Abuja — In what stakeholders have described as a historic shift from charity-based disability intervention to structured economic empowerment, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Special Needs and Equal Opportunities, Hon. Mohammed Abba Isa, has inaugurated a Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the planning and mobilization of funds toward the establishment of Persons With Disabilities (PWD) Farm Cities across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones.
Delivering his address on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential aide described the initiative as a strategic milestone aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda — an economic blueprint focused on inclusion, productivity, and national prosperity.
The proposed Farm Cities are designed to serve as organized agricultural hubs tailored to the needs of Persons With Disabilities, integrating accessibility, mechanization, financing, training, and market access into a single ecosystem of productivity.
From Marginalization to Mechanization
Commending the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities for conceiving what he called a “visionary and transformative” project, Hon. Isa also applauded the Peace for Humanity Foundation for its collaborative partnership in driving sustainable empowerment for PWDs.
According to him, agriculture remains Nigeria’s most expansive sector, capable of absorbing millions of workers across its value chains — from cultivation and livestock production to processing, packaging, storage, marketing, and export.
However, he lamented that across rural communities in Nigeria, numerous PWD farmers currently operate under harsh conditions — lacking access to improved seedlings, modern tools, irrigation systems, financing, structured markets, and government-backed intervention programmes.
“Many toil daily with resilience but without the institutional support required to thrive at scale,” he noted. “This project seeks to change that narrative permanently.”
The Farm Cities, he explained, will provide modern farming equipment, climate-smart practices, access to funding windows, cooperative structures, capacity-building programmes, and integration into national and international agricultural value chains.
A Shift from Charity to Economic Contribution
Observers say the initiative signals a growing federal recognition that inclusion must be economically structured rather than symbolic.
Hon. Isa emphasized that the Farm Cities will transition many PWD farmers from subsistence agriculture to agribusiness, from survival-based farming to structured production models capable of contributing meaningfully to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.
“When empowered with the right tools and opportunities, Persons With Disabilities are not liabilities — they are assets to national development,” he declared. “This is not charity. This is smart economics.”
The aide reaffirmed that the Renewed Hope Agenda under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to ensuring that no Nigerian is excluded from the country’s economic architecture.
A Strategic Committee with a National Mandate
By inaugurating the Local Organizing Committee, the Federal Government has effectively set in motion the resource mobilization and stakeholder engagement machinery required to bring the project to life.
Members of the LOC have been tasked with attracting development partners, engaging the private sector, mobilizing donor support, developing implementation frameworks, and ensuring transparent and accountable execution.
Describing the committee’s role as “historic and strategic,” Hon. Isa charged members to approach their responsibilities with patriotism, diligence, and innovation.
“You are not merely committee members,” he told them. “You are vision drivers and bridge builders between policy and implementation.”
A Model for Africa?
Stakeholders at the event noted that if successfully implemented, the PWD Farm Cities could serve as a template for inclusive agribusiness models across Africa.
With Nigeria battling food insecurity, unemployment, and rural poverty, experts believe this model could serve a dual purpose: strengthening national food security while expanding economic opportunities for one of the country’s most marginalized populations.
The initiative also aligns with global disability rights frameworks that advocate mainstream economic participation of PWDs rather than dependency-based welfare systems.
Unlocking Human Capital
Beyond agricultural output, the initiative is widely seen as a bold attempt to unlock dormant human capital.
Agriculture — particularly in organized clusters — offers immense opportunities for women with disabilities, young graduates seeking agripreneurship opportunities, and rural PWD farmers in need of structure and scale.
By integrating accessibility features into the planning architecture of the Farm Cities, the initiative aims to eliminate physical, technological, and systemic barriers that have long restricted participation.
“This project demonstrates that inclusion is not an afterthought; it is a strategy for national growth,” the presidential aide affirmed.
A Defining Moment for Disability Inclusion
The inauguration ceremony marks more than just the launch of a new agricultural project. For many advocates present, it represents a shift in narrative — one that repositions Persons With Disabilities from the margins of policy conversations to the center of productive economic planning.
As Hon. Mohammed Abba Isa concluded his remarks, he reaffirmed that under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership, Nigeria is steadily building a future where disability does not define destiny and opportunity is accessible to all.
If successfully mobilized and sustained, the PWD Farm Cities could become one of the most ambitious disability-inclusive economic initiatives in Nigeria’s history — cultivating not just crops, but dignity, independence, and national prosperity.
