Minna, Oct 17, 2016 – The Nigerian Institution of Agricultural Engineers (NIAE) has conferred fellowship on five engineers.
They are Engr. Samuel Sule (2014), Engr. Babajide Akanbi Adelekan (2014), Engr. Kasali Muyideen (2014), Engr. J. E. Amadi (2014) and Engr. Nnanyelugo C. Onyemelukwe (2015).
They received the fellowship at the 37th Annual General Meeting and 2016 International Conference of NIAE in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria.
Mr. Ahmed Adekunle, however received Honourary Fellowship Award), while Engr. Adebambo Ademiluyi was inducted at OAU conference years back in January 2014.
Mr Ahmed Dele Adekunle got the Honourary Fellow base on his contribution to the revolution taking place in Nigeria within the agricultural sector.
Born 1962 in Kabba, Kogi State, Mr. Adekunle, trained as an educationist who developed an exceptional passion for agriculture early in his life.
Through extensive research and interactions with farmers, the entrepreneur came to the realization that although government at all levels don’t commit huge resources to boosting mechanization of agriculture in Nigeria, such investment has yielded little in terms of sustainable impact.
In 2007, Mr. Adekunle started a farm machinery leasing firm with 150 tractors in Kogi and Katsina states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), having identified the dearth of effective mechanisation service delivery in the country.
By forging strategic partnerships with both public and private sectors, he embarked on agriculture mechanization projects, increasing farmers access to inputs, including fertilizer and high-yield seedlings, which pose serious challenge to farmers, especially in the rural areas.
As a private sector operator in the agriculture and agro-allied industry, the Tractor Hiring and Service Delivery (THSD) scheme has seen him deliver 150 units of Foton tractors to aid mechanized farming across the nation.
His agricultural mechanization exploits have taken him to many states in Nigeria and other countries. He is a recipient of many awards amongst them Nigeria Arise Award UK.
He has also served on several governments strategic programmes on mechanised agriculture, including Chairman, Advisory Ministerial Mechanization Committee (AMMC) of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development that setup agricultural hiring enterprise (AEHE) under a private sector initiative.
He is the Senior Technical Adviser to the Honourable Minister of agriculture since 2012 and presently a technical and international consultant for FAO/AUC agric programme for East African countries.
