Bukola Saraki

Since 2003 Dr. Bukola Saraki has been the Governor of Kwara State, one of the better known of the 36 states that make up the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Saraki has been widely recognized as one of Nigeria's new generation of leaders. He is perhaps best known for a somewhat controversial but much needed initiative to rejuvenate the agricultural sector for which Kwara is famous and reduce the countries reliance on imports of basic foodstuff – Nigeria imports 90% of its foodstuff on which is spends US$3billion. In 2005, Saraki invited a group of Zimbabwean commercial farmers who had lost their land under Mugabe’s regime, to start a commercial farming project in Kwara State. The project is transforming agricultural practices and is already making a significant impact on the agro-allied industry in the state.