Farmers, experts flay agric ministry’s call for prayers, fasting

By Vincent A. Yusuf (Abuja), Abubakar Akote (Minna) Hope Abah (Makurdi) & Ibrahim Musa Giginyu (Kano)

Farmers, experts and other stakeholders have flayed the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s calls for prayers and fasting to ensure the successful attainment of national food security objectives.

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A leaked memo, in which the ministry has planned a series of solemn prayer sessions to invoke divine intervention, sparks anger and fierce reactions from members of the public and online community.

In the leaked internal communication issued by the Director of Human Resource Management, Mrs Adedayo Modupe, all senior and junior staff members, including directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, value chain desk officers, and other personnel, have been formally directed to participate in the collective spiritual exercise.

The sessions, themed “Divine Intervention for Protection and National Development”, were designed to foster a holistic approach to addressing food security challenges through a synergy of human effort and divine providence.

Scheduled to commence at 12:00 p.m. and conclude at 12:33pm today, these prayer sessions were scheduled for three days (Mondays), specifically on June 16th, 23rd, and 30th, 2025, in the conference hall “B” of the ministry’s headquarters located in Area 11, Abuja.

The ministry requested that all participants should observe a state of fasting during these sessions, as it is believed that fasting enhances spiritual receptivity and strengthens the collective resolve to achieve food availability and agricultural sustainability goals across Nigeria.

The initiative suggested the ministry’s understanding of the multifaceted nature of food security challenges and that a comprehensive strategy must encompass both empirical and spiritual dimensions.

Hours after the issue went viral in the media and social media space, the ministry said the leaked memo asking members of staff to attend fasting and prayer sessions for attainment of food security was a human resource department initiative to address staff well-being.

A statement from the ministry signed by Ezeaja Ikemefuna, on behalf of the Director of Information in Abuja Saturday emphasised that it was not “an official policy by the ministry to address agriculture and food security issues in the country.”

The statement disclosed that it was “in response to the yearnings of staff who are apprehensive following the death of some of their colleagues in recent times.”

“The ministry’s attention is drawn to the internal circular of the Human Resource Management Department being circulated by online media. In this regard, the ministry wishes to inform (the public) that the prayer session is an initiative of the human resource department to address the wellbeing of the staff just as the already existing monthly aerobic exercise and establishment of the gymnasium in the ministry are for physical fitness as the regular medical check-up of staff is for their health.

“The prayer was to address the apprehensiveness of staff over the recent untimely and successive death of management staff of the ministry.  The staff also deem it not out of place to pray for the country, hence the theme of the prayer sessions is divine intervention for protection and national development,” the statement read in part.

Call for prayers damning, self-indicting – Farmers, others

Farmers and other stakeholders have called the action damning, self-indicting and the failure of the government to meet the needs of Nigerians.

They want prices of inputs to crash, access to tractors at affordable cost and provision of security to communities being deserted as a result of bandits and insurgents to enable the victims return to engage in farming.

Sani B. Sarki, the Secretary, Yam Farmers Association, Mutun-Daya, Munya Local Government Area of Niger State, said the government needs to do the right things including crashing of farm inputs and provision of adequate security in areas suffering from bandits’ attacks to achieve food security.

“You cannot talk of food security when inputs are beyond the reach of real farmers. Government should make sure prices of inputs come down. As I speak with you, a litre of chemical is now between N5, 000 and N6, 000. A bag of NPK fertiliser is now N45,000 while a bag of Urea is N37, 000. It is better if the government ensures that prices of inputs crash because many farmers cannot afford to buy bags of fertiliser, they are buying in mudus. That is first.

“Secondly, achieving food security should begin with the crashing of inputs and provision of security. Even on Friday, there were attacks on farming communities in Munya LGA. So, communities are still battling with insecurity and many of them have been out of farming for the past five years or more. So, we are appealing to the government to address insecurity permanently because vast farm lands have been abandoned due to insecurity,” he said.

A farmer, Salihu Ibrahim, said calling for national prayers to achieve food security was the worst idea ever conceived by the government in Nigeria.

“How do you expect a hungry man to start fasting again? The federal government should not frustrate us more; we have had enough. Real farmers don’t get support from the government year-in year-out. We struggle to buy inputs without the government supporting us. Government knows what to do but refuses to do it. We don’t need prayers, the ministry should use that money and time for something more productive and stop mocking the poor farmers,” he said.

Also speaking with Daily Trust, Yahaya Dogo, a displaced farmer from Allawa in Shiroro LGA, said they were anxious to return to farm but stopped by insecurity.

“Our farmlands have been abandoned since we fled. No one dares to return. Even security officials recently confirmed hearing explosions in the area. Without security, who would risk going back?

“We have pleaded with the government multiple times to restore security so we can return home. In our villages, even with hardship, we don’t lack food because nearly everyone is a farmer,” he said.

Another displaced farmer, Ibrahim Muhammed Gando, said being away from his farm for ten years has been extremely challenging for him.

“What I long for the most right now is to return home—to my village and to my farm.

“I miss my village, and my farm. My only prayer is to be back on my farm this year. We were forced into begging on the streets because we had no other option,” he said.

Ejembi Ode, a farmer in Benue, said though they can’t undermine the power of prayer, there is also the place of action.

“So, we expect action, station security to safeguard farmers so they can work in their farms to produce food for Nigerians. That is what they should be doing as their conventional role and not misplaced priority,” Ode said.

Also, President of the Association of United Farmers Benue Valley (AUFBV), Chief Dennis Denen Gbongbon, told our correspondent in Makurdi that the government owes its citizens the duty of protection which it must do now.

“The farmers’ economy is farming, their continued stay in IDPs camp will harm the entire society as hunger would consume everyone. We appeal for quick interventions of humanitarian needs to affected persons,” Gbongbon said.

Numbers of farmers killed

According to the SBM Intelligence, a market and security intelligence consultancy specialising in African affairs, more than 1,356 farmers in northern Nigeria have lost their lives to bandit attacks between 2020 and 2024.

During the same period, bandits demanded at least N224 million in farm levies (including planting and harvesting) across the North, which amounted to N139 million.

Data from Global Human Rights Nigeria also revealed that 24,816 people have so far been killed and 15,597 kidnapped in Nigeria over the past five years.

Wet season: Communities negotiating with bandits again

At least 20 villages have reportedly entered negotiations with bandits to allow farming access in Niger.

Daily Trust was told that some of the villages in the Lakpma axis include Madawaki (Newdna), Sabon Gari (Boila), Dogon-Gona, Jalako, Gagahwadna, Dagam, Pangel, Farin-Kasa, Wutare, and Lukope.

Others include Sintili, Kurebe, Kusaso, Chukuba, Sabon-Gari (Malfa), Chitai, Bataro-Wakili, Jatai, Barden-Dawaki, Kwaki, Mekomo, Shashere, Gari-ba-Dole, Unguwan-mai-ruwa, Unguwan-Zamani, Ajatayi, and Ndapa-dari.

Other farming communities across Benue, Taraba,  Plateau have been ransacked by bandits at a time farmers are supposed to be in their farms producing.

Experts speak

Dr Austine Maduka, agric value chain expert, said the federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security should prioritise practical solutions to address food insecurity in Nigeria.

By collaborating with major stakeholders, the ministry can implement effective strategies, including providing access to affordable financing, quality seeds, fertilisers, and technology.

Dr Maduka said the ministry should also focus on infrastructure development by investing in irrigation systems, roads, and storage facilities.

He advised the federal government to ensure safety and security of farmers to promote productivity.

“By focusing on these practical solutions, the ministry can effectively address food insecurity, ensuring every Nigerian has access to sufficient and nutritious food rather than organising prayer sessions in the ministry,” he said.

Malam Aminu Isyaku Garko, a crop specialist in Kano, said the issue is not that of fasting or prayer but of a political will to attain food security in the country.

He explained that no doubt there are good policies in the country but poorly implemented, adding that the budgetary allocations to the ministry are of no use if authorities were calling for prayers.

He added that what the Nigerian agricultural sector needs is effective implementations of existing food policies as well as formulation of new ones in accordance with best practices.

“The ministry had forwarded a budget and all of a sudden someone is asking for people to fast, that is a total acceptance of failure. We do have good agricultural policies that we have to effectively implement but unfortunately, they are all poorly implemented, there is no need to politicise agriculture by any means,” he said.