Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has identified inconsistent government policies as a key factor undermining Nigeria’s agricultural progress and food security. Speaking on Thursday at the opening of Okun Rice Mills, a private agribusiness project initiated by Dr. Biodun Onalaja in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Obasanjo stressed the need for policy stability across federal, state, and local governments to drive private sector investment in agriculture and promote national food self-sufficiency.

With global food prices on the rise, Obasanjo urged African leaders to sustain and build on agricultural initiatives to ensure long-term food security across the continent. Reflecting on his “Operation Feed the Nation” program from 1976 to 1979, he lamented that Nigeria’s current food insecurity might have been less severe if successive governments had continued and expanded upon previous agricultural efforts.

In a statement released by his media assistant, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo criticized the recurrent lack of continuity in government programs, which he believes slows progress. “When there’s no continuity, you’ll hear statements like ‘for the first time ever,’ as if Nigeria just began today,” he noted, adding that sustained agricultural projects would have markedly improved food production.

Obasanjo reaffirmed his view that the government’s role should be to create supportive conditions for agriculture and business rather than directly engage in production. To achieve food sufficiency, both at the national and continental levels, he emphasized the importance of consistent policies and an environment conducive to agriculture-focused enterprises.