A former Chairman of the Agriculture and Non-Oil Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Prince Wale Oyekoya, has opened a can of worms on the financial institution in Nigeria, accusing them of diverting funds meant for agricultural development into the real estate sector. Oyekoya, who is also the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Bama Farms Limited, said that the action has worsened the financing crisis farmers across the country are facing.

He made the accusation on Thursday at a panel session during the 2026 Agriculture and Agro-Allied Summit organised by the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce in Lagos. The theme of the summit was: “Ensuring Food Security in Nigeria: Innovations, Investments and Policy for a Resilient Future” .

Fielding questions on whether Nigeria has adequate data to identify genuine smallholder farmers at the point of loan disbursement, Oyekoya insisted that such information already exists within government structures through cooperatives and farmer clusters.

“Yes, there’s always data when you go to the ministries. When you go to any government establishment, that is why they say they deal with cooperatives and clusters. So every farmer, every stakeholder in farming in any state must be registered,” he said.

According to him, poor implementation and weak financial commitment remain major obstacles to sustainable agricultural development.

“I believe financial institutions are mostly the problem farmers have. I’m a living witness and I have so many experiences with them that when some of these funds are being given to the banks to be given to the farmers, most of them divert the funds to real estate,” he alleged.

He added that government, banks and private sector players all have roles to play in ensuring food security and sustainable growth in the sector.

However, Manager, Agribusiness and Non-Oil Export, Union Bank, Mr. Utomi Ezinwa, slightly disagreed with Oyekoya. He said that access to finance remained difficult for smallholder farmers because of the risks associated with fragmented production systems.

According to him, lenders are more willing to finance farmers when they operate in groups and have guaranteed markets through anchor arrangements.

“Some smallholder farmers can’t work alone. It is important that they work in association and link up to an anchor. When the market is guaranteed, we check the anchor himself, does he have capacity, does he have track record? There’s nothing stopping us from funding smallholder farmers,” he said.

Ezinwa noted that financing costs also remain a major burden on agricultural production.

“One of the major challenges apart from financing itself is the cost of the financing and we need to talk about it,” he added.

In his presentation, Guest speaker, Founder And Managing Director of Babban Gona , Mr. Kola Masha warned that Nigeria’s food security crisis could worsen if investment in agriculture and rural youth empowerment is not urgently scaled up.

He said Nigeria possesses enormous agricultural potential with over 85 million hectares of arable land, vast water resources and a large labour force, but lamented that millions of smallholder farmers remain disconnected from finance, markets and technology.

“A typical smallholder farmer who is the backbone of the agricultural sector has no access to loans to buy the quantity and quality of agricultural products they need to boost productivity,” he said.

Masha noted that insecurity, climate shocks and rising food prices are already pushing millions of Nigerians deeper into food insecurity, particularly in parts of Northern Nigeria.

“Persistent insecurity disrupts agriculture, causing land abandonment and reduced yields,” he said, while highlighting worsening food insecurity levels in states such as Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

According to him, agriculture contributes between 25 and 30 per cent directly to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, but could account for as much as 40 per cent when processing, logistics and input supply chains are included.

He warned that rising youth unemployment and collapsing rural opportunities pose serious national security risks.

“With the median age of 18, over 80 million more young Nigerians will seek to enter the workforce in the next 20 years. If 20 million triggered three insurgencies, what will 80 million unleash?” he queried.

Masha said Babban Gona since 2012, supported over 500,000 farmers, doubled farmers’ incomes relative to the national average and deployed more than $250 million in financing into rural communities while maintaining over 99 per cent repayment rates.

He stressed that Nigerian youths would embrace agriculture if productivity and profitability improve.

“Nigerian youth are exceptionally smart individuals and they will follow where they see opportunity,” he said.

In his welcome address, President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, Prince Abimbola Olashore, described food security as a critical pillar of economic stability and national security.

Olashore identified climate variability, poor infrastructure, post-harvest losses, limited mechanisation and inadequate access to finance as key barriers confronting the sector.

He, however, said the challenges also present opportunities for innovation, investment and policy reforms capable of transforming Nigeria’s agricultural sector and expanding its agro-export potential. (Vanguard)

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