By David Okpashi.
President Muhammadu Buhari Saturday inaugurated a Agricultural Machinery and Equipment
Development Institute in Lafia, Nasarawa project, describing NASENI as reliable institute.
The president who Commended NASENI for meeting the January 2023 completion target, said the establishment of the institute and others across the six geopolitical zones was part of the ongoing effort by his administration to revolutionized the agriculture sector.
It would be recalled that the president had in August and November last year inspected the AMEDI project in Lafia to ascertain the level of execution
Represented by his Chief of Staff, Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari said the institutes spread across the six geopolitical zones in the country would transform the country into agro-allied technology hub, boost food production.
Speaking during the commissioning, the Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI, professor, Mohammed Sani Haruna, said the commissioning of the AMEDI in Nasarawa was the second in the series of NASENI projects embarked on by the administration of the president.
“We in NASENI do not take this rare privilege granted us from the foundation laying of the construction of this
institute and its commissioning today to ensure that the project was completed within a period of less than six
months.
NASENI under my leadership has developed a culture of speedy delivery on
Presidential directives not only to justify the new status of the agency but also to fast-track transition of Nigeria to a manufacturing knowledge based economy.AMEDI Lafia is the first to be completed among the six equals across the Geo political zones of the country”, Prof Haruna stated
Recalled his Excellency’s directive for the establishment of six new Agricultural-Technology based institutes, one each per geo-political zone of Nigeria in 2021 as part of the twelve new institutes approved to be
established.
The Executive Vice Chairman, said the conceptualization of the model institute was targeted at the use of science
and engineering infrastructure to support the Presidential efforts in the
attainment of food and nutritional security in Nigeria and for Nigerians.
“The peculiarity of our soil with inherent factors and peculiar topography require the production of made in Nigeria agricultural implements, machinery
and equipment that can support responsible and productive agricultural practices in the face of climate change”.
“We are conversant with
the Sustainable Development Goals and our national expectations to end
hunger and create decent cum inclusive jobs for our youth and women. We are resolved at NASENI to use the platforms of AMEDIs to modernize agribusiness
in Nigeria and ensure sustainable scaling of agro-enterprises for new jobs and wealth creation.
He explained that as a modular agricultural institute, AMEDI Lafia and others when completed would have a template to advance the injection of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in the agricultural space across the country.
“The inbuilt capabilities of the institutes will ensure the use of additive and SMART
manufacturing platforms already acquired by NASENI system-wide to
design, develop, assemble and produce agricultural and food processing implements for various classes of farmers”.
According to the NASENI Executive Vice Chairman, the main workshop in the institute shall become a model of SMART factory that will leverage cutting edge technologies to deliver made in Nigeria products and market demand driven services that are suitable for both our farmers and arable lands.
The crop-livestock integration farming model to be practiced in the experimental
farm of the institute is strategic to training of farmers and agro entrepreneurs on sustainable farming methods using land resource optimization models.
The institute has installed modern equipment for the processing of fruit juices, milk and other dairy products such as tomato processing.
Each equipment that is installed here is for backward integration and multiple and improved versions would be produced by the institute for the benefits of farmers and agro-equipment
industries that would mass produce to meet the demand of the nation.
“This institute is equipped with Central Research Laboratory that will support the research activities of the institute along the various value chains
of the target product lines of the institute.
The mandate of the institute align perfectly with the NASENI’s National Tractor and Heavy Duty/Machinery Recovery, Refurbishment and
Redeployment project.
He added that the exhibition center of the institute shall engage in show-casing of agricultural innovations and serve as a point of attraction for youth engagements in agriculture for job and wealth creation.
