By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
Vice President Kashim Shettima has on Sunday launched the NASENI Asset Restoration Programme as part of ongoing efforts by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to restore and revive the nation’s industrial and agricultural capacity.
The programme, led by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), seeks to restore over 26,000 broken but serviceable heavy-duty machines and repurpose nearly 500,000 component scraps that have been lying idle across the country.
Speaking during the launch of the Programme at the Borno State Agricultural Mechanization Farm Center in Maiduguri, the Vice President said the objective of the programme is to reduce waste, cut unnecessary spending, and power national development through localised innovation and sustainable asset management.
Shortly after commissioning the National Asset Restoration Programme, VP Shettima proceeded to Borno State University where he commissioned a power infrastructure projects executed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited (NDPHC).
The power project implemented under the Distribution Intervention Projects, includes a 1X7.5MVA, 33/11KV injection substation, 3km of 33KV line, 2.5km of 11KV line, 2.5km of LT line, and 3 nos. 500KVA distribution transformers.
The Vice President said, “For so long, Nigeria has been profiled as a nation with poor maintenance culture both in the private and public sectors, but the country owe it as a duty to say: enough is enough.
VP Shettima reaffirmed that the President Tinubu administration is committed to building a productive, self-reliant, and diversified economy, with strategic investments in infrastructure, innovation, and local capacity at the core of that transformation.
He stressed the need to have a national inventory of value waiting to be unlocked, and as such “We must commend NASENI for stepping forward with this brilliant idea to mitigate a national tragedy.”
VP Shettima also called for public cooperation in safeguarding the assets that will be restored, explaining that these resources belong to the Nigerian people.
Earlier, the Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum, recalled that under the stewardship of Vice President Shettima as Governor of Borno State, 1,000 tractors and implements were procured, along with 1,000 units of planters; 250 units each of groundnut diggers, fertilizer broadcasters, rotovators, and bailers, as well as 25 units of combined harvesters, which is the single largest agricultural machinery investment in the state’s history.
Gov. Zulum noted that Nigeria requires a minimum of 750,000 functional tractors to meet its agricultural needs, yet less than 10 per cent of that number are currently operational across the country.
On his part, the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, said the Agency’s national survey revealed that Nigeria holds over 47,000 broken-down or serviceable agricultural and law enforcement assets, adding that the cost to replace them will exceed N14 trillion.
Also, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the launching of the programme marked a defining moment in the ministry’s efforts to bring productivity back to the core of public service delivery across sectors.
