…Flags-off National Assets Restoration Programme
The Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima, has commissioned 375 tractors for use in mechanized farming revitalized by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) under the National Assets Restoration Programme (NARP).
The Vice President commissioned the tractors and flagged off the programme yesterday at the Borno State Agricultural Mechanization Agency, Farm Centre in Maiduguri, Borno State.
According to him, the NARP a response to our cross-generational dilemma about what to do with abandoned and poorly maintained assets owned by the nation and the people, representing a shift from how Nigerians think about value, sustainability, and innovation and a fulfillment of what the present administration promised the people.
The Vice President further clarified: “It fits squarely within the broader vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration: to build a productive, self-reliant, and diversified economy. Our goal, therefore, is to ease this transition to expand the potential and productivity of Nigeria’s agricultural, industrial, and creative sectors through smart investments in infrastructure, skills, and innovation.
“We must commend NASENI for stepping forward with this brilliant idea to mitigate a national tragedy. Beyond this promise to refurbish hardware, NASENI has shown a great capacity to serve as a national nerve centre for technology transfer, home-grown engineering, and adaptive innovation. This is why we must support them”, he added.
In his special remarks, Governor of Borno State, Prof Babagana Zulum, said the tractors being commissioned were some of the 1,000 tractors with their implements procured by his predecessor, the Vice President, during his tenure as governor of the state.
He described Shettima’s investment in the tractors then as the single largest not just in Borno state but also in Nigeria, stressing that the NARP being launched along with the commissioning of the tractors could not have been possible without that foundational investment.”
In his keynote address at the event, the NASENI’s Executive Vice Chairman, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu, said the agency was showing that Nigerian problems can have Nigerian-engineered solutions.
He explained: “We are building local capacity, developing talent pipelines, and enabling technology transfer at scale. We are turning NASENI into a true national enabler-quietly but boldly proving that government can deliver, and that transformation is possible.
“When we set out to design the Asset Restoration Programme at NASENI, we were not just looking for another project to tick off. We were confronting a reality: that all across Nigeria, from farms to security outposts, public assets worth trillions of naira had been written off, locked away, or left to rust—not because they were beyond repair, but because there was no clear system to bring them back to life”, Halilu added.
According to him, the national survey conducted by the agency showed that Nigeria had over 47,000 broken-down but serviceable agricultural and law enforcement assets and that the cost to replace them would exceed N14 trillion.
The EVC further clarified: “But at NASENI, we asked a simple question: Why replace what we can restore? “With the right engineering, the right people, and the right partnerships, we found that we can recover these assets for just 15 to 25% of their replacement value—and still achieve full functionality.
“That is over N10 trillion in national savings, while reviving productivity, jobs, and security on the ground,” he added.
Halilu thanked the Presidency for its support, belief in the agency’s mission, and constant encouragement that the management must not only think big—but act fast, and Governor Zulum for his support and leadership which have helped bring the NASENI’s vision in Borno, which is the first node in the agency’s national restoration network.
In his address, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyrai who gave statistics of broken-down tractors nationwide said the National Assets Restoration Programme is a welcome development and it will be instrumental to meeting the foods security goal of the Renewed Hope Agenda of government.
The minister commended the EVC of NASENI for the bold vision in rebuilding and repositioning the agency.
Earlier, the agency’s Programme Coordinator, Asset Restore, Engr. Mohammed Yadudu, said with support from NASENI’s technical partner, the Machine and Equipment Corporation Africa (MECA) in December 2024, began to restore back idle government assets that have long fallen into disuse but held immense value for agricultural economy.
Photo Caption
L-R: The Executive Vice Chairman/CEO NASENI, Mr. Khalil Suleiman Halilu; the Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima; Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum; and the Minister of Agriculture, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, during the commissioning of the refurbished tractors by NASENI under its National Asset Restoration Programme by the Vice President on Sunday in Maiduguri, Borno State
