I had already coined the caption before I stumbled upon Uncle Abu Kyari, alongside my boss, Sen. Kashim Shettima, the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House in Kaduna State.
The Vice-President was there to commission a banquet hall built by the Kaduna state government in honor of the late Brig. Gen. Kyari, who was the first military governor of the former north-central state. His son, Abu Kyari, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, was there with the Vice-President to accept the honor on behalf of the Kyari family. Kyari as we all know was also the immediate past Ag. Chairman of the APC back in 2023. Sen. Abu Kyari was also the Deputy Chairman of the North of the APC after resigning his position as the Senator representing the people of Borno North Senatorial District.
He served as Senator from 2015 to 2022. Aside from a very rich and intimidating political profile, Uncle Abu's educational background is equally interesting as his political and family ones. He was educated both in Nigeria and the US and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee, Martin, and an MBA from Webster University St. Louis. President Muhammadu Buhari of blessed memory honored Abu Kyari with the national honor/ award of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). I have always been awed by Uncle Abu's career/ personality profile and my personal relationship with him and his family has given me the unique opportunity to know him up close.
Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn
Why am I asking for him or looking for him? Because the Zulum successor debate is up in the air and I thought to try to clear out a bit of the fogginess. I have for a long time wondered, why a would have someone like Sen. Abu Kyari up their sleeve and not act fast and smart about it? I comfortably query this because I am a son in Borno too you know! I have two or three aunts and sisters married in Borno, so I have tonnes of Kanuri and Shuwa cousins. Moreover, Sen. Abu Kyari's wife, mommy, is my mum's younger sister. His dad, late Brig. Kyari was a roommate of my late dad Dr. Ibrahim Tahir Talban Bauchi. Sen. Kyari himself is a bosom friend of my older brother Col. Jamil Tahir (rtd). Believe you me I can speak of Kyari as a close family friend, and this gives me a unique view as a writer. Why am I impressing on my familiarity with Sen. Kyari? I need to come clean with the reader so he/ she can understand my perspective.
Back to my question, the last I heard of Kyari before now was about two or three months ago as he did Nigeria proud in different fora all over the world. These outstanding feats were captured by yours sincerely in a piece titled, "Nigeria's growing significance in global agricultural output". The article covered Kyari's International Diplomacy Award for the transformation of Nigeria's Cocoa industry, at the Cocoa Beyond Borders Conference in the UK, on the 26th of January, 2026. Kyari was standing up for weaker producer economies, which are the lifeline of the global Cocoa trade. Subsequently and just about a month after the UK honor, he was elected the Chairperson of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD. IFAD is the United Nations' Agency for transforming rural livelihoods and ending world hunger.
He was elected by 600 delegates from 120 countries. This new role has Kyari as the ambassador for youth development and he now leads the campaign for advancing agripreneur financing, and secondly; as the messiah for the recharge and restoration of Lake Chad. Before these international recognitions, I found Kyari in, "Kyari: Obscuring that food security road map", a piece I had put together articulating Kyari's efforts under Mr. President's Renewed Hope Agenda on achieving food security.
I reported that, "Since November of 2023; efforts were intensified during the dry season wheat farming campaign of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, headed by Sen. Abu Kyari, CON. More than 300,000 farmers were supported with subsidies worth 50% of their total farm inputs/ implements, with each farmer getting N361,000 worth/ per hectare.
They were provided with superior seedlings called the Borlaug and the Attila varieties which have 3 times the yield of previously used seedlings, along with fertilizer, pesticides, and other implements. More than 250,000 hectares were cultivated, with an expected yield of 1,250,000 metric tonnes. The following year, another 500,000 farmers were subsidized to produce rice, cassava, and maize during the dry season. The expected yield was at least 1 million metric tonnes. This is being driven through the Agric Ministry's National Agricultural Growth Scheme Agro-Pocket Project. A second phase of this scheme envisages a 93% subsidy for the farmers.
These renewed farming initiatives recorded 60,000 metric tonnes of improved seeds and 887,000 metric tonnes of seedlings alongside 501,000 litres of agrochemicals being distributed to farmers to help curb food inflation. At the end of last year, 300,0007 farmers were subsidized for the dry season wheat farming with a 50% subsidy on fertilizer, and a 75% subsidy on seeds, resulting in a 98% redemption rate.
The 2nd phase of the dry season farming which is commencing soon will be targeting 400,000 farmers, this time concentrating on other crops like rice, maize, and cassava. Also, $86.7 million dollars was secured from IFAD for the Value Chain in the North Initiative which focuses on enhancing agricultural value chains in the Northern region. The Vice Chairman, Sen. Kyari, (he was Vice long before his election as IFAD chair), has been able to secure an additional $32 million dollars for the LifeND, Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project for the Niger Delta. He had announced that $134 million was secured from the AFDB, African Development Bank, for the national dry season farming activities to boost all year-round farming. These activities are truly yielding results".
When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, appointed Sen. Kyari as Agric Minister, I was certain that the desired results in food security would come. Not as fast as Nigerians usually want, but as fast as his prudent and thorough self would permit. I was certain that all that would be provided to the farmers would actually reach them. He would plug the leakages, unbottle all the bottlenecks, and reduce the corruption in the vehicle that takes the inputs from the Federal Government to the farmers. It would take time, but it would happen. Energy prices and other variables may be on the rise, and so having cheaper food prices would be more challenging. But here we are, the prices are dropping.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Before the article captured above, just one year into Uncle Abu Kyari's tenure as Agric Minister, I wrote, "one year of concerted efforts towards achieving food security". Before that, I also wrote, "Food security within sight" in appreciation of the better food prices and reduced food inflation under Kyari's food security agenda of Mr. President. Another article: "Agric: A steadied approach towards sustainable food security" followed. Long before all this I wrote about Kyari's preference to teach me how to fish and not just "dashing" me fish.
In Kyari and my lessons in fishing, I gave accounts of how Kyari gets personally involved in the troubles, problems, and challenges of people he knows, like his relatives and other acquaintances. Kyari would foot the medical bills of all he knows and he would do that quietly without a hoot or flinch. I can be sure that were he to be reading this write-up of mine in my presence, he would give me the eye - querying why I was saying all this publicly; relaying how kind-hearted, generous, and compassionate he is. So I ask again, where is Senator Abu Kyari as Borno state is set to have a brand new governor to succeed Kashim's reforms and the courage of Zulum? Where is the supposed new driver of the renewed hope agenda in Borno state?
