The Managing Director of TracTrac Mechanization Services, Godson Ohuruogu, says a shortage of skilled tractor operators and mechanics remains one of the biggest obstacles to Nigeria’s farm mechanization, warning that importing thousands of tractors without the manpower to run and maintain them would do little for food production.

Speaking at a media engagement in Abuja, he said the challenge went beyond access to equipment, with inadequate human capacity undermining investment. He put it bluntly, noting that 50,000 tractors would simply sit idle without operators, and disclosed plans to train about 3,000 operators from next year.

He said many government tractor schemes had struggled because machines were sent to communities with no trained operators, and that inexperienced handling and poor maintenance often damaged new tractors, while a shortage of spare parts left farmers waiting months for repairs. He advocated stronger investment in local manufacturing and assembly.

Ohuruogu revealed that TracTrac was partnering an Ilorin-based manufacturer, Bespoke, to deploy 565 locally assembled tractors under a pilot scheme, and dismissed the idea that government policy was the main barrier, arguing that attracting private investment was the real challenge since government alone could not provide the estimated 250,000 tractors needed.

The company also unveiled a Young People in Mechanization initiative to draw young Nigerians into operations, maintenance and entrepreneurship, and said it had supported more than 500,000 farmers and worked with over 6,000 service providers through its digital platform, TracTrac Plus.