Ever since his emergence as the recipient of 2017 World Food Prize Laureate, congratulatory messages has been pouring in for the President of the Afri
Ever since his emergence as the recipient of 2017 World Food Prize Laureate, congratulatory messages has been pouring in for the President of the African Development Bank, De Akinwunmi Adesina. From Nigeria’s Chargé d’Affaires to the U.S., Hakeem Balogun, and former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the accolades are yet to abate as everyone has been lauding his selection for the prestigious prize, something they consider a great honour for Nigeria.
Balogun described Adesina’s emergence as a great honour to our country.
“It is a manifestation of government’s efforts, past and present, at eradicating poverty and placing food on the tables of all Nigerians. Dr Adesina is another show of the numerous Nigerians that are shining examples and who are excelling in their various professions all over the world. You will recall that Dr Adesina, while serving as Minister of Agriculture was known as the ‘Farmer’s Minister.”
The Nigerian envoy said Adesina’s policies while serving as Minister, expanded Nigeria’s food production and attracted over five billion dollars in private sector investments in agriculture. His food policies resulted in close to, if not more than, 20 million metric tonnes.
Okonjo-Iweala, who served alongside Adesina, is beyond happy and has hailed the achievement of her former colleague. According to Okonjo-Iweala, Adesina’s feat as the new Laureate is an example and a testimony that about 99 percent of our citizens are law-abiding and good natured.
“A proud day for Nigeria; Akin Adesina, President of the AfDB, is announced as the recipient of the 2017 World Food Prize,” she said.
Adesina is the 46th person and the sixth African to win the World Food Prize. He midwifed the Agricultural Transformation Agenda under which the E-Wallet system of distribution of agricultural inputs, the first of its kind, was introduced. For the first time in the history of agriculture in Nigeria, farmers received alerts on their phones to collect their allocation of inputs.
Adesina, who was the Minister of Agriculture under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration was named winner of the 250,000-dollar World Food Prize, regarded as the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for Agriculture, at a ceremony at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C.
Punch
