Debo Akande: The Mastermind Turning Oyo Into Nigeria’s Agribusiness Powerhouse |•By Oyo Amebo
Every revolution has its architect. In Oyo State, where the future of prosperity is being planted in the soil, that architect is Dr. Debo Akande. Quiet in demeanour yet bold in execution, he has reimagined agriculture from a survival trade into a sophisticated engine of wealth, innovation, and global relevance.
As Director-General of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) and Executive Adviser to the Governor on Agribusiness and International Cooperation, Akande has positioned the state as Nigeria’s emerging capital for agribusiness. What others saw as subsistence, he saw as enterprise. What many considered backward, he transformed into opportunity.
The Fashola Agribusiness Industrial Hub stands as the emblem of his vision: a place where farming no longer ends at the farmgate, but extends seamlessly into processing, packaging, and profitable markets.
It is here that tractors hum alongside young innovators, where global investors walk side by side with local farmers, and where Oyo’s agricultural future is visibly being written.
But Akande’s brilliance is not only in infrastructure, it is in people. He has deliberately placed youths at the centre of Oyo’s agricultural rebirth. Through training centres, incubation hubs, and mentorship schemes, he has shifted the mindset of a generation.
What was once seen as drudgery is now a career path brimming with promise. In classrooms and fields alike, he is nurturing an army of agripreneurs ready to compete on both national and international stages.
His strategies are holistic, weaving together food security, export potential, rural empowerment, and foreign partnerships. Farmers who once worked in isolation now operate within thriving value chains that guarantee access to markets, while investors find confidence in the state’s clear policy direction.
And yet, the man behind this transformation prefers silence to applause. Reserved but resolute, Akande does not chase headlines; he builds legacies. Those who work with him describe a visionary who is methodical, unrelenting, and wholly dedicated to service.
In Oyo today, the seeds of progress are sprouting in fields and echoing in markets. Behind it all is a strategist proving that agriculture is not yesterday’s story but tomorrow’s triumph. Dr. Debo Akande may be understated, but his impact is monumental, the quiet force turning Oyo into Nigeria’s agribusiness powerhouse.