Senate Advances Barau’s Bill to Revolutionise Nigeria’s Agricultural Sector

The Nigerian Senate has advanced a proposed agricultural reform bill sponsored by Deputy Senate President Barau I. Jibrin, passing it through second reading during Wednesday’s plenary.
The bill seeks to provide a comprehensive legal framework for modernising Nigeria’s agricultural sector, strengthening food security, improving productivity and promoting mechanisation, irrigation, agricultural financing and agro-industrialisation.
Presenting the bill for debate, Senator Barau said Nigeria needed fundamental changes in its agricultural system to restore the sector’s productivity and reposition it as a major driver of economic growth.
He lamented the decline of the country’s once-thriving agricultural sector, attributing the situation to the breakdown of production systems that previously provided essential raw materials for local industries.
The Deputy Senate President noted that although President Bola Tinubu’s administration was implementing reforms across different sectors, the responsibility for national development required collective efforts from all arms of government and other stakeholders.
Barau explained that the proposed legislation was part of efforts by the legislature to support the government’s economic reform agenda and establish a sustainable foundation for agricultural transformation.
He said: “We cannot leave everything to the President alone. Government is a collaborative undertaking, and we all have a responsibility to complement what the President is doing.”
He added that the bill would change the existing approach to agriculture and encourage discussions that would produce practical solutions to the sector’s challenges.
Supporting the legislation, Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Tahir Monguno described the proposed law as an important step towards revolutionising agriculture and diversifying the Nigerian economy.
Senators Babangida Hussaini, Anthony Okorie Ani and Adeniyi Adegbonmire Ayodele also threw their weight behind the bill.
The lawmakers praised Barau for the initiative, observing that the proposed legislation covers several important aspects of agricultural development.
At the conclusion of the debate, Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred the bill to the Senate Committees on Agricultural Production Services and Rural Development, as well as Agricultural Colleges and Institutions.
The committees are expected to conduct further legislative examination and report back to the Senate within four weeks.