27/08/2026
BEFORE YOU VOTE, ASK: WHO WILL FEED NIGERIA?
Nigeria is talking politics again.
Everywhere you turn, there is a new party. A new alliance. A new candidate. A new promise. A new slogan.
2027 is already occupying our conversations.
But somewhere beyond the rallies, posters and social-media battles, there is another question that may matter even more to the ordinary Nigerian:
Who will feed Nigeria?
Because after the campaign rally ends…
People will still wake up hungry. Children will still go to school needing breakfast. Families will still go to the market. Restaurants will still need rice, tomatoes, onions, chicken, fish and vegetables. Bakeries will still need wheat and other inputs. Hospitals will still need food. Industries will still need agricultural raw materials. And farmers will still have to go into the fields.
Politics can win an election. But food keeps a nation alive.
That is why agriculture cannot be treated as a side conversation during an election season. It belongs at the centre.
Nigeria's food crisis is not an abstract economic statistic. It enters people's homes. It changes what mothers put into cooking pots. It determines what families remove from their shopping lists. It affects what children eat. It determines whether a young person can afford to start a business.
And increasingly, it influences whether farming communities can even remain on their land.
So, what should we be asking politicians?
Not only: "What will you do for me?"
But: "What will you do about food?"
Ask them: Who will protect the farmer?
Who will make farming safer? Who will reduce the cost of production? Who will improve rural roads? Who will provide reliable electricity for agro-processing? Who will build storage facilities so farmers stop losing their harvest? Who will make agricultural finance accessible to young Nigerians? Who will make farming attractive enough for the next generation? Who will support processing instead of exporting raw potential? Who will connect farmers to real markets? Who will make agriculture a business of dignity rather than desperation?
And perhaps the biggest question of all: What is your plan for the Nigerian farmer?
Because there is something we often forget.
When a farmer cannot plant safely… we all eventually feel it.
When harvests are destroyed… we all pay more.
When food production falls… the market responds.
When young people abandon agriculture… the country loses both jobs and food producers.
When rural communities become unsafe… the entire food chain suffers.
Agriculture connects us in ways politics sometimes cannot.
The farmer in Benue is connected to the trader in Abuja. The poultry farmer in Ogun is connected to the restaurant in Lagos. The rice farmer in Kebbi is connected to the family buying rice hundreds of kilometres away. The vegetable farmer in Plateau is connected to the woman preparing dinner tonight. We are all sitting at the same table.
And here is where young Nigerians come in.
We have spent years telling young people: "Get an education." "Get a good job." "Leave the village." "Go to the city." "Get an office."
But perhaps we need to tell a different story now.
Build something. Farm something. Process something. Package something. Sell something. Invent something. Create jobs. Use technology. Build an agricultural brand. Turn waste into value. Turn crops into products. Turn farms into businesses. Turn rural communities into centres of opportunity. Because agriculture is not simply about producing food. It is about producing possibility.
Imagine a different Nigeria.
A young graduate doesn't have to leave his village because there is nothing to do. Instead, he runs a modern farm. A young woman doesn't have to wait endlessly for a government job. She owns a food-processing company employing 30 people. A farmer doesn't have to sell his entire harvest cheaply because there is nowhere to store it. He has access to storage and a market. A community doesn't have to watch its young people disappear to the cities. There are businesses growing around agriculture. That Nigeria is possible.
But it will not happen through campaign slogans alone.
It will require policy, investment, security, infrastructure, innovation and young people willing to build.
So yes…
Talk about the elections. Discuss the candidates. Debate the parties. Question the manifestos. Vote.
But while we are choosing who will lead Nigeria… let us also ask what kind of Nigeria we are building.
Because democracy is not only about who occupies the presidential villa. It is also about whether the child in a village can eat.
Whether the farmer can safely return to his field. Whether a young graduate can build a future without leaving home. Whether food can be affordable. Whether rural communities can prosper. Whether the people who feed the nation can live with dignity.
Before you vote in 2027, ask one more question: WHO WILL FEED NIGERIA?
Because presidents change. Governments change. Political parties change. But one thing will remain constant: Nigeria must eat. And somebody must plant.
🌾 The Farm Reel
Telling the story behind the food, the farmer, and the future.