NASENI Enhancing Nigeria’s Agricultural Productivity Through Asset Restoration Programme

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has scored another high point in its effort to strengthen agricultural productivity in Nigeria by boosting food security and job creation for the teeming population. Through its vibrant Tractor Recovery Project under the National Asset Restoration Programme, NASENI on Sunday June 8, 2025, unveiled 375 tractors it refurbished for Borno State Government.

The project fully funded, supervised and executed by NASENI was carried out with support from the Agency’s technical partner, Machine and Equipment Corporation Africa Limited (MECA), aimed at contributing meaningfully to the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

The National Tractor Recovery Project, an initiative of NASENI involves the comprehensive restoration of multiple tractors  nationwide and its environs for immediate deployment and to strengthen mechanized farming.

Each tractor has been comprehensively rehabilitated, including mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, and structural upgrades making them ready for immediate deployment across farming communities. The intervention represents a concrete step in rebuilding livelihoods, strengthening food systems, and revitalizing rural economies through home-grown engineering solutions.

The Programme launching held at the Borno State Agricultural Mechanization Authority (BOSAMA) headquarters in Maiduguri was commissioned by Vice President Kashim Shettima GCON in the presence of Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari.

The creativity and innovation of NASENI on this project has been the main drive of the Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, on whose shoulders lay the massive investment efforts to transform the Nigerian agriculture landscape.

This is in line with Halilu’s bold vision in rebuilding and repositioning NASENI as his tireless efforts have also attracted the accolades of Vice President Shettima, who stressed that the Agency’s commitment to enhancing Nigeria’s agricultural productivity through innovative infrastructure under its asset restoration programme is the path to food sufficiency and self-reliance.

Vice President Shettima, who was the Eminence Guest of Honour in his speech titled ‘Restoring What We Own, Reclaiming Who We Are’, said “We have seen NASENI at work, playing critical roles in our interventions in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) retrofitting, renewable energy technologies, and agricultural mechanization.

“This initiative, NASENI Asset Restoration Programme, is a response to our cross-generational dilemma about what to do with abandoned and poorly maintained assets of the nation, of the people. It’s a powerful shift in how we think about value, sustainability, and innovation, and I believe that’s what we’ve promised the nation.”

“The data at our disposal 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. Beyond this promise to refurbish hardware, NASENI has shown a great capacity to serve as a national nerve center for technology transfer, homegrown engineering, and adaptive innovation. This is why we must support them.

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

Praising the leadership of NASENI’s Executive Vice Chairman, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, Vice President Shettima noted that the Agency’s renewed direction is marked by “vision, urgency, and clarity of purpose. “The direction NASENI is headed is one driven by action, impact, innovation, and awareness of what the nation needs,” he said.

VP Shettima also called for public cooperation in safeguarding the assets that will be restored, explaining that these resources belong to the Nigerian people. “If we restore these vital assets, we must all protect them. These machines, these tools, and these technologies are the property of each of you—of each Nigerian. It’s your collective national inheritance,” he added.

After commissioning the 375 tractors restored by NASENI, Vice President Shettima also commissioned 351 units of implements procured by the administration of Professor Zulum comprising 121 units of disc ploughs, 180 units of disc harrows, grain threshers, rotary slashers and 6-cubic-meter diesel tankers.

The EVC/CEO of NASENI, Halilu in his keynote address said: “We are building local capacity, developing talent pipelines, and enabling technology transfer at scale. We are turning NASENI into a true national enabler-quietly but boldly proving that the government can deliver, and that transformation is possible.

“When we set out to design the Asset Restoration Programme at NASENI, we were not just looking for another project to tick off. We were confronting a reality: that all across Nigeria, from farms to security outposts, public assets worth trillions of naira had been written off, locked away, or left to rust—not because they were beyond repair, but because there was no clear system to bring them back to life.”

He said the Agency’s national survey revealed that Nigeria holds over 47,000 broken-down or serviceable agricultural and law enforcement assets, adding that the cost to replace them will exceed N14 trillion. “With the right engineering, the right people and the right partnership, we found that we can recover these 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 restoring productivity, jobs and security on the ground. That is the power of engineering and that is the promise of NASENI. This programme is one more step in our mission to keep innovation at the heart of governance whether it is through clean energy, mechatronics or domestication of advanced technologies. NASENI is showing that Nigerian problems can have Nigerian engineering solutions,” he said.

Borno State Governor, Professor Zulum, said the tractors restored by NASENI were among the 1000 units procured by Senator Shettima during his time as governor of the state from 2007 to 2015.

“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. As a government, we are fully committed to ensuring that these restored assets are properly maintained and put to optimal use”.

“We are putting in place a sustainable maintenance framework that promotes accountability, encourages local ownership, and ensures long-term functionality,” Prof Zulum added. The NASENI Asset Restoration Programme is a response to Nigeria’s challenge to restore abandoned and poorly maintained assets owned by the nation and the people. It’s a powerful shift on how the nation should think about value, sustainability, and innovation.

This programme is in consonance with the broader vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in agriculture aimed to build a productive, self-reliant, and diversified economy.  NASENI is at the forefront of expanding the potential and productivity of Nigeria’s agricultural, industrial, and creative sectors through smart investments in infrastructure, skills, and innovation.

NASENI’s brilliant idea to refurbish government’s abandoned and disused hardware demonstrates its capacity to serve as a national nerve centre for technology transfer, home-grown engineering, and adaptive innovation and it deserves all the support according to dignitaries present.

Also, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the National Asset Restoration Programme is a cross-cutting effort led by NASENI aimed at rehabilitating, optimizing and returning government old equipment, infrastructure and technology to full working condition whether agricultural, industrial or technological.

“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 Ahmed Tinubu, who also serves as the Chairman of the Governing Board of NASENI,” Kyari said.

Earlier, the Coordinator, National Assets Restoration Programme at NASENI, Eng. Mohammed Yadudu, said NASENI with support and its technical partner, the Machine and Equipment Corporation Africa (MECA), began in December 2024 to restore idle government assets that have long fallen into disuse but held immense value for agricultural economy.

Other dignitaries at the event included the Managing Director/CEO, Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Eng. Jennifer Adighije; the Director-General, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Dr. Mohammed Bulama; Senior Special Assistant to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities, Hon. Mohammed Abba Isa; members of Borno State Executive Council; Dr. Muhammed Dahiru, Chairman, Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer; Secretary to the Borno State Government, Malam Bukar Tijani; and Borno State Commissioner of Agriculture, Eng. Bawu Musami.