Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has congratulated
his former Minister of Agriculture and President of the African Development
Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, on his emergence as the 2017 World Food
Prize laureate.
The former president described Adesina as the man who
transformed agriculture in Nigeria by introducing several innovations that
changed the face of farming, boosted the capacity of farmers and expanded the
nation’s ability to feed herself.
Jonathan stated this in a letter of goodwill he personally
signed on Wednesday.
Akinwumi Adesina is the current president of the African
Development Bank.
Jonathan recalled that during Adesina’s years as agriculture
minister, staple food prices remained stable, even in the face of serious
challenges like the devastating floods of 2012 and the “difficulties occasioned
then by global economic recession.”
The letter read: “I wish to most sincerely congratulate you
for your emergence as the World Food Prize Laureate for the year 2017.
“I am not surprised that such a highly prized honour has
being conferred on you, given your outstanding and exemplary performance as my
former Minister of Agriculture.
“I must state that I have met many men in my years on earth,
but few have the intellect and the exceptional work ethic you possess.
“During your years as Nigeria’s agriculture minister and
driver of my administration’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), you
introduced several innovations like the e-wallet fertilizer and seed
distribution system which cut out the middle man, eliminated corruption and
expanded Nigeria’s ability to feed herself.
“You oversaw a programme that reduced our food import bill
by almost 50 per cent, and working with others in my administration, you helped
Nigeria become one of only a handful of nations in the world to reasonably
reduce hunger levels between 2011and 2015, according to the International Food
Policy Research Institute.”
In his reaction, Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun,
described Adesina as “a proud export from Nigeria and a good example of Ogun
standard.”
Amosun recalled the distinguished and revolutionary
leadership of Adesina as Minister for Agriculture in Nigeria.
He hailed Adesina for breaking the “age-long fertiliser
cartel that had kept the price of the farm input beyond the reach of the
average Nigerian farmer, through the introduction of the e-Wallet system of
agricultural input distribution.”
By Wale Odunsi
