Agricom appoints Atiku Abubakar as Chairman

Agricom Field Services Network, a telecommunication company, on Saturday announced the appointment of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its Chairman.

This was contained in a statement signed by Agricom’s Executive Vice Chairman, Adegboyega Olulade, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday.

NAN reports that Agricom Network provides extension services to over 250 million registered farmers nationwide.

According to the statement, Olulade expressed delighted that the former Vice President has agreed to bring his wealth of experience both in agriculture and other successful businesses to Agricom.

“We are happy to have former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as our chairman. As a farmer himself and as someone who recently diversified into the production of animal feeds and fertiliser.

We are confident that our chairman will give Agricom focused and visionary leadership and also wish our new chairman a successful tenure in office,’’ it stated.

It stated that Dr Adinoyi Onukaba was appointed as the Executive Director (North). Onukaba is a university teacher, journalist and politician, who run a fish and poultry farm in Bwari in the FCT.

It added that Agricom worked closely with the Federal and States Ministries of Agriculture to provide regular and timely information to millions of farmers, thus bridging the gap between government officials and farmers.

According to the statement, Agricom is already operating in a number of states in the country and it is expected to be launched nationally soon.

“AdonaiNet Nigeria Limited, the parent company of Agricom, was the nation’s biggest Closed User Group (CUG) telecom service provider.

“Its objective is to add value to telecommunication services in Nigeria as a responsive and professional world class service provider.

“Since 2009, it has successfully operated a CUG service for the Nigeria Police Force and members of their families known as POLCOM.

“The company also pioneered ground-breaking solutions like TRADEALERT for the stock market in Nigeria, Vehicle License Renewal Alert for the Lagos State Government, and other institutions.

It allows all stakeholders in the agricultural value chain to contribute to agricultural development through cheap and affordable telephones and the soon-to-be-introduced Farmers Radio.

Both the low tariffs telephone and the radio services will enable farmers to receive technical information in their local languages, thereby guaranteeing easy understanding and effective utilisation.

Agricom will also enhance agricultural development by translating research information into simple messages for farmers and other stakeholders,’’ the statement added.