Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has disclosed that more than ₦100 million has been spent on cash prizes for farmers across the 16 local government areas of Ekiti State since the commencement of the Afe Babalola Agricultural Expo (ABAEX) in 2015.
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Babalola, who spoke at the grand finale of the 2026 edition of ABAEX in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday, said ₦11.2 million was distributed to outstanding farmers at this year’s event alone, as part of an initiative designed to restore dignity to agriculture, reward productivity and encourage more Nigerians, particularly young people and graduates, to embrace farming.
He also announced plans to establish an Ekiti Farmers’ House in Ado-Ekiti, which he said would serve both as a central secretariat for farmers and as a platform through which modern agricultural equipment could be made available at affordable rates.
According to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the proposed Farmers’ House would be developed in partnership with the Ekiti State Government and the 16 local government areas, with plans to acquire equipment including bulldozers, ridgers, ploughs and harvesters.
The machinery, he explained, would be rented to farmers at subsidised or affordable rates, allowing them to expand production without depending solely on traditional implements such as hoes and cutlasses.
“My hope and wish are to establish Ekiti Farmers’ House to be domiciled in Ado-Ekiti. The proposed Ekiti Farmers’ House will have a secretariat which will be inviting members for meetings and allied matters,” Babalola said.
“In addition, and in partnership with the State Government and the 16 Local Government Areas of the state, the Farmers’ House will acquire modern farm implements such as bulldozers, ridgers, ploughs and harvesters, among others, which the Ekiti Farmers’ House will be renting to farmers at low rates.”
Babalola recalled that the ABAEX initiative began in 2015 with a prize pool of ₦5 million. At the time, the overall Best Farmer in Ekiti State received ₦1 million, while the best farmer in each of the 16 local government areas received ₦250,000.
He said the reward structure had since been expanded, with the overall Best Farmer now receiving ₦2 million, while the top three farmers in each local government area receive ₦200,000, ₦100,000 and ₦50,000 respectively.
According to him, the cumulative amount committed to rewarding farmers through the programme has now exceeded ₦100 million.
The ABUAD founder said the agricultural expo was conceived from his desire to revive farming as a respected and economically rewarding profession, particularly at a time when many Nigerians had turned away from agriculture in search of white-collar employment.
He expressed concern that the decline in farming had contributed to food shortages, hunger and growing dependence on government assistance.
Babalola, who said he was born and raised on a farm, recalled working with his father during his early years and said the experience helped shape his lifelong attachment to agriculture.
Despite his subsequent career in law and his investments in education, healthcare and philanthropy, he said he had continued to maintain large areas of farmland for the cultivation of both arable and cash crops.
He urged secondary schools, polytechnics and universities to place greater emphasis on agricultural education and practical farming, arguing that young Nigerians should be encouraged to pursue productive ventures rather than fraudulent or unproductive activities.
Babalola maintained that Nigeria would need to deliberately rebuild its agricultural sector if it hoped to recover the economic advantages it once enjoyed as a major producer of commodities such as cocoa and palm oil.
He also reflected on his personal approach to investment, saying the amount of money available to a person was less important than how wisely the resources were deployed.
According to him, he began investing in education while earning only one pound per month and consistently reinvested the proceeds of his efforts over the years.
Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji, represented at the event by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwade, commended Babalola for sustaining the agricultural initiative and supporting farmers across the state.
Boluwade said agricultural production data validated by the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Office showed increased production of major crops in Ekiti between 2022 and 2025.
He attributed the improvement to the resilience of farmers as well as interventions from the state government and private-sector partners.
The commissioner said the Oyebanji administration had supported more than 5,000 farmers through free land-clearing programmes over the past four years.
He added that farmers had also benefited from tractorisation subsidies, fertilisers and agrochemicals, improved seeds and seedlings, as well as initiatives aimed at widening access to markets.
Boluwade further disclosed that the state had secured approval from the African Development Bank for the establishment of a Special Agro-Processing Zone in Ekiti.
He said the project was expected to create employment opportunities for young people, strengthen agricultural value chains and improve farmers’ incomes.
The proposed Ekiti Farmers’ House is expected to complement those interventions by giving farmers access to equipment that many individual operators would ordinarily be unable to purchase on their own.
Babalola said the broader objective remained to move farming in Ekiti away from subsistence methods towards modern, mechanised and commercially productive agriculture while making the sector more attractive to younger Nigerians.
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