Bello Zabarmawa, a young farmer, has refuted claims made by Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, asserting that he is the rightful owner of a 200-hectare rice plantation that the governor has publicly presented as a project funded by his administration with support from the World Bank.
Last month, Governor Abiodun, accompanied by his entourage, including photographers and videographers, visited the rice plantation in Magboro, located in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area. The governor was seen posing for photos with harvested rice grains, and his media team announced that Ogun State had joined other states, such as Lagos and Bayelsa, in producing local rice, creating an expectation among residents for an increase in affordable rice supply.
However, Mr. Zabarmawa, who serves as a special adviser to the Governor of Kebbi State, has disputed this narrative, stating that the rice farm is his private venture. According to a report by PM News, he was first informed about the fertile soil in Magboro by an associate, Haruna, who visited the village in 2019. Mr. Zabarmawa then decided to provide interest-free loans to around 200 farmers to cultivate rice on one hectare each. He invested heavily in clearing the land, which had not been previously tilled, by hiring bulldozers and other farming equipment.
Seeing the scale and potential of the project, which was warmly welcomed by the local community and its monarch, Mr. Zabarmawa sought additional support from the government. He secured a lease on 220 hectares of land for N6 million and registered the project under “Young Service Grow” using the name “Alubarika Farms.”
While Mr. Zabarmawa acknowledges that the Ogun State government contributed by covering 50% of the land-clearing costs and supplying fertilizers, he maintains that the bulk of the investment and effort came from his side. “When I started, the Ogun State Government promised and paid 50 per cent of the clearing cost while I paid the balance,” Mr. Zabarmawa told PM News. He also mentioned that he covered part of the cost of fertilizer, paying N23,000 per bag while the government paid N22,000.
According to Mr. Zabarmawa, the governor visited the farm to inaugurate the harvest, but subsequent promises of support have not been fulfilled. “There was a time I wanted to harvest, the governor himself came here. The commissioner has been here twice. It was the governor who flagged off the harvest. I was very happy that day,” he said. “But, I still need government support.”
Mr. Zabarmawa lamented the high operational costs, including a daily expense of N400,000 for labor wages, and additional costs related to bringing in and operating heavy machinery. He has appealed for further government assistance to expand the farm to 1,000 hectares and alleviate the financial burden he faces.
The farmer further revealed that he has extended loans between N4 million and N6 million to about 60 farmers to support rice farming, hoping for more government backing to engage unemployed youths meaningfully. He also stated that those he had empowered have since become millionaires.
Supporting Mr. Zabarmawa’s claim, another farmer present when solar panels were purchased for the farm told the newspaper that the government only paid 35% of the energy bill, leaving Mr. Zabarmawa to bear the majority of the costs. Yusuf Sulaiman, Secretary of the Alubarika rice farmers, also affirmed that Mr. Zabarmawa had been the primary financier of the farmers.
Abu Garba, a former bureau de change operator turned farmer, testified that he received a N5 million loan from Mr. Zabarmawa, which allowed him to cultivate rice and harvest 500 bags.
During the inauguration, Governor Abiodun implied that the rice farm was solely an initiative of the Ogun State government, in collaboration with the World Bank. “In this place, I have 12,500 hectares of land, and all we have farmed is 200 hectares that yielded N1 billion for 200 farmers. From here, I can feed the rest of the country. We will scale up this project immediately from 200 to 2,000 hectares and generate N30 billion in revenue,” he said. The governor did not mention Mr. Zabarmawa, despite the latter’s significant contributions to the project.
Efforts to obtain comments from the governor’s aide, Abiodun Talabi, to clarify or address Mr. Zabarmawa’s claims were unsuccessful.
