In a significant move to rejuvenate Nigeria’s industrial and agricultural potential, Vice President Kashim Shettima on Sunday launched the National Asset Restoration Programme (NARP) in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The initiative, spearheaded by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), is aimed at restoring over 26,000 idle but repairable heavy-duty machines and repurposing nearly 500,000 scrap components across the country.
The launch, held at the Borno State Agricultural Mechanisation Farm Centre, marks a key step in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda” to drive economic recovery through localised innovation, infrastructure revival, and sustainable asset management.
“For so long, we have been profiled as a nation with poor maintenance culture. This dysfunction cuts across both the private and public sectors, and we owe it to ourselves to say: enough is enough”, Shettima stated at the event.
Following the launch, the Vice President commissioned power infrastructure projects at Borno State University executed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC).
The projects include a 7.5MVA injection substation, over 7km of transmission and distribution lines, and three 500KVA transformers.
Shettima emphasised that the restoration programme seeks to drastically reduce waste and government spending while unlocking economic opportunities adding, “This initiative is a powerful shift in how we think about value, sustainability, and innovation,” calling on Nigerians to safeguard restored assets as a collective national inheritance.
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State lauded the programme as a continuation of Shettima’s legacy of agricultural reform when he served as governor.
Zulum recalled a landmark investment of 1,000 tractors and thousands of agricultural implements during Shettima’s tenure describing it as the largest in the state’s history.
“Nigeria needs at least 750,000 functional tractors to meet agricultural demand, yet fewer than 10% are operational. This intervention comes at a crucial time, especially after the 2024 floods which destroyed many of our agricultural machines”, Zulum noted.
According to NASENI’s Executive Vice Chairman, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, the agency’s nationwide survey identified over 47,000 broken or underutilized assets in the agricultural and law enforcement sectors. Replacing them would cost over ₦14 trillion, but restoration can be achieved at just 15–25 percent of that cost.
“That’s over ₦10 trillion in national savings. We are not only restoring assets, we are restoring productivity, jobs, and national security.”
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, described the initiative as a turning point in public sector productivity saying, “This programme is about reviving hope, reducing waste, and unlocking dormant capacity,” adding that fewer than 10,000 of Nigeria’s estimated 55,000 tractors remain in use.
Kyari emphasised that the initiative aligns with President Tinubu’s vision for sustainable development and self-reliance, especially in critical sectors like agriculture and energy.
Dignitaries present at the event included NDPHC CEO Eng. Jennifer Adighije; FRCN Director General Dr. Mohammed Bulama; and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Special Needs, Hon. Mohammed Abba Isa, among others.
The programme will begin in Borno State as a pilot and is expected to roll out nationwide in phases, guided by NASENI’s engineering solutions and strategic partnerships.
“This is the promise of NASENI. Nigerian problems can indeed have Nigerian engineering solutions”, ” Halilu affirmed.
