Pest Expert Snared by Corruption, Sent to Prison
Nanang Wiriatno knows well that his schoolmate, Dadan Hindayana, was appointed as the Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN). Even though Dadan had no qualifications as a nutritionist, his asset was his record of achievement since their school days. Dadan was an active and intelligent pupil. The position was considered a fitting ‘reward’ for what he had accomplished since school.
“In the student council (OSIS), he was the Deputy Chair. In the Scouts, he was the Pradana, I was the Kerani. In the School Security Patrol (PKS), I was the commander, he was a member. So he was indeed active in class,” Nanang said, recalling his high school days.
Nanang and Dadan both attended SMA Negeri Cimindi—now named SMAN 13 Bandung. They were in the same class for nearly three years in Science V, from the second semester of their first year until graduation. This class was for high-achieving students at SMAN Cimindi at the time. Those ranked 1st to 6th in the first semester were grouped together in this class. Among these high achievers, Dadan was not outmatched. He could still secure fourth place out of about 40 students.
His academic achievements also went hand in hand with his non-academic ones. Dadan was once appointed a member of the Cimahi City National Flag Hoisting Troop (Paskibraka). He was skilled at playing the guitar and joined the high school vocal group with his classmate who is now the Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), General Agus Subiyanto. “As for Mr Dadan, plus volleyball and badminton, he excelled,” Nanang said.
Unsurprisingly, upon graduating high school in 1986, Dadan was immediately accepted into the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) majoring in Plant Pests and Diseases through the Interest and Ability Tracking (PMDK) pathway. During university, Dadan served as Deputy Chair of the Student Senate of the IPB Faculty of Agriculture from 1989-1990. During this university period, Nanang lost contact with Dadan. But he heard that Dadan graduated as the best graduate at IPB in 1990 and continued with an equivalency programme at the University of Bonn in Germany from 1995-1997. He later earned a doctorate specialising in applied entomology from Leibniz University Hannover in 2020.
The two only reconnected in 2015. Dadan was already working as a lecturer at IPB as well as the rector of the Banau College of Marine Agriculture (STPK) in West Halmahera. He picked up Nanang from his house in the Ciomas area. Together, they visited the Sentul area in Bogor to see old friends. During the journey, they talked a lot about Dadan’s educational and academic activities. Apparently, at that time, Dadan’s name was already quite famous among academics, especially entomologists. Based on his Google Scholar account, no fewer than 66 research projects were developed by Dadan between 1996 and 2025. One of the study titles he worked on was ‘Sex ratio of rice field rats (Rattus argentiventer) at several phases of rice growth in irrigated rice fields’. In this study, Dadan researched the gender ratio of male and female rats in irrigated rice fields in Subang.
After that meeting, Nanang and Dadan did not see each other for a long time. Nanang was busy with his property business and Dadan with his academic world. Only occasionally did Nanang hear news about Dadan. “Then lately, I just heard that he was active with Mr Prabowo’s kind of prayer group,” Nanang revealed.
Last January, the two only met again when SMAN Cimindi held a grand reunion. Dadan sat side-by-side with TNI Commander Agus Subiyanto. Both were closely guarded by a number of TNI members. There was not much room for Nanang to talk to his old friend at that time. Nanang was fortunate he had not discussed the opening of Nutrition Fulfilment Service Units (SPPG) with Dadan. Because five months after that meeting, Dadan was apparently arrested by the Attorney General’s Office (Kejagung) for alleged corruption. Dadan is suspected of using his position as Head of BGN to appoint SPPG management foundations affiliated with him.
The Director of the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes at the Kejagung, Syarif Sulaeman Nahdi, stated that the appointed foundations managing the SPPGs were also allegedly affiliated with Dadan and his two deputies, Sony Sanjaya and Lodewyk Pusung. The three are suspected of manipulating the verification process on the BGN Partner Portal by providing special notes or attention to certain SPPGs so they would be approved. “The foundation receives billions of rupiah in incentives every day, and among those affiliated with the foundation are Mr DH (Dadan Hindayana), Mr SS (Sony Sanjaya), and Mr LP (Lodewyk Pusung),” Syarief explained.
Two days before being named a suspect, Dadan was first dismissed from his post. Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said Dadan’s removal was carried out after the President monitored and evaluated the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meals (MBG) programme over 1.5 years. In his evaluation, Pras said, President Prabowo Subianto received a number of notes concerning disciplinary issues in implementing the standard operating procedure for the MBG programme. In addition, there were also problems in the BGN’s governance system. “Including discipline in maintaining the quality of the food that should have been determined by the National Nutrition Agency,” Pras stated.
Prabowo admitted it was very difficult to remove Dadan from his position. However, he also admitted he was deeply disappointed by what Dadan had done.