National Economic Council (NEC) launches Solar Irrigation Pumps to boost food security

Friday, September 19, 2025 - In a move to boost food security in Nigeria, National Economic Council (NEC) has endorsed solar-powered irrigation pumps produced by National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) for national rollout ahead of the 2025 dry season farming.

The NASENI solar irrigation pump, produced to replace the petrol-powered pump, is aimed at reinforcing the country’s food security strategy, as it was expected to increase agricultural productivity, lower operational cost, yield higher incomes, and improve livelihoods.

Rising from its 152nd monthly meeting held at Council Chambers, State House, Abuja, and chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima on Thursday, NEC endorsed the use of the solar irrigation pump and resolved to formally notify President Bola Tinubu for his approval.

In anticipation of the president’s approval and the need to provide funding for NASENI, the council also mandated Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, to work out modalities of funding to enable NASENI to mass produce the solar irrigation pumps and distribute in time for the 2025 dry season.

Shettima had earlier, in his speech, said the scaled-up solar irrigation pumps was an indication that Nigerians could compete at the global level with their creativity.

He said, “We must also face the challenge of innovation in agriculture. NASENI’s scaled-up solar irrigation pumps are ready for national rollout ahead of the 2025 dry season. These pumps replace expensive petrol-powered systems, lower farmers’ costs, expand dry-season cultivation, and even provide backup power for households.

“Their advanced features, including GPS tracking, mobile app dashboards, usage monitoring, and pay-as-you-go integration, prove that Nigerian ingenuity can compete with the world.”

According to the vice president, the innovation by NASENI “will not only boost food security but also unlock carbon credit opportunities” for farmers across the country.

Shettima hinted at other efforts by the Tinubu administration to ensure food security, saying recently, “250,000 farmers have been insured across eight states, the 30 per cent Value Addition Bill is advancing, and the N250 billion Bank of Agriculture facility is being activated to reach smallholders.”

Based on updates from the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit, the vice president said, “The Green Imperative Project with Brazil is being repositioned for financing, while the World Bank-backed AGROW programme is mapping priority value chains for roll-out.

“The Harvesting Hope Caravan has reached half a million citizens in eight states, building trust and grassroots mobilisation. These are lifelines to farmers and proof that NEC’s decisions resonate beyond these chambers.”

Other highlights of the meeting included an update on Account Balances as at September 17, 2025, which included Excess Crude Account – $ 535,823.39; Stabilisation Account – N83,495,784,133.24; and Natural Resources Account – N125,818,396,257.41.

Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) also made a presentation to NEC on “The 31st Nigerian Economic Summit – The Reform Imperative: Building a Prosperous and Inclusive Nigeria by 2030.”

The presentation was to brief the council on the global trends and risks regarding Uneven Global Growth, Divergent Inflation and Policy,

Geopolitical Tensions Rising, and Climate and Tech Shifts.

According to the report, key challenges for reform in Nigeria include: structural bottlenecks: energy and transport deficiencies that inflate production costs, foreign exchange liquidity crisis, and over-reliance on oil weakened fiscal sustainability; political economy risks: political instability, frequent policy reversals, and corruption, which hinder long-term reform, upcoming 2027 election that may delay necessary actions; global systemic pressure: climate change, trade tensions, and capital flight that strain the economy, weak industrial base, which face competitive pressures from African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

NEC thereafter resolved to actively participate in the forthcoming NESG Summit, with a view to synergise ideas and mobilise support for Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

NEC was also briefed on the anticipatory action framework for riverine flooding in Nigeria by National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who spoke about the purpose of Nigeria’s Anticipatory Action Framework, which outlined a proactive strategy to reduce the humanitarian and economic impacts of riverine flooding through early warning, targeted preparedness, and coordinated response.

The objectives of the anticipatory action framework, as explained by Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, while briefing newsmen after the NEC meeting, included protecting vulnerable households, especially in 13 high-risk states, enabling timely and dignified interventions before flooding peaks, institutionalising anticipatory action across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and focusing on equity, ensuring no community was left behind.

Zulum listed items under the anticipatory action plan to include: prioritising the use of Multipurpose Cash Assistance, with N24 billion earmarked for this purpose; where necessary, support will also include evacuation sites and essential common services, such as early warning systems, child protection, and Gender-Based Violence prevention; early warning, with National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and National Orientation Agency (NOA) leading coordinated messaging to at-risk communities.

Council was also called to note that: 16 states had fully established Local Emergency Management Committees (LEMC), while 14 states had none, four had partial setups, and three relied solely on desk officers.

The council resolved that all high-risk states were to establish functional LEMC and provide targeted training for community leaders to enhance preparedness and response at the grassroots level; ensure real-time tracking, post-event reviews, and structured learning to improve accountability and effectiveness; and monitore the quality of early actions, conducting lessons-learned workshops, and refining protocols based on evidence.

On recommendations, Zulum disclosed that state governors were expected to step down risk communication to vulnerable communities via state channels, such as state broadcast, radio, town halls; strengthen SEMAs with funding, equipment, and training to lead effective responses, while all stakeholders should empower LEMCs to enhance community safety and resilience.

The council commended the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) for the work done as reflected in the presentation, describing the framework as comprehensive and visionary and also directed the ONSA to widen the scope of the framework to include more states and submit a final document for ratification at the next meeting of NEC.

Governor of Jigawa State, Umar Namadi, also presented to NEC a report on monthly cost of production survey and impact of energy cost on food production.

The purpose was to share important information regarding the constraints affecting agricultural production and potential they had in exacerbating the fragile food security situation the federal government had tried to resolve for over two years. 

Namadi told newsmen after the NEC meeting that council was called to note that the information provided was presented last week at the Presidential Food System Coordinating Unit Steering Committee Meeting.

In the presentation, the governor recommended that government should give equal emphasis to optimising fertiliser cost, perhaps, through the prioritisation of the mandate given to the PFSCU to liberalise the fertiliser regime.

The governor, in the memo, asked government to make available smaller handheld implements for small scale and subsistent farmers, who were invariably too low in the ladder to immediately benefit from the tractor programme.

The memo also called on the chairman of NEC, the vice president, to remind the president of his directive during the special NEC meeting held in June 2024, where he ordered NASENI to ramp up production, and also seek his approval to fund the production of between 50,000 to 100,000 pumps for distribution to the states on needs basis.

The council thereafter resolved to frontally tackle the challenges of high energy cost and fertiliser prices in the country and directed Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas) to interface with stakeholders with a view to addressing the high cost and availability of gas domestically and report back at the next meeting of the council.

Nonetheless, NEC at its Thursday meeting, failed to initiate discussions on the pending issue of state police to curb insecurity across the country.

Tinubu had reiterated his backing for the establishment of state police, which elicited positive reactions from different segments of the society.

No fewer than 34 state governors had also backed the clamour to establish state police. Sources told THISDAY that the unresolved issue of state police was scheduled for discussion at the last NEC meeting in August, but had to be stepped down.

It was expected to be deliberated upon at the 152nd NEC meeting on Thursday, but a source at the meeting said it was not even listed on the agenda.

Tinubu had also recently said the creation of a decentralised police force in Nigeria was now “inevitable,” as the federal government intensified efforts to combat worsening insecurity.

Speaking earlier this month at State House, Abuja, while receiving a delegation of prominent citizens from Katsina State, led by Governor Dikko Radda, Tinubu directed security agencies to review their operations in the state following a surge in banditry.

The president had at the meeting announced plans to deploy advanced military hardware, surveillance drones, and additional forest guards to strengthen security.

He said, “The security challenges that we are facing are surmountable. Yes, we have porous borders. We inherited weaknesses that could have been addressed earlier. It is a challenge that we must fix, and we are facing it.”

Tinubu added that he had ordered all security agencies to provide daily feedback from operations in Katsina.

He said, “I am reviewing all the aspects of security; I have to create state police. We are looking at that holistically. We will defeat insecurity. We must protect our children, our people, our livelihood, our places of worship, and our recreational spaces. They can’t intimidate us.”

The call for state police came after the federal government, in February 2024, set up a committee to explore modalities for its creation.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, while briefing State House correspondents, confirmed at the time that Tinubu and state governors had agreed on the framework.