Agriculture through the lens of Former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The interest of the former president Obasanjo in agriculture dates back to his childhood in a small farming settlement near Abeokuta, the capital of Nigeria’s Ogun State. At age of five, he was accompanying his dad to the fields where they planted cassava, maize, plantain, oil palm and other crops. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo recalls that his father was considered the most successful farmer in their village at that time and he must have reasoned it out that agriculture is indeed an untapped goldmine. He never lost his fire for agriculture although he moved to the city, the green revolution was within him. He saw the future a far off and he knew that the key to that he had envisioned was in agriculture. . Agricultural policies and programmes to boost declining food production in the country such as the Feed the Nation (OFN) was initiated by General Obasanjo in 1976 ,to encourage more people to venture into agriculture to initiate growth and development of sector and economy. The vision for agriculture as a tool for wealth creation,entrepreneurship, economic growth made him register at the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ibadan to learn the art of farming as an apprentice for three months shortly after he left office, he explained that to be a successful farmer "hands-on" policy is important. A successful farmer must be ready to lay hands,get involved with the "nitty-gritty" ,this is where the passion for farming is important. Every venture,business requires a passion for you to push through and experience that your vision becomes a reality. Today his farm is a success and of course he is a successful farmer. Obasanjo farms is a household name in Nigeria, the farm has contributed to the development of agriculture in the country and Africa. The farm, established 30 years ago, took off with two layer houses comprising 100,000 birds each and five broiler houses of 12,000 each, with two feed mills of three tons per hour each. The large farm, which has up to 7,000 workers started with four bulldozer operators. Today, Obasanjo makes money from his Ota Farm, with branches in Ibadan and Igbo-Ora, Oyo state, employs many people and a major contributor to development in agriculture,agribusiness ,food production and processing.