Dr Akinwumi Adesina is a name familiar to agriculturist in Nigeria and African as a whole. Dr Adesina is the light to the path of farming in Nigeria.
He was born into an Oyo State farmer’s family in 1960. He studied at the University of Ife, a formal approach to farming(Agricultural economics) and then had his PHD on that same course at Purdue University.
Dr Adesina believes in a better African. His loves for a better African is communicated through Dr Adesina’s work experience.
He worked as a senior economist at West Africa Rice Development Association (WARDA) from the year 1990 to 1995. In 2003 he worked as an associate director for food security. In 2010 he became the Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria. He made the practice of farming lucrative, by enabling the chain of supply of fertilizer easy and stabilized. He was in the process of giving farmers phone but discovered it wasn’t an easy task due to network issues.
In 2015, he was appointed the President of Africa Bank. Which made him the first Nigerian to hold that office.
Through his kind gesture towards the development of agriculture and African as a whole, he was nominated as for “The African of the year Award” in 2019. He successfully gained the leadership magazine award in South Africa through votes across the continent.
Apart from the leadership magazine award, the list of Dr Adesina’s award knows no end. He was awarded honorary Doctorate degree at Afe Babalola’s University. And other honorary Doctorate of Science by Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. In 2013 Forbes article tagged him the African for the year.