Business Person Of The Year 2025:Thomas Etuh
From modest beginnings in Nigeria’s Middle Belt to steering some of Africa’s most transformative agribusiness initiatives, Thomas Etuh has demonstrated that visionary enterprise anchored in integrity and hard work can nourish both people and prosperity. Under his watch, fertiliser ceased to be a luxury commodity or a political token.
It became a tool of empowerment for millions of smallholder farmers. “Agriculture,” he often says, “is not just business; it is the foundation of our national security.”
When Etuh entered Nigeria’s fertiliser industry, the sector was in disarray monopolised by middlemen, distorted by corruption, and far removed from the real farmer. Through relentless advocacy and partnership with the federal government, he helped conceptualise and implement the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI), revolutionising local blending, cutting costs, and ensuring that genuine farmers gained direct access to affordable inputs.
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The transformation was dramatic: from fewer than 10 functional blending plants in 2016 to over 70 operational plants today, each serving as a hub of rural industry, job creation, and renewed hope.
Etuh’s vision goes beyond fertiliser. He sees agriculture as an ecosystem, not a silo. Through Mikap Nigeria Limited, he has invested across the entire value chain fertiliser blending, crop nutrition, logistics, warehousing, and market linkages ensuring that prosperity flows from the soil to every level of the economy.
His model integrates farmers with cooperatives, microfinance institutions, and state governments, opening credit channels to smallholders previously excluded from formal finance. In every state where his projects operate, livelihoods improve, youth gain purpose, and women gain a voice in the economy.
It would be recalled that LEADERSHIP, in November 2025, unveiled its 2025 awardees, with Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, emerging as the Person of the Year 2025.
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Image Credit: LEADERSHIP
Source: LEADERSHIPl
