Nigeria’s path to sustainable job creation, inclusive growth and long-term national resilience lies not in fearing automation, but in deliberately reinventing agriculture as a coordinated, system-driven engine of employment, said Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, a banker, investor and philanthropist.
Aig-Imoukhuede made the case at the 33rd Convocation Lecture of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), held recently in Abeokuta, where he delivered a lecture titled ‘Agriculture, the Future of Work, and the University as Catalyst.’
He argued that while global debates on the future of work are dominated by artificial intelligence and automation, Africa’s more pressing challenge remains the creation of productive, scalable and dignified employment for its rapidly growing youth population.
Agriculture, he said, offers Nigeria its strongest comparative advantage if properly governed and coordinated.
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“Agriculture is not merely about farming,” Aig-Imoukhuede said. “It is a complex system encompassing science, engineering, logistics, finance, technology, regulation and trade. No other sector matches its capacity to create jobs across skill levels and strengthen food security and national resilience.”
Drawing lessons from the biblical account of Joseph in Egypt and Brazil’s agricultural transformation, he noted that agriculture only becomes transformative when treated as an integrated system rather than fragmented interventions.
“Nigeria’s agricultural story is not one of failure, but one of unfinished architecture.”
Despite Nigeria’s vast arable land and human capital, he observed that weak coordination, not lack of ideas, has kept the country a net food importer.
Turning to graduates, Aig-Imoukhuede urged them to see agriculture as a modern, technology-enabled and value-chain-driven career space, stressing that the largest job opportunities lie beyond the farm gate, in processing, logistics, quality assurance, branding and exports.
He also cautioned against relying on technology without strong institutions, noting that lasting transformation requires credible systems, patient capital and consistent leadership.
On his part, Babatunde Kehinde, FUNAAB vice-chancellor, described the Convocation Lecture as a cornerstone of the university’s intellectual tradition, while the lecture chair, Tunji Olaopa, called for reforms to align agricultural universities more closely with national development priorities and the future of work.
