- We expect that the 2000 tractors will buzz into action in the new year
The stage seems set for a new berth in food security. Judging by what those in charge are saying, the ballyhooed deployment of tractors across the country will soon commence and the tractors will be revving to farms.
The Tinubu administration had announced about six months ago that the nation had taken deliveries of 2000 tractors. They came in two batches of 1000 tractors each. The news was first received with scepticism in parts of the country, perhaps because of the sheer number.
After they arrived, doubts still lingered about the authenticity of the news until they were paraded to convince doubting Thomases in the country. After they arrived, many expected the tractors to immediately be distributed to farms across the country.
The government must take part of the blame for not communicating that it would take a process and consume time. The impatience in sections of the public was because the media did not take time to also interrogate the purpose of the delay, and also because of a perennial cynicism in parts of the Nigerian society.
The story is now clearer with the announcement by the Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Ayo Sotinrin, that the farm trucks will be distributed in January 2026.
The tractors did not come alone. He added that BOA has already acquired 9,000 implements and 18,000 critical spare parts, all warehoused in Nigeria.
All of these give the impression of readiness, and getting things right may have led to rollout delay. Sotinrin said it was a rigorous exercise that necessitated making sure that the machines fell in the right hands.
It is a government-driven process but for it to succeed, it has to depend on the private sector. They would have the tractors and they must be qualified. Hence BOA wants it to reflect the higher levels of transparency, sustainability and a total overhaul of Nigeria’s agricultural mechanisation framework, according to Sotinrin.
The BOA opened the floor for applicants across the country after an advertisement. On the application process, he explained that the bank received about 110,000 applications from mechanisation service providers nationwide.
“The advert closed last month,” he said, referring to November. “We are now shortlisting from 110,000 to about 4,000, and eventually to 2,000 companies.” He added they want to get it right for the first time in the history of interventions in the agricultural sector.
In this model, these tractors were bought with taxpayers’ money and cannot be given free to individuals. The distribution will begin in January to support dry-season farming, he said. They were imported from the Eastern European country of Belarus.
Although Sotinrin emphasised that selection would be strictly merit-based, we shall assess that when the work is concluded.
Foreclosing patronage, he said, “There will be no political allocation. If we discover that any tractor has gone to a political person, it will be taken back. No party sharing, no monkey business.” That is to be seen.
Applicants will not be mere farmers, contrary to widely held views. They are only going to companies. “If you give 2,000 tractors to 2,000 people, you disenfranchise over 69 million farmers,” he explained.
He stressed that the tractors are not intended for direct allocation to farmers. “The objective is to restructure mechanisation in a way that benefits all farmers and strengthens food security,” Sotinrin said.
The idea of the payments is to multiply the machines.
Recovered funds from repayments, he added, will be reinvested to expand the fleet to 40,000 tractors nationwide. The ultimate vision of this mechanisation plan is to move from 2,000 to 4,000, and reach up to 40,000 tractors. That is ambitious and it requires a sense of method and dedication.
Since this marks the first time in Nigeria’s history that agricultural equipment procured with public funds will not be distributed free of charge, indiscriminate distribution would undermine the national mechanisation masterplan and exclude millions of farmers.
Sotinrin said: “Farmers are not mechanisation service providers. A tractor is a business tool.
“You cannot give a truck to a wholesaler and expect him to start a transport business.
“In the same way, you don’t give a tractor to a farmer cultivating one hectare.”
It implies that mechanisation service companies must have verifiable financial capacity, strong balance sheets and the ability to pay a 25 per cent deposit will qualify. But the 25 percent requirement may be difficult to sustain, according to industry players. Yet the over 100,000 applicants means it may not be a problem.
Spreading across the country reflects fairness but we cannot deny that some states are more suited by environment and tradition to farming than others.
Sotinrin asserts that if “you spread 2,000 tractors across the 36 states, each state will have about 80 to 100 tractors.” But it will present a tricky assignment, especially if states with companies with hefty financial outlays do not fall into the brackets of what may be called agricultural belt.
Land expanse will play a role. We expect that such vibrant companies will be compelled to operate not based on where they are located but where prospects abound. “In that way, 2,000 tractors can cover over 100,000 hectares and serve millions of farmers,” he said. Companies will pay as they use. Once a tractor works on 10 hectares, for instance, the system records it and generates an invoice, he explained.
It shows that this is for the elite because only companies capable of cultivating a minimum of 500 hectares will qualify and that translates to about 1,000 hectares for every two tractors. So, 2,000 tractors amount to 100,000 hectares per cycle.
With a refinancing package of over a three-to-five-year period, it promises to be Nigeria’s first fully integrated initiative for mechanisation. About 36 mobile service trucks will provide on-site maintenance and routine servicing. Major tractor hubs across the six geopolitical zones will ease complex repairs. He says all tractors will be fitted with digital tracking systems to prevent diversion and misuse.
“The trackers tell us where the tractor is, when it is working, when it is idle and when it needs servicing. That way, the tractors can last almost forever,” he noted.
Timing the release to the beginning of the farming season is welcome, but we expect that the tractors will usher in a new burst of productivity.
We also know that high yields without enablers in roads, skills and storage will make the whole project like a stillborn child.
