaged. A new set of 1,500 will be moving onto that bridge. This is a subtle way of engaging those who have formal education. Those who have informal education need to be trained on skills. We agreed that we must harmonise our skill acquisition centres under the Ministry of Human Capital Development, and we have fused this into our ministry of education. It is now Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, and will cater for all informal skills acquisition centres under a platform that will monitor their curriculum, to see that they are taught what is current and in relation to the Nigerian economy - plumbing, engineering, refrigeration and air-conditioning, and all areas, into the current needs of the market. The market is so huge that foreigners have access. You can see how many people from neighbouring West African countries are into POP (Plaster of Paris), tiling and other works. If the vacancies are not there, they won't be here. So, we have the responsibility of providing these skills.

We are now resuscitating our technical colleges, because, you see, by some means, we have allowed our secondary schools to degenerate into a generic process. Ideally, our secondary schools should be technical training institutions, such that only a third should be providing the basic secondary education. Why should this be so? If you consider the ratio of those who get into nursery, primary and secondary schools at the initial level, not more than 30 per cent ultimately gain admission into the Universities. So, why don't we incorporate skills acquisition into that process of education, so that the two thirds who can't proceed to the University can learn skill acquisition? If this is done, the government has to provide a way for them, through funding, perhaps. You can then have youths who have been trained as engineering support staff, refrigeration support staff, civil support staff, and mechanical support staff. These are the kind of things we want to bring back, so we are resuscitating three technical institutions, one in each senatorial district - Patigi, Ilorin and Erinle. We'll bring them to a point where they will begin to turn out students who are self-employed.

We can then go on and expand by creating two in each senatorial district. Ultimately, we will now create a skill acquisition centre. Besides, we are being supported by the National Employers Consultative Association (NECA), which deals with middle-level man power support scheme, by assuring the training and management of their skills and ensuring that their skills are relevant to the market.

We are working alongside with them to develop a curriculum that will aid us in defining the type of school and department that will exist there. We don't want to train people on generic skills, so that when they are done, they are not too useful. Instead of just learning how to weld, they will be learning how to weld underwater, so that they can be relevant to the petroleum industry. Same applies to painting and other related ones.

Everything is on track and, hopefully, everything will be concluded within the next 60 days.

What informed the carving out of a new Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science and Technology?

You see, in the course of the last administration, we decided that we had to re-create a workable module for education transformation, largely because we saw what the country had undergone within the last 30 to 40 years. There has been a gradual decadence in education support for our youths, largely due to the kind of results many of them show on graduating from the secondary or primary schools. It became clear that the educational system was falling. We were interested in knowing and checking why they were falling apart. We quickly went back to the basics, and we recognised that the issue was with that level. We also surmised that it can only be bad at that level if those who are imparting knowledge at that stage are not doing a nice job. So we took a deeper look at the colleges of education designed to train people at the basic level. We found out, to our dismay, that they were also faulty. You see, if colleges of education are designed to train students at the basic level, why should they, for God's sake, teach chemistry and physics at that level? They ought to teach basic education relevant courses from the curriculum, to represent what we want them to teach at those levels.

By the time we get those teachers out, we must have improved on the knowledge of those who will impart knowledge at that level. By the time they are going to the senior secondary school level, they would have been fully prepared, because the teacher must have prepared them to move to the next level. That led us to act on the colleges of education - restructuring the teaching curriculum at the basic level, and ensuring that there is a harmonised curriculum across all schools, and the testing of the teaching skills of our teachers have since commenced from the last administration. So, we can start seeing results within the next three to four years. That is the first module. The second module is infrastructure: we want to ensure that we have classrooms for our teeming pupils, and ensure the provision of laboratories. Within a year alone, we have renovated more than 300 - 400 classrooms across the state, and we have built no fewer than 200-300 classrooms across the state for basic education levels, thanks to the support of the SUBEB and UBE. We have been able to utilise their support to carry on the support schemes. That is the state of the basic level.

At the tertiary level, we are also looking to ensure that the acquisition of knowledge is done in very standard environments. We know the huge challenges students face in a bid to fund education, so on assumption of office, we were able to bring down the fees payable by indigenes of Kwara State in the state-owned university by a third, so as to create some succour for our parents who have had some challenges in paying fees.

In addition, we have a bursary system through which we support our teeming youths, to supplement whatever they get from their parents. By and large, these are some of the platforms we have created for basic tertiary education, and skill acquisition sectors.

Most importantly, you have to recognise the fact that we want to strengthen the administration of these institutions, so that it can spill over and link up to our civil service and private sector. We have created a new ministry, the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Science and Technology. The essence of this is to ensure that we don't keep turning out graduates who are irrelevant to our markets. The job of the ministry is to relate with the schools and the market on continuous basis, in ensuring that the curriculum the schools are following are made market relevant. With this, each time we turn out teachers (either HND,OND or degree-holders, or even nurses or people who are vocation-trained), they become market relevant: not just in the generic way you keep turning out people, such that what they are trained for is not relevant to the market, but authentic graduates capable of imparting knowledge.

The Ministry of Education was becoming too large and the gap was widening. That is why we are where we are at this point, trying to plug the damage by building a linkage between the tertiary institutions and the market.

A lot of experience was also drawn from what took us to Cornell in the first place.It is the existence of a wide gap between the research institutions in our institutions of higher learning and the practising farming communities. This is partly what led to the creation of the ministry.

You talked about MoU in the agricultural sector; how far has the government gone with its implementation?

You see, when we came on board, a lot of people were interested in what we are doing, so they came in. The Spanish embassy approached us and said that they had people from Spain who are interested in coming to Africa, and they would want a state as serious as we are to partner with them on rice production. When they saw that we had the experience of dealing with the New Nigeria Farmers under a public-private partnership scheme, we were able to create a funding window using a special purpose vehicle. We said we would be willing to undertake the partnership.

We were invited to Spain, because we needed to know if they were real farmers. They took us to their farms, and we saw that they were true rice growers, but they had a constraint with driving farming at that level, knowing that the cost of production was rising astronomically, coupled with the current Euro zone economic downturn. They needed softer landing for cheaper inputs, so that they could move on with the much-desired growth in their farming business.

After going to their farms in Spain, we agreed on the mode of operation and partnership, on the understanding that they would bring their funds. We, on the other hand, promised them infrastructure - roads, water, electricity, land and security. All these things were captured under the equity contribution. They would come with their money, equipment, processing factories and involvement in sales. As a result, whatever is due to us in equity will be given to the state government. It is that simple: the gives and takes of partnerships. We signed a MoU of what we wanted, so they too had to source for funds (it is not as if they have the funds on ground) from other partners. Once they do this, and they come into the country, we will get down to business.

We have shown them the area where they can take on for farming, and they have gone back to test the soil samples. It suits what they want. They are going on a modular premise, so they cannot decide to cultivate just 2000-3000 hectares. Every year, they must cultivate 5000 hectares. So, within a period of four years, they must have cultivated 20,000 hectares.

The rice will be sold in the state, in the continental sub-region, within the country and wherever else it gets to. What we are interested in is being able to create an employment platform for our teeming youths, and create an improved atmosphere for buying and selling through an active agricultural business scheme. With this, our people can create wealth through agriculture. This is what matters the most to us in this state. We will pursue, earnestly, whatever platform will make this come true for the people.

As it is today, we have gone past the level of the MoU, farming site allocation, hectare cultivation and the rest. We are at the process where they ought to deliver on their own side. We have also spoken to our bankers, as regards any form of input which we need to avail the farmers, so that we don't renege on our agreement due to error of judgement. Once they bring their agreement, we will set about perfecting other little details. We, also, must not forget that the initiative was theirs, so all we ought to do is provide them with all they need to make the agreement worthwhile, and drive their business successfully.

A cassava-farming plan is also in the works, somewhere around the Shonga area. It is targeted at our teeming farmers who, hitherto, had been farming cassava without planning. The new plan will cluster them into groups, such that we can harvest the products, process them into chips and export them to countries where they are needed. These are the kinds of things we are putting in place.

What is your policy on road construction and rehabilitation?

We redefined policies which we know are not affecting our people positively. Just as we are re-defining the state's agricultural policy, so are we redefining those that have to do with roads. If our agricultural system must work, then it has to be tied to the nature of the roads. Whatever we are planning cannot be totally successful if we do not pay attention to road construction. However, whatever we must do on our roads will be determined by the agro-sector. In other words, we have identified all our farming environments and ensured that our roads will start off from the communities, because those are the places where every product will pass through to the urban places. Hence, we have decided to embark on rural-road construction. As I am talking to you, we have embarked on construction of rural roads within the state today, expending over N2billion. This is due to a joint agreement between the state and the local government areas. The state government is providing N1.4 billion, while the local governments are providing over N600 million. This has always been the agreement in such matters, so that the local governments can take responsibility for it.

In addition to that, we have looked at the roads in the municipalities, and we have embarked on a zero-pothole operation. We are doing this to ensure that the roads that have been constructed can be adequately maintained - this is what is lacking in Nigeria. The reason why we keep celebrating infrastructure is because we always need new ones. If we had taken care of the ones we have, we won't be constructing new ones today. Most of the roads you hear people complaining about, it is due to poor maintenance. We must begin to think of how to properly construct infrastructure and manage them in this country.

Your administration reconstructs federal projects; what is the arrangement and how do you get refund?

That is the problem, one which would not have been there if there was a respected synergy. This synergy has to come into being at the point of budgeting, where we are supposed to agree on ownership. The state and federal governments need to do this for our infrastructural development, because it has worked for education and health - in fact, all other sectors: talk about SUBEB, UBEB, MDGs, and the likes of them. Why can't it be extended to roads, water and agriculture?

Under the MDGs, we have delivered on health, education, and other areas. The federal government gave money, we counter-funded it, and, today, we are enjoying the benefits. It is either we allow the 62 percent endorsed by the FG to come back to the state or we create a platform for synergy. It does not make sense to run parallel activities.

What is your administration doing regarding health and water supply?

When you look at health, for instance, our policy is that we do not want any of our people going for any health delivery beyond 500 metres. This is our goal for primary health, and, to make that a reality, we have to ensure that we establish primary health centres in every nook and cranny in the state with the support of the MDGs under the synergised platform in 2009/2009. By 2010/2011, we brought equipment for these health centres. True, we might not have been able to reach everywhere, but I can say the work is 80 per cent done. By and large, that takes us to ensure that this policy is well grounded.

We have since divided our health sector into three sectors: primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary covers our basic health centres. We want to ensure that within a cluster of these centres, we will have general hospitals, and the people must have access to these hospitals. While carrying out our enumeration, we discovered that the last administration did a good job of that.

The secondary level takes us to the general hospitals. Not all local governments have general hospitals, so we have to provide that for them. But before we do, we have to look at the state of the existing ones, so that the new ones do not have to go the same way. They require renovation and refurbishment, and we have renovated five of them: one in Ilorin, which is the biggest of them all, because more people live in Ilorin than any other place in the state. It is also our state capital. Another in Share, one in Omuaran, one in Offa, and another in Kaiama.

We redesigned the hospital in Ilorin to define what kind of hospital we want to have, and ensure that it meets all the exigencies of modern health delivery. It is as if we are constructing a hospital afresh: we did not only bring down the doors, windows, and knock-off some walls; we constructed new streets, new departments, harmonising them, like creating the departments of paediatrics, creating VIP wards, creating pharmaceutical units, importing the school of mid-wifery there. So, many things are happening at the same time. It is costing us over N1billion to put these things together.

Each of the other four general hospitals will be costing us N200million each and over N1billion in Ilorin. We are upgrading these ones into standard hospitals, to support more people. We are starting from scratch in Ilorin, so as to show how serious we are at re-defining everything. I will be very happy to be remembered for that single act, because I know our people value that hospital. Not only that, it is located in a strategic place, one that can be accessed from every part of Ilorin.

I expanded the road to the teaching hospital, because of the pressure around the place. Many a time, many in critical condition died before they could get to the hospital, no thanks to traffic jam around the place. We expanded the road and the traffic began to flow freely. Now, it is truly a teaching hospital.

When we are through with these five hospitals, we will take on another five. We will take on another five on a yearly basis. When we are done, we will focus on the construction of more hospitals in almost all local governments. We have three specialist hospitals. All of them are being equipped to deliver the level of healthcare which they are meant to, to ensure that they support the general hospitals in case of referrals. The previous administration did that, but we are taking it to another level.

We are also recruiting doctors, nurses and other health personnel. We are starting another College of Nursing in Oke-Ode, to turn out sets of relevant, qualified nurses for these hospitals. These nurses will fit into the changing scheme of things. Communicable diseases are decreasing, and we are battling with non-communicable diseases in these times, so they have to be equipped for all this. For water, we want to ensure that no one goes beyond 500 metres to search for water. We have since divided the state into different segments, and we have about one-and-a-half kilometre ratio. The people must start to access water from two kilometres. We are now one and a half kilometres away, and before the expiration of the year, we will achieve that 500 metre mark for potable drinking water; that is our policy.

We have figured in on the degree of growth of Ilorin and the pressure on resources - water, food, security, etc. We are looking to connect these emerging places to the water grid, to prevent a complete breakdown.

We are succeeding in the areas of water, health and security - for these, we are leaving no stone unturned. We are cooperating with the men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Nigeria Police, as well as encourage individuals to know that they are their brother's keeper. We encourage the forces by donating vehicles and logistics to them. We also let people know that they should install CCTV cameras in strategic places.

I am happy to tell you that most of these places, including the international diagnostic centre that we have built, are fully equipped, and when they are fully ready, they will save us the billions of dollars which our people spend on treatment outside the shores of this country.

The only reason why the diagnostic centre has not been commissioned is that we want it to be commissioned at the same time with the Central Mosque. The Vice President is waiting to do it, but I don't want him to come twice: I want both projects to be commissioned at the same time.

Also, check out the cargo section at the airport. It is the only cargo section in the country with a wet station for storing agricultural products.

Kwara should be rated number 1 as far as being able to airlift agricultural produce is concerned.